Local Interest
As temperatures begin to warm up, I notice many fields covered with purple henbit flowers in Southeast Nebraska. Henbit is one of the most common winter annual weeds in the region, along with weeds like downy brome, field pennycress, marestail, tansy mustard, and prickly lettuce.
In the past year, Nebraska Extension has hired seven Water & Cropping Systems Extension Educators across the state. One of the most impactful roles for a Water & Cropping Systems Educator is to work with growers in their areas to conduct on-farm research. As a result of these new hires, there are great opportunities for farmers to engage with new Educators and grow the on-farm research base in many areas across the state where Educator positions have been vacant for several years. We are part of this new group of Educators, and we are very eager to develop on-farm research studies in our accountability regions in southeast Nebraska. Ritika covers Nemaha, Johnson, Pawnee, and Richardson counties, and John covers Lancaster, Cass, and Otoe.