More than 600 elementary students from around the area got a hands-on education recently about Nebraska agriculture.
The young learners spent the day rotating through stops about corn, soybeans, pigs, dry edible beans, wheat, beef cattle, irrigation, dairy, ag careers, and ag technology. Educators and assistants from Nebraska Extension led the activities. Some of what the students learned:
Bob Harveson embarked on his career as a plant pathologist in the mid-1980s, which in 1999 took him to Scottsbluff as a specialist on the faculty at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center.
But before switching to science, Harveson earned a bachelor’s degree in history, and now the two interests are coming together in the form of a book he has authored, “A Century of Plant Pathology in Nebraska.”
The 114-page book was published in December 2020 by Zea Books of Lincoln (published by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries). The publication date coincided with the centennial year of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Plant Pathology.
Gary Stone, Nebraska Extension Educator Water and Cropping Systems
Part 6 of a series about basic water law in the United States, predominately in the western part of the country, and how it affects this finite resource. Water law can be traced back to Roman times and also has roots in English common law. Across the United States, it varies from state to state, and from East to West. When conflicts arise, courts usually determine the outcome, unless there are state or federal laws or previous case studies to resolve the issue. Exceptions to the law can arise from differences in each state’s water laws.
Part 1: Basic concepts and legal terms, including riparian doctrine and prior appropriation.
Nebraska Extension and Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health, have announced plans for the annual “tractor safety” training courses scheduled at 5 sites across Nebraska in early June. Students will complete the first day of the course online through the eXtension Foundation Campus website. After successfully completing the online course and testing, the required driving test will be offered at five locations across Nebraska June 7-11, 2021. The local driving test will take place at the Legacy of the Plains Museum on June 8.
Carlos Urrea, Dry Edible Bean Breeding Specialist
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research and Extension Center, Scottsbluff
The University of Nebraska Dry Bean Breeding Program has announced the development of two new dry edible bean varieties, one a great northern bean suitable for direct harvest and the other a slow-darkening pinto bean variety with longer shelf life. Both new varieties could be available for planting in growers’ fields as early as 2022 or 2023.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents to the 2023 Nebraska Rural Poll indicated they are worse off than they were five years ago, up from 21% last year and 11% in 2021.
In Nebraska, ag land values are up about 14 percent over last year, mirroring a nationwide rise in ag real estate prices. Click through to watch Jim Jansen, an agricultural systems economist with Nebraska Extension, talk with RFD-TV about the impact of valuations.