Latest Updates from cropwatch.unl.edu

This webinar series will provide service members, veterans and military spouses with critical USDA Beginning Farming and Ranching Program information that will better position attendees to enter farming or ranching careers.

Historical crop progress data for Nebraska is available at USDA. Corn planted in Nebraska was 2% as of April 14.

Soil Management Extension Educator Katja Koehler-Cole shares important information that may help producers target an optimum termination date.

Next week's forecast includes a risk of severe weather on Monday, followed by cooler temperatures and a possible frost Friday and Saturday across the state.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (from left) talks to UNO Chancellor Joanne Li, UNL Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett, and Mike Boehm, vice chancellor for UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, on March 28. (Photo by Ryan Soderlin, University of Nebraska Omaha) U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Nebraska in late March to discuss the future of agriculture with farmers, ag business owners, agricultural industry leaders, and University of Nebraska administrators and students.

Numerous Nebraska businesses have received assistance from USDA's Rural Energy for America Program so far this year to establish clean energy facilities and increase domestic fertilizer production. Learn more about these initiatives below. Three Nebraska businesses are among the award recipients of USDA's renewable energy program, which helps fund projects that will lower energy costs, generate new income and create jobs for the ag industry.

The April 16 Data Users' Meeting will include USDA updates followed by an open forum session with questions and comments. Free to the public with a virtual attendance option, the Data Users' Meeting is held to share recent and pending statistical program changes with the public and to solicit input on these and other programs important to agriculture.

This webinar on pasture lease considerations features discussion by Anastasia Meyer, extension agricultural economist, UNL Center for Agricultural Profitability; and Aaron Berger, livestock systems educator, Nebraska Extension. This Center for Agricultural Profitability webinar reviews lease provisions that producers should have in pasture leases, as well as information about beef cow share agreements.

Nebraska Extension Educator John Thomas, right, discusses a tractor's engine with a student before the driving exam. (Photo by Chabella Guzman) The annual event will provide the training and testing necessary for Nebraska youth who require certification to perform duties on a farm, including a Hands-on Safety Day, and tractor and equipment safety training.

Extension insights on the year-to-year variability in corn yield response to irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates throughout seven years of the TAPS sprinkler irrigated corn competition.

Coal char is applied to a cattle pen for research. After a snowfall, coal ash-applied pens dried quicker than the control pens, which was beneficial for cattle health. A byproduct of processing sugarbeets, coal char has the potential to optimize soil nutrients and increase crop yields. In this article, UNL researchers share results of a study on incorporating coal char amendments into corn and dry bean cropland.

Though the farm finance and ag law clinics are offered monthly at sites across Nebraska, remote sessions are another option — call the number below to arrange a one-on-one meeting via phone or virtual platform. There are two dates left in April for producers who are interested in receiving free legal and financial services — April 25 in Norfolk and April 26 in Greeley.

Though the startup costs can seem daunting, drones can help producers save time and reduce costs on numerous tasks involved in managing livestock. This week, extension educators weigh in on the pros and cons of drone use for livestock, and considerations for drought-damaged pastures and controlling winter annual weeds in alfalfa.

Historical crop progress data for Nebraska is available at USDA. Oat planting continues to surge ahead of average pace this year, and the winter wheat crop conditions showed slight improvement following recent precipitation.

The new Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, which provides critical phosphorus and potassium soil test values, will soon include a research-based phosphorus or potassium rate response information to assist farmers in selecting the minimum fertilizer rate expected to produce maximal crop yield.. The new web-based tool represents a significant advancement in soil testing for phosphorus and potassium and nutrient management, and will potentially save farmers millions of dollars annually while reducing excess nutrient losses to the environment.

Are you prepared for severe weather in 2024? In this episode, extension reviews some of the most important aspects of preparing for weather-related emergencies on the farm.

Nebraska Extension Educator Amy Timmerman reflects on how the 2019 bomb cyclone affected Nebraskans, both then and now, and where individuals can seek help to cope with lingering impacts.

The current outlook is trending toward favoring an early planting window in the core production areas of Nebraska, with drier conditions likely most of next week into the week of April 15.

This online resource highlights groundwater and surface water facts and statistics for the state of Nebraska.

Figuring out the best manure application plan for their fields are Sam Cares (left) and Lance Chandler at the recent Nebraska Extension “Manure Better” land application training. (Photo by Chabella Guzman) Attendees of the Manure Better workshop delved into multiple hands-on activities, from calculating and calibrating manure applications to looking at the nutrients and crop needs.