Beef Quality Assurance is a voluntary, producer-driven program based on recommended national guidelines and research. Currently the program influences the management of more than 80% of U.S. cattle today. To attend an in-person training or get certified online, please visit https://bqa.unl.edu/ or call TL Meyer, beef educator, at the Central Sandhills Area Extension office. Upcoming trainings include October 23 in Bridgeport, October 24 in Hyannis, October 26 in O’Neill, and December 14 in Ogallala.
Nebraska is nationally known as the Beef State. Our team provides research-based information and resources to beef producers to help them provide an economical, safe, quality product to consumers while protecting and preserving Nebraska's vast natural resources.
Active in all 93 counties and at beef.unl.edu
Livestock Systems
Nebraska Extension will host a six-session webinar series on Monday and Thursday evenings beginning October 3 through November 9 from 7:30 - 8:45 p.m. CT that will explain the basics of knowing, growing and grazing grass. Topics will include id of key grass species, factors influencing grass growth, calculating stocking rates, developing grazing and drought plans, using the USDA Web Soil Survey, and understanding Pasture Range and Forage insurance.
The Nebraska Women in Agriculture program along with the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance Program are excited to announce the third annual Herd That! Conference September 19 & 20, 2023, in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The event will be held at the One Box Convention Center and the Custer County Fairgrounds.
Planning for winter feed, marketing the calf crop, or other management decisions? Looking for information to help with those decisions? You can find a wide range of resources at https://beef.unl.edu/ or contact T.L. Meyer, your local Nebraska Extension beef systems educator at 308-645-2267, tl.meyer@unl.edu, or in-person. You can also follow her daily posts on social media by searching Central Sandhills Beef Educator.
Regardless of livestock fly control product and application method, plan for resistance. Flies can develop resistance to fly control products if used repeatedly. For example, many horn fly populations in Nebraska exhibit a level of resistance to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. To manage resistance, alternate insecticide Mode of Action, or MoA, groups. This applies to dusts, insecticide ear tags, animal sprays, pour-ons, insect growth regulators (IGRs, also known as feedthroughs), and compressed air application devices.
Grasshoppers consume up to 50% of their body weight every day in forage. One of the better methods for determining grasshopper density is to count the number of grasshoppers using the square foot method. Sample at multiple sites about 50 to 75 feet apart. Select a point several feet away and visualize a one-foot square area around the point. Walk toward the point, counting any grasshoppers you see in or jumping out of this area. Repeat 18 times, total the number of grasshoppers, and divide by 2. The resulting number will be the number of grasshoppers per square yard.