Weekly News and Columns

Week of August 24, 2026

Cuming County 4-H Council

The Cuming County 4-H Council will meet on Thursday, September 10, at 6:00 p.m. in the Cuming County Courthouse Meeting Room. The full agenda for the meeting is available for review at the Extension Office.

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SOURCE: Melissa Hagemeister, Extension Associate 

RELEASE DATE:  August 24, 2026

Kernel Processing for Quality Corn Silage

High value silage depends on maintaining chop quality throughout harvest. Do you know how to reliably monitor your silage quality?

Energy from corn silage comes in a large part from starch in the grain itself. After consuming, the outer seed coat impedes starch digestion. To counter act this, many modern choppers are fitted with a kernel processor, that physically crushes or damages the grain and stalks, improving digestibility. Correctly setting these rollers is critical. Too close and machine wear increases, too far apart and the kernels aren’t broken and digestibility is decreased. 

To achieve high-quality silage, catching any problems with the processor as soon as possible is critical. To do this, grab a 32 oz. cup and at least once an hour during harvest, grab a sample from the pile. 

Next spread the sample out on a flat surface like a card table near the pile and go through the kernels. Count all the kernels that are ½ or greater in size. You can also put the sample into a bucket of water. The kernels will sink to the bottom and stalks and leaves will float. Skim/drain off the top layer and again count any kernels that are ½ or greater in size.

For both methods, the goal is to have 2 or fewer whole or ½ size kernels in your count. Anything over that and word can be passed to the chopper to adjust the processing.

For those who don’t have access to a kernel processer, keeping chop length short can help accomplish similar results. Shortening chop length to 3/8 inch for machines without a processor will do more kernel damage and maintain similar fiber particle size. For those whose priority is not particle size, mostly beef producers, dropping down to ½ inch chop length will damage even more kernels and provide the additional benefit of helping get a better pack.

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SOURCE: Ben Beckman, Extension Educator Livestock Systems

RELEASE DATE:  August 24, 2026

Seeding Fall Forages 

If grazing is one of your goals for a fall cover or forage crop, planting date matters. Every week we wait now means less growing season and less fall production. While seeding early is best, some species handle later planting dates better than others.

For fields available now through the end of August, oats or spring triticale are good options for fall forage. Brassicas like turnips or rapeseed can also be added. These winter-sensitive species generally produce lots of high-quality fall growth. These forages typically need 40 to 60 days of growth before grazing. Later-maturing forage varieties can help keep small grains vegetative and maintain quality longer, making stockpiling for winter grazing an option.

As planting moves into September, especially following corn silage, cereal rye or winter triticale become better choices. Fall production may be lower, but these crops survive winter and provide spring forage. A simple oats and rye mix can split the difference—oats provide fall growth while rye comes back next spring. If spring forage is the priority, avoid grazing winter-hardy species too short this fall; leave about four inches of growth to protect spring forage potential.

After later corn or soybean harvest, expectations need to change. Rye can still establish, but most of its forage value will come the following spring.

Before planting, check herbicide rotation and grazing restrictions from the previous crop.

If grazing this fall is your forage goal, the sooner we can get seed in the ground, the better.

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SOURCE: Ben Beckman, Extension Educator Livestock Systems

RELEASE DATE:  August 24, 2026

Adding Grass to Thinning Alfalfa 

Do you have a thinning, low-producing alfalfa stand but aren’t quite ready for a complete reseeding? These stands can sometimes be rejuvenated by interseeding grasses to increase hay production in subsequent years or convert the field to pasture.

Most alfalfa fields begin to lose stand and production potential after several years of hay production. When this occurs, interseeding a grass can help maintain hay yield and quality. Orchardgrass is the most common interseeded grass into alfalfa, but endophyte-free tall fescue, smooth or meadow brome, festulolium, and wheatgrasses also can be used. If the field will be used as pasture, a mixture of grasses may work well, but select species that fit your soils, moisture conditions, and grazing goals.

Whether irrigated or dryland, interseeding following a mid-August to early September hay harvest can provide good establishment conditions. Dryland establishment carries more risk because timely moisture will be needed for germination and seedling growth. Seeding should be done as soon as the August or early September harvest is complete.

If the existing alfalfa is relatively thick, another cutting may be needed once the alfalfa begins to form a full canopy. This keeps sunlight reaching the new grass seedlings below.

Seeding rates vary depending on the grass species and thickness of the existing alfalfa. With orchardgrass, for example, as little as 3 pounds per acre may be adequate in a relatively thick alfalfa stand, while up to 6 pounds per acre may be appropriate in a very thin stand.

Next spring, evaluate how well the new grasses have established. If seedlings still seem weak, cutting hay early can open the canopy and provide more sunlight for continued grass development.

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SOURCE: Ben Beckman, Extension Educator Livestock Systems

RELEASE DATE:  August 24, 2026

4-H Special Edition - Norfolk Daily News

Nebraska Extension in Madison County is excited to be producing the 51st Annual 4-H Special Edition newspaper insert for National 4-H week in partnership with the Norfolk Daily News. This special insert is distributed to over 12,000 homes during the first week in October and has a digital reach of 1.5 million pageviews every month. What an exciting way to share our 4-H stories! All 4-H members are invited to submit articles on their 4-H experiences with the theme "Ready Today, Leading Tomorrow”.

If you write an article, Please save your article as a text file or paste the article directly into an email. Also, submit at least one photo of you while doing your project or with your final project. Close-up, action shots with one or two people are generally preferred. Include information to run under the photo. Identify the people (left to right). Describe what is happening in the photo. Please save the photo as a JPEG file. Also, when ending your article, please include your county of participation. (ex. Madison County, Cedar County, etc.) You can email the article and photo to Kiley Truex at ktruex@norfolkdailynews.com with the subject line stating: 4-H Special Edition 2026.

The deadline for submission is Friday, September 11, 2026.

Contact the Extension Office with questions!

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SOURCE: Melissa Hagemeister, Extension Associate

RELEASE DATE:  July 6, 2026

Rental Rates for Nebraska in 2026 

What does it cost to rent pasture this year? The final 2026 Nebraska Cash Rental Rates Survey results are now available.

Average monthly pasture rental rates increased between 2% and 8% compared to last grazing season, continuing the upward trend across Nebraska.

The North reporting district, primarily the Sandhills, reported the highest average rate at $82.10 per cow-calf pair per month. The Northeast and Central districts followed at $77.35 and $74.60, while the Northwest district, including much of the Panhandle, had the lowest average at $56.45 per pair per month. Most other areas of the state averaged between $61 and $70 per pair each month.

Keep in mind these are averages. Actual rental rates depend on factors such as pasture quality, fences and water, management responsibilities, cattle size, and local demand.

Whether you're renting pasture or leasing it to someone else, a written lease is one of the best risk management tools available. Be sure it clearly outlines the stocking rate or number of cattle, grazing period, payment terms, and how unexpected events like drought will be handled.

To view the complete 2026 Nebraska Cash Rental Rates Survey, visit the Center for Agricultural Profitability website.

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SOURCE: Shannon Sand, Extension Educator Ag Economics

RELEASE DATE: July 27, 2026

Common Sense Farming and Ranching

Alfredo DiCostanzo, Beef Systems Extension Educator

University of Nebraska

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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Week of July 27, 2026

Cow size and efficiency 

Much is written about what it costs to keep a cow in America and how size affects costs. Recently, we reported on cow weight increases over time associated with heavier carcasses from fed cattle. 

If cows are getting heavier, at least relative to the weights of cows originally studied in the 1980’s, what are the implications on their energy requirements for maintenance? I had the opportunity to investigate how the requirements of cows resulting from modern genetics changed. In addition, I studied whether breed, region of the country, stage of production, and metabolic activity affected their energy requirements. 

The good news is that despite a trend for heavier cows, their energy requirements for maintenance per unit of metabolic size have not changed. Neither region of the country nor whether cows were the product of beef or beef x dairy crosses affected energy requirements. This is good news unless of course as cows got heavy, weaning weight of their calves did not increase to compensate for greater energy needs.

Using data from auction markets reporting to USDA between 2019 and 2026, we determined calf weights for Northwest, Northern Plains, Midwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southern Plains, and Southeast regions of the country. Except for calves in the Southern Plains, cows in northern states had calves that weighed 40 lb more than cows in other southern states.  Yet, cows in northern states were also heavier (they should be weaning heavier calves to compensate for greater maintenance requirements).

Relative to their requirements, however, cows produced calves in either region at the same efficiency. It takes 4,600 to 4,900 lb of TDN (or from 8,300 to 8,800 lb hay) to produce a weaned calf weighing 510 or 550 lb in southern or northern states respectively.  Calculating the ratio of weaned calf to TDN results in an efficiency of energy capture of 11%.  Data from cows tested in the 1980’s resulted in similar efficiency of energy capture. 

We can safely conclude that although cows have gotten heavier, their offspring is also heavier offsetting the net increase in energy requirements of the modern beef cow.  Some of us believe this increase in weight was necessary to permit their offspring to reach harvest weights needed to maintain beef production at the current (and perhaps) future cowherd inventories. 

Relative to the efficiency of energy transformation of solar panels from solar to electric (around 25%), the humble cow may be considered only half as efficient.  Yet, production of calves to weaning (and beyond) incorporates use of forage fiber of little use to other livestock or humans.  Therefore, this system relies on energy sources that result from photosynthesis transforming forage nutrients into nutritious and flavorful beef protein and other beef nutrients. 

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Rural Health

Hannah Guenther, Extension Educator

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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Week of August 3, 2026

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

Every five years, nutrition gets a makeover. New headlines pop up, social media debates begin, and it can seem like the rules for healthy eating have changed yet again. If you're wondering whether you should still be following MyPlate or if there's a new pyramid to learn, you're not alone. While the illustrations have certainly changed over the years, the purpose of the Dietary Guidelines has remained the same: to provide evidence-based recommendations that help Americans make healthy food choices. In this article series, we'll unpack the newest guidance, starting with what the Dietary Guidelines actually are and why this upside-down pyramid is getting so much attention.

What are Dietary Guidelines? Food based dietary guidelines are recommendations regarding specific nutritional principles based on current evidence and over 100 countries around the world have them! The goal is truly to promote human health and reduce chronic disease in their specific country. These guidelines typically use visual tools to make it easier for audiences to understand. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are created by the United States Department of Agriculture as well as the Department of Health and Human Services. They are written every 5 years and utilize a scientific advisory committee to review current nutrition research. 

Why do we have Dietary Guidelines? Although dietary guidelines aren’t typically a part of our daily life at home or in the kitchen, they do play a huge role in influencing the National School Lunch Program and other federal programs. The Guidelines shape what we teach in schools, how we develop educational programs, and the recommendations we share with individuals and families who want to improve their health and lower their risk of chronic disease.

The Current Guidelines: So let’s talk about the current pyramid, including what are the current recommendations are and how you can implement the Dietary Guidelines in your daily life: 

• Protein: one of biggest changes in the pyramid is the push towards protein. Protein is a key nutrient throughout the life cycle. It is important to VARY YOUR PROTEIN sources to include fish, nuts, and eggs in addition to red meat. 
• Avoid Processed Foods: if you look at the pyramid you will see that it a made up primarily of WHOLE FOODS, this is to emphasize the importance of reducing ultra processed foods.
• Whole Grains: although grains are at the bottom of the pyramid that doesn’t mean that they should be avoided! Whole grains are an important part of the diet and prioritizing fiber is key. 

We've only scratched the surface of the new Dietary Guidelines – hence the series! In Part II, we'll dive into the remaining recommendations and discuss practical ways to put them into action in your own kitchen. 

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Week of July 20, 2026

Back to the Basics of Food Safety

What a terrible time to be afraid to eat fresh produce! Summer is the peak season for fresh produce, but the most recent news of parasitic diarrhea has everyone a little more cautious about consuming fresh produce. It is easy to want to head straight to the fridge and throw out everything and while outbreaks certainly deserve our attention, they also serve as a good reminder that the same food safety habits we practice every day are still our best defense.

Rather than focusing only on one illness, let's take a step back and review a few simple ways to protect yourself and your family from foodborne illnesses.

Wash Your Fresh Produce: Whenever food safety makes the headlines, one of the first questions people ask is, "Should I wash everything?" Fresh fruits and vegetables should always be rinsed under cool running water before eating, cutting, or cooking. That includes produce with peels like melons, avocados, and oranges. Even though you don't eat the outside, your knife can carry germs from the peel onto the fruit or vegetable inside.

The one exception? If the package says "pre-washed," "triple-washed," or "ready-to-eat," it's already been cleaned and doesn't need another rinse. In fact, washing bagged salads again may actually introduce bacteria from your sink or countertops if they aren't clean. 

And don’t forget to skip the soap. Fruits and vegetables are porous and can absorb soap residue. Plain running water is all you need.

Keep Raw Meat Separate: One thing that doesn’t require washing is your raw protein! Raw meat, poultry, and seafood naturally carry bacteria that are destroyed during cooking. Washing raw chicken or other meats doesn't remove those bacteria. Instead, it can splash contaminated water around your sink, countertops, dishes, and even nearby foods. The safest approach is simple: move meat directly from the package to the pan, wash your hands afterward, and use a food thermometer to ensure it reaches a safe internal temperature.

The #1 Tip!: If there is one habit that prevents more foodborne illness than almost anything else, it's washing your hands. Wash with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before preparing food, after handling raw meat, after using the restroom, after touching pets, and before sitting down to eat. Need a timer? Hum "Happy Birthday" twice, and you'll be right around 20 seconds.

For more information on food safety go to: https://www.cdc.gov/food-safety/

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