Feed aggregator

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has released the results of its 2019 Certified Organic Survey. Certified organic operations in Nebraska sold a total of $185 million in organic products in 2019, up 92% compared to 2016. The number of certified organic operations in Nebraska totaled 238, up 47% from 2016.

Corn harvest was 76%, soybean harvested was 97% and sorghum harvest was 82%, each well ahead of last year and the average. Winter wheat planted was 98%, but condition was rated 43% good to excellent according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle (ARSBC) meeting is considered the premier national event in beef cattle reproductive management.  It has a long history of providing the latest information on the application of reproductive technologies and includes a range of topics related to cow herd reproduction — such as nutritional interactions, management and male fertility.

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Interest and concern about micronutrient needs of soybean is common among farmers and agronomists in southeast Nebraska due to higher yields than in previous decades and the increased availability of micronutrient fertilizers in both liquid and dry formulations. Nine micronutrients are needed in small amounts by soybeans.

There are several ways seeds of Palmer amaranth can be introduced into your fields. Manure is one of them. This article provides some valuable answers on 1) reducing Palmer amaranth seed in feed, 2) reducing Palmer amaranth seed in manure; and 3) field application of contaminated manure.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling on June 3, 2020 that cancelled the registration of three dicamba products XtendiMax®, FeXapan®, and Engenia® primarily used in dicamba-resistant soybean (Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean).

Photo credit: Craig Chandler This year, the Nebraska State Variety Trial team resumed corn hybrid trials. These were planted at four rainfed sites (Saunders, Clay, Perkins, and Cheyenne counties) and two irrigated sites (Clay and Perkins counties). Data from these trials will be posted on the CropWatch Corn Variety Test page as it becomes available.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

The application process for the second round of national relief payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) has begun. Local United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agencies are accepting applications through December 11, 2020. These payments will provide livestock producers some relief from production risk, as well as market losses, related to the fallout from continued shutdowns across business sectors.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

With dry conditions still plaguing much of the state, baling corn residue following harvest might be an optional roughage source if hay supply is getting tight.  What value should be put on baling corn residue?

Figuring out the true value of corn stalk bales can be a bit tricky, but breaking down the costs can help it make sense.  First, look at the value of nutrients removed from the field that will need to be replaced by fertilizer.  Stalks this fall will contain between $3-5 worth of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and sulfur per ton. 

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

Many people are looking for opportunities to buy market animals to harvest at home, which has led to many questions about the best way to complete that task. Prior to making the decision to try home harvest, there are a few important things to consider:

1.  Food Safety:  Can you properly cool the carcass and keep it clean to ensure meat safety?

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Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers across the state in November 2020. The clinics are one-on-one meetings with an agricultural law attorney and an agricultural financial counselor. These are not group sessions, and they are confidential.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Finding, hiring and retaining quality employees are major challenges for agricultural business in Nebraska. Competition for the available workforce comes from area industries, and the labor market is tight.

Nebraska Extension will host a virtual seminar series in December (Dec. 8, 11, 15 and 18) designed to help agricultural employers learn techniques and leadership practices to help motivate and empower employees.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition (NGLC), Nebraska Extension, Nebraska Cattlemen, and Sandhills Task Force will be hosting the 2020 Traveling Road Show at four locations in November. This year’s road show will focus on winning strategies for woody encroachment featuring Dirac Twidwell, UNL Associate Professor in rangeland and fire ecology. 

Dirac Twidwell is a Science Advisor for the USDA NRCS, Great Plains region, and a national science team member for a new Great Plains Grasslands Strategy under the Working Lands for Wildlife Program.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

During the fall and winter of 2020 Nebraska Beef Extension Educators will host six Beef Profitability Workshops to help the beef producer evaluate their operations to make them more profitable through the latest research information.  Topics will vary depending on presenter and specific location.  These workshops have been held across Nebraska for the past seventeen years.  Please pre-register to the local extension office 3 days prior to the meeting.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

On October 7th, two articles on rangeland weed control were published on CropWatch which may be of interest to Nebraska ranchers.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

When feeding harvested forages to the cow herd, you need to know what you have in order to know what to feed. This is vital when faced with some of the challenges we have seen in the past couple years such as flood, excessively cold and harsh winters, and drought. Over-feeding spends money unnecessarily and can deteriorate your bottom line. Underfeeding results in thin cows, which can lead to calving issues and disappointing conception rates.

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Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Crop Residue Exchange (http://cropresidueexchange.unl.edu) is a free online tool designed to link cattle producers to crop producers with available grazing resources. The Exchange makes it possible for crop producers in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota to list fields of crop residue they have available for winter grazing and for cattle producers to connect with them. 

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Monday, October 19, 2020

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension will host the 2020 BeefWatch Webinar Series. The second installment of webinars will take place weekly beginning on Tuesday, November 3.

The BeefWatch Webinar series is designed to highlight management strategies in grazing, nutrition, reproduction, and economics to increase cow/calf and stocker production efficiency and profitability. Each session will feature industry experts and plenty of opportunity to interact to get your questions answered.

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The benefits of planting cover crop mixtures include the potential for additional nutrients to the subsequent cash crop, improved livestock feed and improved soil health, among other benefits. Farmers adopting multispecies cover crops are also interested in learning about the yield response of the crop planted following a cover crop.

Nebraska Extension will host a virtual seminar series in December (Dec. 8, 11, 15 and 18) designed to help agricultural employers learn techniques and leadership practices to help motivate and empower employees.