Local Interest

Tammie Ostdiek, UNL Extension Educator, Morrill County

In the early months of the pandemic, non-perishable foods like dry beans were flying off grocery store shelves. If you still have some packaged dry beans in your pantry, winter is the perfect time to prepare them.

While canned beans are cooked and ready to be heated, served, or used in recipes, packaged dry beans need to be cooked to a palatable texture. For best results, it helps to understand the variables involved with cooking dry beans.

Cooking time depends on the type of beans and the seed variety the farmer plants. Generally, smaller beans will cook faster.

Gary Stone, Nebraska Extension Educator Water and Cropping Systems

This is the second in a six-part series of articles covering basic water law in the United States, predominately in the western part of the country, and how it affects this finite resource. Water law has a long history. It 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 the 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. 

Gary Stone, Nebraska Extension Educator Water and Cropping Systems

This the first in a six-part series of articles covering basic water law in the United States, predominately in the western part of the country, and how it affects this finite resource.

Water law has a long history. It 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 the 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.

Whether or not we work in agriculture, in rural Nebraska and other farming and ranching areas, agriculture provides us with some of the first signs of spring. We have all smiled at newborn baby calves bucking, head butting each other, and running with their tails sticking straight out. But those who aren’t farmers or ranchers, or otherwise involved in agriculture, might wonder what “calving season” is and why it is such a big deal to the men and women of agriculture. Driving by those playing calves, they might not realize all that goes into making sure those babies get a good, healthy start.

Nevin Lawrence, UNL Integrated Weed Management Specialist
Mitch Stephenson, UNL Range Management Specialist

 

This article appears in the November BeefWatch online newsletter at UNL’s beef production website, https://beef.unl.edu. A new BeefWatch is posted every month, and interviews with the authors of BeefWatch newsletter articles become available throughout the month of publication and are accessible at https://go.unl.edu/podcast.

Two recent articles on rangeland weed control were published on CropWatch which may be of interest to Nebraska ranchers.

By Tammie Ostdiek
Extension Educator – Food, Nutrition and Health

Preparing for holiday meals this year may look different for many people, as we consider celebrating in smaller family groups due to COVID-19. Some people may be preparing turkey for the first time. Follow these basic turkey recommendations for food safety. 

Things to do ahead of time:

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