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Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers across the state in August.

A recently released app called CliGrow, developed by the High Plains Regional Climate Center, helps producers estimate crop maturity using a field’s historical climate data.

Mostly good news to report again this week. We saw upgrading of exceptional drought (D4) to extreme drought across York, Seward, Fillmore, Saline, and Polk counties.

Tractor planting pintos for a dry edible bean study in Box Butte County. Photo by Gary Stone. One of the research studies, called “Variable Rate of Nitrogen in Irrigated Corn,” has several Nebraska farms in its study, including one in Sheridan County. The entire study is driven by technology using GPS guidance and precision variable application equipment.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln scientist James Schnable and international colleagues have created the first complete map of the corn genome, a landmark achievement that can enable major long-term advances in crop health, resilience and productivity.

Corn and soybean progress continues near the five year average, soil moisture remains consistent and the winter wheat harvest continues but well behind last year and the five year average.

Ten Nebraska communities are saying goodbye later this month to a cohort of university students who have lived and worked among their residents this summer. July marks the end of the 10th season of the Rural Fellows, a program run through the university’s Rural Prosperity Nebraska initiative that places interns in rural communities. To commemorate this milestone, the Rural Fellows team will host a virtual celebration on July 28. 

It’s an uncommon experience to walk into a grocery store and feel at home. But that’s exactly the atmosphere Amparito’s Market in Lincoln is striving for. On the outside, the market looks like any other grocery store. But when you walk down the aisles, you notice that few of the products originate in the United States.

“Amparito’s Market is something that we wanted to bring into Lincoln to provide connection,” said Raul Sarmiento Jr., son of owner Raul Sarmiento. “A connection, because customers can find here what they can find in their home countries.”

In 2019 renovation began on the Blue Star Memorial Highway (Highway 83), which runs through Valentine. Capitalizing on their Main Street being under construction, the city decided to modernize its downtown in conjunction with the overhaul. To help with this project, they turned to Rural Prosperity Nebraska’s newest Extension educator at the time, Jenny Nixon. Little did Nixon know that Valentine would be her first and last community development project.

Several severe hailstorms have hit portions of Nebraska in the past month. The timing of the storms, development stage of the crop, individual field damage, and crop insurance are all important factors in decision-making. Nebraska Extension educators and specialists share replant recommendations for soybean producers recently affected by hailstorm damage.

Hail damage to corn in the North Platte Valley area in the Panhandle of Nebraska after a late June hailstorm. (Photos by Gary Stone) For producers with crop damage from recent hailstorms, the timing of storms, development stage of the crop, individual field damage, subsoil moisture and crop insurance all are important factors to consider when deciding the next course of action.

James Schnable, UNL agronomy professor, discusses the long-term agricultural impacts from a recent international research collaboration that successfully identified the complete set of genetic components for corn.

Hail on July 8 took corn down to the stalk in some areas of Nebraska. (Photo by Gary Stone) Before planting forages in fields where your crop was destroyed by hail, take a moment to review these financial management and cropping system considerations.

Beginning July 31, the Sunset Seminar series will give producers across the state a chance to see the results of image-based nitrogen management research conducted by Nebraska farmers in 2023. Free to attend, the Sunset Seminars will provide growers and agronomists a look at results from several Nebraska producers who have trialed Sentinel Fertigation's new N-Time™ software this growing season.

With numerous fields affected by recent hailstorms, Nebraska Extension reviews the immediate and long-term impacts of hail damage to crops to assist producers with decision-making for the remainder of the growing season.

While numerous precipitation events have decreased statewide drought nearly 33% and brought timely rains for rainfed crops, some producers may still face lower yields this year due to acute, continued dryness, particularly in the York area.