Financial Drought Prompts Closures, Uncertainty for Mesonet’s Future
Webinar Explores Cooperatives in Food Systems
The Nebraska Cooperative Development Center is hosting a winter webinar series focused on cooperative businesses in the food system. During the Co-op Innovation in the Food System series, attendees will hear from a wide range of businesses and learn how they use the cooperative model to address issues such as land access, infrastructure needs, fair prices, and land stewardship.
Pasture and Forage Minute: Saving Hay, Ag Land Leasing Workshops
2023 Nebraska Crop Production Budgets — Higher Costs and Risks
TAPS Banquet to Celebrate 2022 Competitions
Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Offers 2023 Growing Season Information
Free Farm and Ag Law Clinics Set for December
Farm Program Disaster Assistance for 2022 Drought and Fire Losses
The 2022 production year presented several challenges to Nebraska producers. Widespread drought conditions and several large wildfires created loss situations with significant financial impact. This article is a quick reminder to producers of available assistance from USDA programs that may apply to their situation.
Spanish:Do You Have Mold and Mycotoxins in Your Silage?
We typically suggest getting forage tested to determine nutrient content such as energy and protein. But with silage, additional testing may be needed, especially when grown under stressed conditions and/or put up in less-than-ideal conditions. The presence of mold in silage can decrease the energy value, feed intake, and performance of cattle. Additionally, some molds produce harmful mycotoxins that can impact animal production and health.
Spanish:Value of Gain on Winter Backgrounded Cattle
This article was first published by "In the Cattle Markets" on Oct. 31, 2022.
Cumulative national feeder and stocker cattle receipts are slightly lagging both 2021 and the 5-year average (2017-2021) at 12,098,700 head through Oct. 21. In 2022, more of the receipts are coming from cattle weighing less than 600 lbs. and heifers – both signals that the drought in various parts of the United States is affecting feeder and stocker cattle being sold.
Spanish:Lancaster County 4-H members earn Nebraska 4-H Gives Back Award for addressing local food insecurity
Nebraska 4-H recently recognized Kamryn Wanser, Kennedy Powell, and Brooklynn Nelsen with a Nebraska 4-H Gives Back Award. After seeing their peers struggle with food insecurity, the three Lancaster County 4-H members began working on plans to establish a new Little Free Pantry in their community.
“We are so proud of this team of 4-H’ers who saw a local problem and creatively found a way to a solution,” said Dr. Kathleen Lodl, Nebraska State 4-H Program Administrator. “It’s this kind of leadership and passion that is critical to their future and the future of Nebraska.”
Together, the youth recruited a local business, Healthy Heads, to house the public pantry and worked with a craftsman to design and build the pantry box. They gathered food donations and support from a local HOA, White Electric, Old Glory Farms Boutique, Rotary Club 14, VFW, FoodNet, Little Free Pantries, Lancaster County 4-H Council, and The Fantastic 4 4-H Club. The youth collected $319 and over 1,700 food items to establish their Little Free Pantry.
“We believe the pantry will serve the neighbors, those that work in the area as well as our customers,” wrote Healthy Heads staff. “We couldn’t be happier to support this great cause.”
“Food insecurity is an issue many Lincoln, Nebraska residents experience,” said Tracy Anderson, Lancaster County 4-H Extension Educator. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Kamryn, Kennedy, and Brooklynn, there is one Lincoln neighborhood that is experiencing less of it.”
Over the first 28 weeks, a weekly average of 46 items were taken from the pantry located in the Indian Village neighborhood. Community members continue to take more items continue each week, and the teens continue to collect donations to keep the pantry stocked for those in need.
"We have learned that working together we can solve a problem in our community," the teens shared. "We feel confident that this will serve a need in the community for a long time to come.”
The Nebraska 4-H Gives Back Award celebrates the spirit of service learning. The program recognizes youth who have made significant and lasting impacts in their community. 4-H members create, coordinate, and implement a service-learning project of lasting impact and significant size or scope.
“We invite youth to submit project proposals that showcase the application of their time and talents in service to their community,” says Dr. Jill Lingard, Nebraska 4-H Gives Back program coordinator.
For more information about the Nebraska 4-H Gives Back Awards program, please visit 4h.unl.edu/ne4h-gives-back.
The Impact of Low Stocks-to-use Ratio and the Ukraine-Russia Conflict on the Distillers-to-Corn Price Ratio
Distillers’ grains play an important role in both maintaining ethanol plant profit margins and providing affordable, nutritious feed to livestock feeding operations. Distillers’ grains are produced as necessary by-products of the fuel ethanol production process and therefore rely on an input grain – most commonly corn in the United States – and fuel ethanol in their production (USDA ERS 2021).
Spanish:2022 Beef Update with Private Pesticide Recertification
Producers in central Nebraska will have an opportunity to learn from beef issues that impacted the area during the 2022 growing season. The Beef Update program will help producers make decisions for the 2023 growing season and they can renew their private pesticide applicator license. This year the program will be offered in two locations across central Nebraska in December in Taylor, NE and Valentine, NE.
Monday December 12th at Taylor, NE – Loup County Fairgrounds; 1 pm – 4 pm
Spanish:Get Perspective Before Deciding
I run across situations where one party, or both parties have decided that their estate plan isn’t fair or equitable. I have also had recent contact with landlords that think the tenant is taking advantage of the farm lease and are not paying an appropriate cash lease rate. Either situation is a dispute, and everyone stops listening to each other. The parties dig in their heals and have made up their mind that they are not being treated fairly or equitably. When that happens, the relationship between the parties is usually permanently damaged at some level.
Spanish:Measure to Manage: Exploring management strategies to cut costs, increase performance, and capture value at the Three State Beef Conference
For 38 years, the Three-State Beef Conference has provided beef cattle producers in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska an annual update on current and critical cow-calf and stocker topics affecting producers in the three-state area.
Spanish:2023 – Year of the Stockman
It has been said, “Develop your communication skills because when you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are.” This is just another way of saying that we’re known by what we produce (words, actions, etc.). Our reputation, in other words. Said another way: “Develop your husbandry skills, because when you handle and care for animals, you tell the world who you are.” Stockmen have long considered their work an art form, and take pride in honing their skills with a level of devotion seldom rivaled in other professions. In a time where the agricultural work
Spanish:Potential Impacts of a Long Hard Drought on the Subsequent Calving Season
Drought across the Great Plains has greatly reduced the supply of grass available this grazing season. While many cows went to market to save grass for a core herd, those cows that remain may have had access to limited, dry pastures. Grass in many areas appeared dormant as early as July. Therefore, not only was quantity limiting, but quality may have been limiting as well.
Spanish:A Year in Review for Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance, 2022
Another year has come and gone for the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance program, and while it was a year of successes for the program as a whole, there is still plenty of work to be done. As I sit here writing this thinking back on all the accomplishments we have achieved this year, I am happy to brag about where the program currently is and where it is going in the future.
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