Healthy soils, crops and communities

Healthy soil offers many benefits including storing more water, reducing wind and water erosion, filtering out contaminants such as nitrates to improve water quality, and buffering against weather extremes such as drought or flooding. Soil health can be built through covering the soil, having living roots in the soil as often as possible, reducing tillage, increasing diversity of crops and livestock on a farm, and knowing the context of your farm operation. Implementing these practices can result in healthier soils leading to healthier crops, livestock, and communities while increasing farm resilience and profitability.

Early detection reduces losses

Nebraska Extension helps agricultural producers make confident, research-based decisions by connecting them with diagnostic support and practical tools tailored to what’s happening in their fields right now. From identifying crop diseases and insect pests to interpreting scouting or monitoring results and choosing timely, effective management options, Extension provides guidance that reduces risk and protects yield and profitability. Extension provides expertise in the following areas:

Crop Diseases, including: tar spot, southern rust, corn crown rot, white mold, and soybean cyst nematode.

Insect Pests, including: Western bean cutworm, fall armyworm, and soybean gall midge, dectes stem borer.

Pesticide Application Technologies, including: Nebraska EC130 Guide, PEST Academy

Preparing for the unexpected

Helping Nebraskans when they need it most.

• Your trusted local resource in a year with so many disasters impacting Nebraska communities.
• Part of the Nebraska Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN), with Extension teams across the state, from border to border, ready to help when you need it.
• Practical, research-based information on drought, wildfire, severe storms, and other threats and emergencies.
• Tools and strategies to help you prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters while protecting your family, home, and agricultural operation while building resilience for the future.

Intersection of production and profitability

On-farm research allows Nebraska farmers to evaluate management practices in their own fields using their own equipment, producing trusted, unbiased data with agronomic, economic, and environmental value. The Nebraska On-Farm Research Network (NOFRN), led by Nebraska Extension, partners with producers statewide to design and conduct research on topics such as crop management, fertilizer practices, biological products, and other farmer-driven questions. Extension educators help design studies, create prescription maps, collect and analyze data, and interpret results. By making research practical and accessible, NOFRN helps farmers improve profitability, productivity, and sustainability through reliable, real-world evidence.

Creating landscapes that thrive

Your Extension experts are here to help you create and manage landscapes for resilience in weather extremes. We can also answer your questions about preventing and responding to weather-related plant damage, as well as:

• Proper plant selection and planting
• Efficient irrigation
• Correct tree pruning
• Accurate pest identification and management
• Fire smart landscaping

From Fields to Communities

Food connects Nebraska's farms, businesses, families, and communities, supporting economic growth, innovation, and quality of life. Nebraska Extension's Rural Prosperity Nebraska program, the UNL Department of Food Science and Technology, and the UNL Industrial Agricultural Products Center work together to link research, education, product development, and market opportunities with producers and entrepreneurs. Their collaboration advances food safety, value-added agriculture, biofuels, biobased products, and business development while helping producers access new markets and resources. From field to community, these efforts strengthen Nebraska's agricultural economy and build resilient local and global food systems.

Developing strong agricultural leaders

For more than four decades, the Nebraska LEAD Program has been developing informed, engaged and effective leaders for Nebraska agriculture. Through a unique two-year experience that combines leadership development, issue-based learning, and domestic and international travel, Fellows gain a deeper understanding of the forces shaping agriculture and rural communities. Participants build lasting relationships with industry leaders and fellow agricultural professionals while strengthening the skills needed to lead organizations, businesses and communities into the future. With more than 1,200 alumni across Nebraska and beyond, Nebraska LEAD continues to cultivate leaders who are prepared to make a difference wherever their paths may lead.

Supporting mental, physical and emotional wellness

Discover practical, research-based resources to support your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Nebraska Extension educators share tools to improve health literacy, communicate effectively with healthcare providers, strengthen immunity, make healthy food choices, and stay informed about recommended vaccinations. Explore simple strategies that can help you and your family make confident decisions about your health.