Local Interest

By Dr. Michelle Krehbiel, Nebraska Extension 4-H Youth Development

“I don’t like this!”

Children or youth might say this during a heated game, when being asked to correct unwanted behavior or when plans change. Young people who were looking forward to milestones like field days, end of school year celebrations, prom, or graduation, have reason to believe that life can be sad, frustrating, and difficult. How can nurturing adults help young people cope with these emotions and equip them with the skills they need to be caring, connected, and capable adults?

Here is the weekly crop of Master Gardener tips from Nebraska Extension in the Panhandle. These tips are relevant to local lawn and garden issues in the High Plains and follow research-based recommendations. This week’s tips come from Britni Schmaltz, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Planting dates: Have you caught spring fever? Each winter, most gardeners eagerly look forward to getting back in the garden and sprucing up their landscape. Don’t get too ahead of yourself. The average last spring frost date for our zone is May 10th. Meaning, unless sowing cool season crops, vegetable transplants and annuals should wait to be transferred outdoors until Mother’s Day or after.

Robert M. Harveson, Extension Plant Pathologist Panhandle R&E Center, Scottsbluff

In a March article, I initiated the proposal that two major factors were responsible for the United States to consider producing and utilizing domestic sugarbeet seed rather than depending upon Europe as the seed source.

I hypothesized that the first factor was the first World War. Seeds were generally unavailable between 1914 and 1918 because the majority of the seeds previously used came from war-ravaged France and Germany.

By Jackie Guzman - Learning Child Educator, Nebraska Extension in Scotts Bluff County

When parents or grandparents find themselves working from home with kids, your work world is bound to collide with your family life.

If your first several weeks working remotely were like mine, you have been joining your colleagues online for meetings while at the same time tending to children – children up and down off parents’ laps, little voices or crying in the background. Fortunately, my remote team is an early childhood group.  There were just chuckles and empathy from those on the other end of the camera.

Here is the weekly crop of Master Gardener tips from Nebraska Extension in the Panhandle. These tips are relevant to local lawn and garden issues in the High Plains, and follow research-based recommendations. This week’s tips come from Kathy Tando, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Turfgrass selection: Want to have a lawn that will “keeping going” like the energizer bunny for years to come? Your best bet comes from selecting from the best turfgrasses that are well adapted to our local soil and environmental conditions. If the turfgrass is locally adapted it will tolerate the stress of the varying weather conditions of the panhandle and be less likely damaged by insects that can be a nuisance here.

The Yonts Water Conference is full of information about water in the North Platte Valley of western Nebraska – how a huge surface-water irrigation project developed more than a century ago; the groundwater that it generates, now a major source of water for irrigation and other uses; how water is managed; and the 2020 outlook for water and weather during the crop season.

All this information can be accessed any time, for free, at the Yonts Conference website. The conference was conceived as a daylong event in Gering, but was moved online to provide the same information while allowing for social distancing.

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Nebraska Equine Extension to host a second “Race Nebraska” Seminar

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The passing of the Racetrack Gaming Act through a Nebraska 2020 ballot referendum has caused an expansion in horse racing. A series of educational seminars by Nebraska Extension’s equine program have been developed to help those interested in becoming more involved in the industry.

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Poll: Rural Nebraskans are increasingly pessimistic about present, future

September 18, 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.

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Jansen discusses farmland valuations with RFD-TV

September 18, 2023

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.

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Nebraska Pulse Crops Conference scheduled at two locations

September 14, 2023
The 2023 Nebraska Pulse Crops Conference will focus on field peas, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, and other pulses.

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