Nebraska Extension Educator - Holt & Boyd Counties - LaDonna Werth
Nebraska Extension Educator - Holt & Boyd Counties - Amy Timmerman
Nebraska Extension Educator - Holt, Boyd, Garfield, Loup, & Wheeler Counties - Bethany Johnston
Nebraska Extension Educator - Brown, Rock, & Keya Paha Counties - Brittany Spieker
Nebraska 4-H Assistant - Holt & Boyd Counties - Debra Walnofer
July 6: DUE: 4-H Pre-Fair Day Entries, Holt County Fairwire or Boyd County Fairwire
July 6: DUE: Boyd County Fair Entries, Boyd County Fairwire
July 6: DUE: Boyd County Fair YQCA Certificates and Horse Levels; Email, Fax, Mail, or bring to Boyd County Extension Office, Butte, NE
July 6: DUE: Boyd County Fair Stalls/Pen/Cages Requests
July 11-15: State 4-H Horse Expo, Fonner Park, Grand Island, NE
July 13: Boyd County Pre-Fair Day, 3:00pm, St. Mary’s Catholic Church Hall, Spencer, NE
July 15: Holt County Pre-Fair Day, 9:00am, Faith Community Solid Rock Building, O’Neill, NE
July 16: Boyd County Bucket Calf, Bottle Lamb, and Bottle Goat Record Books, Boyd County Extension Office before 4:00pm or at Boyd County Fairgrounds, Spencer, NE
July 16: Boyd County Fair Set Up Night, 7:00pm, Boyd County Fairgrounds, Spencer, NE
July 18: Regenerative Ag Field Day, 8:00am-4:00pm, Atkinson, NE
July 21-25: Boyd County Fair, Spencer, NE
July 21: DUE: Holt County Bucket Calf, Bottle Lamb, and Bottle Goat Record Books, Holt County Extension Office, O’Neill, NE
July 21: DUE: Holt County Fair YQCA Certificates and Horse Levels, Holt County Extension Office, O’Neill, NE
July 21: DUE: Holt County Stalls/Pens, Cages Requests go.unl.edu/holt_fair_stall_pen_cage_request
July 21: DUE: Holt County Fair Entries (entries open on July 7), Holt County Fairwire
August 1-8: Holt County Fair, Chambers, NE
Getting My Baby or Toddler Ready for School? Are You Nuts?!?!
If you are the parent or early childhood educator of a baby or toddler, you may cringe at the thought of sending your little child off to school. How can you help now when it seems so far away? Have no fear! There are many things that you can do now to prepare children for school. In fact, one of the easiest is to communicate often with little ones and help them with their communication skills. Communicating well with others is an important part of succeeding in school. Children need to listen to their teachers and understand what they are saying. They also need to get along with other children and use words to express their thoughts, needs, and feelings.
Lucky for you, most children are born ready to communicate. To hold up your side of the conversation, you need to understand how babies and toddlers communicate, actively encourage them to communicate, and look for patterns in the way they communicate.
Babies tell us about their thoughts, needs, and feelings with coos, gurgles, and grunts, facial expressions, cries, body movements like cuddling or back arching, eye movements such as looking towards and looking away, and arm and leg movements.
To encourage babies' communication, quickly respond to their efforts and use a "sing-song" tone of voice, exaggerated face, and wide-open eyes. Babies love looking at faces and when you make your face interesting to look at, babies will pay attention. Babies also like hearing songs and feeling your gentle touch or tickle. Be sure to make the most of the times when you are close and facing a baby, such as during diapering and feeding.
Pay attention to each baby's unique style of emotion expression, activity level, and social nature. Some babies are quiet and watchful and prefer less adult interaction. Other babies are emotional, active, and seek continuous adult attention. Some babies are in between. Be sensitive to each baby's personality and work with your baby's preferences; this makes communication smoother for everyone!
Give meaning to babies' communication efforts. Because babies are not yet talking, we need to do some guessing at first to understand what they are telling us. If you gently tickle a baby's chin and the baby responds by frowning and turning away, give the baby's effort meaning and say, "Oh, you're frowning. I don't think you like it when I tickle your chin; I'll stop." If you softly sing and show the baby an exaggerated face, and baby responds by smiling and reaching for you, say, "Look at that smile! I think you like this song; I'll sing it again and then try a new one."
Babies need to know that their efforts to communicate are heard and understood. Take time to learn how babies tell you about their thoughts, needs, and feelings. When babies experience your warmth and attention, they form a sense of trust in the world.
As babies grow into toddlers, they communicate in new and different ways. Toddler communication begins with a combination of gestures and grunts and then moves to one word sentences and, later, two word sentences. Toddlers also use their positive and negative emotions and body movements to tell us what they are thinking and feeling.
To encourage toddlers' communication, take time to build sentences around toddlers' efforts. If a toddler points at the refrigerator and grunts, say, "Are you telling me that you are thirsty? I'll get you a bottle." If during snack a toddler says, "More," you can say, "Are you hungry for some more apple? I'll slice another one." When you respond and build sentences like this, toddlers know that they are being heard and understood. It also provides an opportunity for you to introduce new words into the child's vocabulary. Keep a word diary of toddlers' growing vocabulary and share it with others so that familiar words can be used and new ones introduced.
Because toddlers are starting to understand the order of things, use daily routines as an opportunity to talk about the sequence of events. When getting toddlers dressed, play a game of "What comes first? Pants or diaper? Socks or shoes?" Also, because toddlers are trying to do things by themselves, create opportunities to help them establish independence. For instance, during play, let toddlers control the action and decide what is going to happen. You can act like a sportscaster and describe exactly what toddlers are doing and how. "Gabriel is driving the car quickly across the couch…now he's making a sharp turn around the pillow. Oh no, the car has crashed into the back of the couch! What is going to happen next…?"
As with babies, toddlers need to know that their grunts, gestures, words, and actions are heard and understood. Use your interactions with toddlers to build their vocabulary and become skilled communicators. Being able to effectively communicate allows toddlers to understand what is asked of them. Also, it helps toddlers to better express their own thoughts, needs, and feelings.
Few things in life come with so small a price tag and so great a reward as communicating with the babies and toddlers in our lives. Children rely on adults to help them learn about themselves and to make sense of the world. Helping babies and toddlers to develop effective communication skills is an important tool for school, and for life.
Source: Sara Gable, Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia
Consider Corn Growth Stage When Applying Post-Emergence Herbicides for Weed Management
Key Takeaways
- Know the stage: Check corn growth stage before applying post-emergence herbicides.
- Read the label: Follow the most restrictive application requirement when using tank mixes.
- Protect the crop: Taller corn is more vulnerable to herbicide injury, especially when spray enters the whorl.
- Avoid stress: Apply herbicides only when both corn and weeds are actively growing and not under stress.
- Confirm compatibility: Verify the hybrid trait package matches the herbicide before spraying.
Effective early-season weed control is critical for minimizing crop–weed competition and preventing corn yield losses. In addition, excessive rainfall may reduce the effectiveness of pre-emergence herbicides by leaching or washing them off, thereby shortening the duration of weed control.
When adequate soil moisture and warm temperatures favor weed germination and growth, corn fields can quickly develop dense weed populations, making timely post-emergence herbicide applications essential. Post-emergence herbicides are a key component of corn weed management programs. Several factors should be considered to maximize efficacy and minimize crop injury, including corn growth stage, weed species composition, and the relative heights of both crop and weeds.
As corn plants grow taller, they become increasingly sensitive to herbicide injury — particularly when spray nozzles deliver herbicide directly into the plant whorl. Herbicide labels specify the maximum corn growth stage beyond which broadcast applications are not recommended, and these restrictions should be followed closely to reduce the risk of crop damage.
How to Determine Corn Growth Stage
- Post-emergence herbicide application restrictions in corn are based on the growth stage specified on product labels. Growth stage limitations are typically expressed as a maximum corn leaf stage, plant height, or both. When both criteria are provided, always follow the most restrictive limit.
- When mixing two or more herbicides in the tank, adhere to the most restrictive label requirements among all products included in the mix.
- Corn height is measured from the soil surface to the arch of the uppermost leaf that is more than 50% emerged.
- Corn leaf stage is determined by counting visible leaf collars. A collar appears as a distinct band at the base of the leaf where it attaches to the stem. Leaves still emerging from the whorl do not have a visible collar and should not be counted.
- Leaf stages are designated using a “V” (vegetative) system: The first true leaf, a short and rounded leaf near the soil surface, is counted as V1. Each additional visible leaf collar corresponds to the next stage (V2, V3, V4, etc.). Corn development progresses through these vegetative stages until approximately V18, just prior to tasseling.
The Bottom Line
- Follow the corn growth stage restrictions on the herbicide label. Applications made beyond the growth stage may result in crop injury.
- Environmental conditions influence the absorption of post-emergence herbicides and potential for crop injury. Apply herbicides only when both the crop and weeds are not under stress.
- Herbicide product labels should be followed regarding spray additives that are recommended for improved weed control.
- Do not apply post-emergence herbicides with foliar fertilizers.
- It is important to clean the spray tank to avoid potential crop injury due to spray tank contamination.
- Drop nozzles can be used in taller corn for better weed coverage and to avoid spraying directly into the whorl.
- If post-emergence herbicides are applied beyond the labeled growth stage, corn ear development can be affected.
- Before applying herbicide, verify that the hybrid’s trait package is compatible with the product.
For more information on the efficacy of herbicides, refer to Nebraska Extension NebGuide EC130, “Guide for Weed, Disease, and Insect Management in Nebraska”.
Source: Ankit Yadav - Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Amit Jhala - Professor and Associate Department Head, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture (CropWatch – June 17, 2022)
Strategic Deployment of Heat Abatement Strategies
The following is a list of strategies to reduce the impact of heat stress on cattle in the feedlot with suggestions for sequential deployment. Strategies listed under preparation are intended to be deployed early within 10 to 14 days of the initial heat event forecast. Strategies listed under remediation are intended to be deployed as the heat event proceeds.
Preparation
10-day weather or Mesonet forecasts are fairly accurate. Watch weather forecasts, start acting on preparation steps and be prepared to remediate the problem.
How so?
- Consider marketing finished or nearly finished cattle
- If unable to market, move finished cattle to pens deemed to be less prone to heat stress (pens with shade, greater wind exposure, greater water access, or where bedding may be delivered easily)
- Avoid receiving cattle during heat event
- Resist temptation to increase feed deliveries or simply reduce feed deliveries
- Increase forage in the diet: Use storm diets or diets with more roughage
- Avoid diets containing fat (adding fat to the diet leads to greater metabolic heat load)
- Assign heat remediation tasks to one lead individual in team. Empower this individual to delegate tasks to other individuals, as appropriate.
- Make plans to do any cattle processing before heat event
- Plan to conduct pen riding and sick cattle pulling in the early morning hours
- Remove any movable barriers to air flow
- If possible, set up shades, but only if 12 ft high and at least 16 square feet of space per head can be shaded
- Add and supply water stock tanks on fence lines away from existing water tanks
- If possible, set up sprinklers and turn them on ahead of heat event
- Plan to have additional water (accessing through local fire department or crop producers) and water wagons on hand
- Be prepared to focus remediation efforts on high-priority pens. What would be considered high priority pens?
- Cattle displaying one or more of these characteristics:
- Finished or near finished cattle
- Black cattle that haven't shed winter coats
- High intake cattle
- Cattle (pen mates) with previous history of digestive or respiratory illness
- Pens with poor wind movement (north slopes, wind breaks, in valleys)
- Pens with no shade
- Pens with restricted water access or poor water flow
- Pens with no sprinklers
Remediation - (In addition to preparation steps outlined above) with a focus on high-priority pens
- Conduct pen riding and cattle pulling in the early morning hours
- Retain sick or compromised cattle in bedded or shaded hospital pens
- If cattle processing, loading or unloading must occur, defer to cooler hours of the day
- Reduce morning feed delivery
- Resist increasing feed deliveries or lower feed deliveries
- Consider adding an extra 10 percentage units of roughage to finishing diet or continue feeding storm ration delivery (remove diets containing fat)
- Dam a segment of feed bunk and deliver water within this segment
- If practical, blow ground stalks or straw or roll out straw or stalk bales on pen surface to insulate heat reflection from pen surface (about 10 to 20 square feet per head)
Source: Alfredo DiCostanzo - Nebraska Extension Educator (BeefWatch – June 17, 2022)
News Release
Two-Part Webinar Series to Help Cow-Calf Producers Make Better Mineral Decisions
LINCOLN, Neb. - Selecting the right free-choice mineral program is an important part of cow-calf management but knowing whether a program truly meets cattle needs can be challenging. A two-part webinar series, Making the Most of Your Free-Choice Mineral Program, will help producers better understand mineral supplementation and provide practical tools for evaluating and improving their mineral programs.
The webinars will be held on July 13 and July 20, both starting at 8 p.m. Central Time. Participants are encouraged to attend both sessions, as the second webinar builds on concepts introduced in the first.
Registration is free. Participants can register at https://go.unl.edu/UNLMineralWebinar to receive the link to the webinars.
The series is designed for cow-calf producers, Extension educators, nutrition consultants, and anyone interested in improving mineral decision-making in cow-calf production systems.
The first webinar, Cow-Calf Mineral Basics, will provide the foundation for evaluating and selecting a mineral program. Topics include understanding mineral supplementation, recognizing how subclinical mineral deficiencies can affect cattle performance, identifying which minerals require consistent intake versus those stored in the body, and exploring common mineral challenges in cow-calf operations. Participants will also learn how forage testing can guide mineral decisions and why evaluating mineral interactions is just as important as considering individual mineral concentrations.
The second webinar, Meeting Needs and Managing Intake, will focus on applying mineral knowledge to practical management decisions. Participants will be introduced to a new mineral evaluation calculator that can be used to compare commercial mineral products or develop custom mineral formulations. The session will also include real-world examples and practical strategies for managing mineral intake in cow-calf herds.
Brought to you by University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with funding provided by the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program and the Iowa Beef Industry Council.