Weekly News and Columns

Week of September 14, 2026

Extension Board to Meet

The Cuming County Extension Board will meet for their September meeting on Monday, September 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Cuming County Courthouse Meeting Room. The agenda for the meeting is available for review at Nebraska Extension in Cuming County

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SOURCE: Alfredo DiCostanzo, Extension Educator

RELEASE DATE:  September 7, 2026

Making the Most of Summer Annuals this Fall

As we move into fall, many producers may be looking at harvesting forage from summer annuals like sorghum-sudan, forage sorghum or millet. While these crops can provide valuable feed, making dry hay this time of year can be challenging.

Cooler temperatures, heavier dew, and fewer daylight hours all slow drying. Add thick stems and reduced sunlight intensity, and getting hay down to a safe storage moisture can be difficult. Pushing harvest without a good drying window increases the risk of mold, heating and even fire in stored hay.

If dry hay is still the goal, several practices can help. Mechanical conditioning or crimping stems speeds moisture loss. Spreading forage in a wide swath exposes more material to sunlight and airflow. Cutting high, leaving around 8 to 10 inches of stubble, also keeps the windrow off the soil and improves airflow underneath while leaving more of the nitrate-prone lower stem in the field.

Even with these adjustments, fall drying windows can be tight. Silage or baleage may be better options when forage is too wet or stems are slow to cure. Stockpiling growth for grazing later in the fall can also reduce harvest risk, although forage quality will decline as plants mature.

Keep forage safety in mind as well. Sorghum, sorghum-sudan and sudangrass can present prussic acid concerns following frost and when stressed, and summer annuals under stress may also accumulate nitrates. If conditions suggest a risk, testing before feeding is a good precaution.

As you plan fall forage use, match the harvest method to weather conditions and forage maturity. Dry hay may still work with a good weather window, but silage, baleage or grazing can provide useful alternatives when fall drying becomes difficult.

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SOURCE: Ben Beckman, Extension Educator Livestock Systems

RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2027

Verbal Pasture Lease Agreements

There are a couple of leasing options for producers and landowners. Verbal leases are a common form of lease agreement. However, if someone is considering terminating a verbal lease, there are some dates and rules to remember for those with crops vs. pasture verbal lease agreements. The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that the lease year begins March 1 for year-to-year verbal leases. Notice to a tenant to vacate under a verbal or handshake year-to-year lease must be given six months before the end of the lease or no later than September 1 for crop production. It is recommended that Registered Mail™ terminate the farmland lease. This means the person receiving the letter signs for it, providing evidence that the termination notice was received.

Handshake or verbal leases are different for pastures. The typical pasture lease is for the five-month grazing season. The lease is only in effect for that time, so the lease is terminated at the end of the grazing season. However, different lease length arrangements can be made in a written lease.

In all instances, written leases would be preferred over oral or “handshake” leases. Sample leases are available in the Ag Lease 101 library at Ag Lease 101 dot org and can help both parties start thinking about the appropriate lease conditions for their situation.

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SOURCE: Shannon Sand, Associate Extension Educator Ag Economics

RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2027

Grazing Drought-Stressed Corn

Drought can leave dryland corn with little grain potential but still considerable forage value. Before writing those fields off, grazing may be one way to capture some value with livestock.

First, check crop insurance and herbicide restrictions. Contact your crop insurance agent before grazing or harvesting a damaged crop, and review labels for every herbicide applied. If products were tank mixed, the most restrictive forage restriction applies.

For short, vegetative drought-stressed corn, grazing can be a practical option. Nitrates are a concern, but cattle tend to select leaves and upper portions of the plant first, while nitrate concentrations are greatest in the lower stalk.

Turn cattle onto the field full and provide clean water. With earless corn, giving cattle access to a larger area instead of tight strip grazing lets them selectively graze and reduces pressure to consume lower stalks.

Once ears develop, grain intake and acidosis become a greater concern, so controlled access may be needed.

Corn that reaches maturity but still isn't worth combining may also have value for grazing this fall or winter. If that's a possibility, start planning now for water, fencing, and field access.

Drought-stressed corn isn't automatically a loss. Grazing may provide a practical way to turn a poor grain crop into useful feed.

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SOURCE: Ben Beckman, Extension Educator Livestock Systems

RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2027

Common Sense Farming and Ranching

Alfredo DiCostanzo, Beef Systems Extension Educator

University of Nebraska

Week of September 7, 2026

Contrasting two beef-producing regions

I had the opportunity to guide a group of Argentinians on a tour of beef producers. I spent a bit of time with two of them whom I had the opportunity to interview. A few items we discussed, from which I discovered interesting contrasts that deserve attention.

Farming and ranching are cultural and born from a family business in the US while they are business only in Argentina. This was one of the main differences they pointed out between our two countries. In the US, farmers and ranchers participate as a family. In Argentina, a young person participates in farming and ranching only if mom or dad own a farm or ranch, which they frequent only sometimes during the month as they live in the city. In Argentina, access to services in rural areas including education, health care, communications, and other infrastructure prevents rural development and forces even families wishing to live on their ranch or farm to remain in the city. This has created a greater divide between agriculture and the consumer than what we see in the US. 

Another significant difference we discussed is how business safeguards in the US protect the buying-selling transaction. We had the opportunity to spend time at West Point Livestock. There, they learned that the seller receives payment immediately for cattle they sold. Business in Argentina, on the other hand, takes a bit longer. The same transaction would result in a longer term to cover the check, about 90 days. 

We are fortunate to live in this country where the appropriate protections exist so that businesses may thrive. Also, as I have said before, the connection between family and agriculture is key to the future of agriculture in the US. While safeguards keep business moving forward with as few glitches as possible keeps trust in the transactions and protects intentions for agriculture to grow forward.

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Week of August 24, 2026

Appraising crops through cattle feeding

The economic approach to assigning economic value to a crop grown for the feedlot (it could be in association with a family member or another partner unit) is based on a simple principle. Subtract the value of off-farm expenses from the gross return (generally receipts of cattle sold, but manure value as fertilizer should also be included here) and assign the balance to the cropping operation.

From the gross value of the economic return (cattle sales), one subtracts the cost of all other items used in the cattle feeding process including cattle, yardage (which includes labor, fuel and oil, repairs, utilities, facilities depreciation, etc.), veterinary medicine expenses, purchasing and selling costs including trucking, and feed or supplements (distillers grains, micro-ingredients, supplements, additives, etc.) purchased off the farm. The balance is then assigned to the crop operation to pay for feed raised on the farm.

Following this approach, the feedlot activity results in zero return. Therefore, one must calculate an acceptable return to the feedlot activity, generally prime lending rate plus 2 points. Currently, that value is 10% annual return. This return is applied to the feedlot activity using the investment in cattle feeding (using the figures from the feedlot closeout for example) and feeding period say 210 days or 58% of a year, which translates to 5.75%. If feeding a single lot for 210 days results in a 1-million-dollar investment, then a reasonable net profit to the feedlot activity is $57,500.

This return must be subtracted from the balance left over from the calculation of gross return minus off-farm expenses to ascribe a proper feedlot activity return. Once this is accomplished, the balance (positive or negative) belongs to the farming activity. 

The next challenge is the proper allocation of value from this balance to each crop using in the feedlot activity. Using the energy contribution of each feed ingredient to the diet, the allocation to each crop raised on the farm is obtained. 

The examples I am using included three lots of cattle fed between the fall of 2025 and this summer. Cattle performed well in the feedlot, gaining at 3.7 lb daily for cattle starting at 600 to 700 lb and finishing at around 1,500 lb. As expected, feed conversion was great, under 6.4 lb feed per lb gain. 

When assigning economic value to the farming activity after allocating off-farm costs and feedlot profit, corn ranged from $6.50 to $8.90/bushel or between 166% to 224% the value at the local grain market. At an average yield of 200 bushels to the acre and cost of $1,000 per acre, the farming operation received $1,300 to $1,780 per acre and made between $300 and $780 per acre because of the feedlot activity. 

Similar values were assigned to high-moisture corn (between 170% and 230% of their market value). Interestingly, both crops used to provide fiber in the diet benefited greatly. Corn silage and hay value were over 216% and 144%, respectively, greater than their market value. This would imply that corn silage was valued at over $80 and hay at over $200 per ton, respectively. 

This exercise can be applied to backgrounding or even cow-calf operations. Regardless of application, and despite the poor conversion efficiency (or any other perceived negativity including methane emissions), these are examples of how cattle operations improve the value of land and contribute to economic development.

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Week of August 10, 2026

Resilient American agriculture begins with thriving youth

As the 2026 edition of the Cuming County Fair ends, a casual observation, of great influence in the future of American agriculture, is watching young people thrive as they participate in 4-H, FFA or other fair-sponsored events or while they simply act as kids.  The thunderstorms and rain that came on Saturday, to the delight of all, particularly children, provided the perfect element to watch children thrive. 

It did not take very long for many children to enjoy the water present in many situations.  Water, either coming down from the sky, puddling and running down the street, or even through downspouts provided the perfect element for children to enjoy. Many children came running joyfully right down the stream of water draining the main thoroughfare.  At times, running simply was not enough; many children resorted to rolling in it.  Their giggles and laughter contagiously carried to many bystanders watching them from under buildings’ eaves.  One, more adventurous youth, decided to drink water discharging from the downspouts of the Watson Livestock Arena roof.  (Note to all concerned parents or health experts: by this time, it had rained sufficiently to rinse the metal roof of the building clean).  Once he tasted it, he looked around satisfied that he had tried one new thing in his young life.

For many other youths, who chose to remain indoors, a pickup game of soccer on the sands of the Watson Livestock Arena gave them the opportunity to flex their muscles and use their lungs.  For any adult witnessing this game, it was difficult to tell who belonged to what team or even where the goal posts were.  Never mind what we adults thought, the children had their own rules. Or did they?  At some point, perhaps imitating some so-called professional teams’ behavior during the recently completed World Cup, tempers flared. It took an adult referee to talk sense back into the situation.  With great skill, this individual diffused the situation; peace was promptly restored and children gained new experience.

What, might you ask, does any of this have to do with resiliency in American agriculture?  Although I do not hold a degree in psychology or child development, when children act as children, exploring, testing, learning, and interacting with their peers, they develop their own sense of self while learning to manage inter-personal relationships.  This is crucial to the development of a well-adjusted adult. 

Someday, like their parents, some of these youth will take the reins of their parents’ businesses or begin their own.  The experiences they accumulate as young people, including their days at the Cuming County Fair, will be the basis for their success as adults. In the meantime, I am grateful the Cuming County Ag Society, the Cuming County Fair Board, Cuming County 4-H, Cuming County Extension, and many volunteers and parents make this experience possible.  American agriculture is resilient because it invests in its youth.

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Rural Health

Hannah Guenther, Extension Educator

Week of September 14, 2026

Healthy Harvest 

We have officially started harvest 2026. As many of you know, harvest season is a stressful time of year as famers work against the clock and Mother Nature to get crops out of the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible. One thing that can get put on the back burner during a stressful season is our health. Eating healthy during harvest is a challenge for many reasons including the lack of time to sit down for a meal, the issue of location and dining in a field, and stress leading us to crave high fat and high salt foods. With tension running high and stress management is pertinent and fueling your body properly is a great line of defense in terms of handling and managing stress. Today I am going to share with you some field-friendly fruits and vegetables, small swaps to meals you already enjoy, and finally some quick healthy recipes to include in your farmers cooler this harvest. 

Field Friendly Fruits & Vegetables

One of the biggest challenges I face during harvest is making sure that Adam is eating fruits and vegetables. Sugar snap peas, carrots, cherry tomatoes, sliced bell peppers, radishes, and cucumbers are all able to be eaten raw and with one hand, making them great options for the field. In terms of fruit, try to choose options that don’t have to be peeled and aren’t overly juicy. Apples, grapes, berries and pre peeled oranges are all great fruit options. Another option that Adam has approved of is fruit or vegetable juice. 100% fruit or vegetable juice, like V8, counts as a serving of fruit or vegetables and is a great option during harvest. Get creative and strive to include a fruit or vegetable with each meal. 

Small Swaps 

Sometimes making a healthy choice is simply making a small swap to meals you already enjoy. If you are cooking with ground beef, try to use lean ground beef like a 90/10 option. If you are eating a burger, sandwich or wrap, choose a whole wheat bread – this will give you added fiber and vitamins. These small swaps allow your farmer to enjoy a meal that they know and love while reaping the nutritional benefits of a healthy balanced meal. One of my favorite meals to deliver to the field is a BLT wrap – it’s a portable, nutritious take on one of Adam’s favorites. Start with a whole wheat tortilla and spread a thin layer of mayo before loading on lettuce and tomato. Add two slices of cooked bacon and roll up. Serve with a piece of fresh fruit and a small bag of chips for a healthy harvest meal. 

Egg Muffins

Without a doubt one of the hardest meals to get to my farmer is breakfast! He is out the door before I can get him a breakfast burrito or a piece of fruit. That said, I make sure that there is an easy grab and go breakfast waiting for him. Egg Muffins are loaded with protein and vegetables and are easy to eat, making it the perfect harvest breakfast. Start by cracking 6 eggs into a bowl and whisk together with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and ¼ cup low fat milk. Add ¼ cup cheese and 1 cup broccoli florets. Mix together and pour the egg mixture into a greased muffin tin about 2/3 full. Bake at 375° F for 18-20 minutes until eggs reach an internal temperature of 160° F. Eating on the run? Cut an egg muffin in half and roll up in a whole wheat tortilla for an easy, grab and go breakfast. 

I want to end this article with a little disclaimer. I am in no way the token harvest farm wife that sends Adam out to the field with nutritious dining options every day. There are days it’s a mad dash to get his hands on whatever he can eat while driving a tractor and then there are also days when healthy food doesn’t sound good and he really just wants a cheeseburger from town. This all just goes to say that harvest is not the best time to completely overhaul your diet, but it is a great time to get creative and make small swaps towards a healthier eating pattern. When you eat better, you feel better, and more readily prepared to handle stressful situations. 

If you would like more information about a healthy eating pattern and nutritious field meals for your farmer and family, go to go.unl.edu/foodfield to stay up to date with the Nebraska Extension’s Food in the Field Nutrition Program that seeks to better feed those who feed us in the field and everywhere in between.  Have a safe and healthy harvest!

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Week of August 31, 20206

What is Public Health?

I truly can’t remember if I’ve shared this in a previous newspaper article, but I recently graduated with a degree in Public Health. My educational path has been unique, to say the least. I started with a degree in Dietetics and later earned a master’s degree in education. But as my career in Extension grew and evolved, I began to realize there was a gap in my own education.

I have devoted much of my professional career to improving the health and well-being of rural Nebraskans. And the more I worked in this space, the more I realized that food and nutrition are only one piece of a much bigger puzzle.

Our health is influenced by what we eat, but it is also shaped by where we live, where we work, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the resources available in our communities, and even how far we must travel to see a doctor. In other words, our health is influenced by the places where we live, work, learn, and play.

That is public health.

When you say “public health” in our current climate, people may have a lot of different thoughts. For many, their mind immediately goes to vaccines or infectious disease. And while those are certainly pieces of public health, the field is so much bigger than that.

So today, I want to answer a seemingly simple question: What is public health?

Public health focuses on prevention. Public health is right under your nose, keeping you safe and preventing illness and injury every day. Did you buckle your seat belt today? That is a public health intervention designed to reduce traffic-related injuries. Have you noticed the lack of people smoking in restaurants? Smoke-free policies are a public health intervention that reduces secondhand smoke exposure. Have you enjoyed our walking trail in town? Creating spaces that encourage physical activity is public health, too.

Public health looks beyond individual choices. We love to tell people to “eat healthy” or “exercise more,” but what if the nearest grocery store is 30 miles away? What if there isn't a safe place to walk or access to a gym? One of the things that I love the most about Public Health is that it looks at the circumstances and environment that an individual is currently in and how that impacts their choices.

Public health is often invisible when it's working. This area of work is truly a silent hero because we reap the benefits every day without calling it out directly. Eating food from a restaurant that is meeting food-safety standards, safety requirements in the workplace - we benefit from public health systems constantly without necessarily calling them “public health.” 

Dietetics taught me a great deal about how our individual choices influence our health. Education taught me how to help people learn and make changes. Public health helped me understand the bigger picture: the communities, systems and environments surrounding those choices.

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Week of August 17, 2026

Flipping the Pyramid:  A Breakdown of the New Dietary Guidelines. Part II

Checking in, how are we doing after Part I? If you missed my last article, let’s get you caught up to speed. Every 5 years the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) get updated based on the current nutrition landscape, administration, research, etc. The most recent rendition flipped the script (literally) inverting the food pyramid. These guidelines influence everything from federal nutrition programs to how health professionals talk about nutrition with the public. 

In today’s episode of breaking down the new DGA, we’re going to review a few more of the key recommendations and start talking about how you can put these guidelines into practice in your daily life.

The Current Guidelines: In part I, we learned that protein, whole grains, and a focus on whole foods are key components. In addition: 

• Fruits & Vegetables: eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables throughout the day has remained a consistent recommendation. Remember that fresh produce is great but frozen, dried, or canned fruits and vegetables with limited added sugar also count! 
• Full Fat Dairy: Previous guidelines emphasized low-fat dairy, while the new guidance allows full-fat options as part of the recommended three daily servings. This reflects evolving research around dairy fat and health. Moral of the story? Choose the dairy options that work for you and your family.
• Whole Foods: Did I mention the focus on whole foods? One of the loudest messages in the new DGA is to prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods more often and limit highly processed foods.

Turning Guidelines into Action: As mentioned, these guidelines aren’t simply for health professionals. They’re intended to help all Americans make informed choices about what they eat. Recommendations on paper are one thing figuring out how to use them in your own kitchen is another! Here’s one simple place to start.

1. Read Your Ingredient List. One of the easiest ways to eat more whole foods is to check ingredient lists. Can you identify what each ingredient is? If the list is long or filled with ingredients you don’t recognize, can’t pronounce, or wouldn’t typically have in your kitchen, look for a simpler alternative. Take ranch dressing. A store-bought bottle may have a long ingredient list, while a homemade version can be made with just a handful of familiar ingredients.

Homemade Ranch Dressing 

In a bowl or mason jar, add ½ cup mayo, ½ cup Greek yogurt or sour cream, ½ cup milk, 1 tsp dried dill, ½ tsp dried parsley, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and ¼ tsp black pepper. Combine and enjoy! 

I swear, I just get going and I am already out of words. In Part III, we will continue talking about how to put these guidelines into action with simple tips of how to bring the DGA into your kitchen! 

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