The Nebraska Department of Agriculture and Nebraska Extension are encouraging produce vendors, nurseries, beekeepers, organic growers and other businesses that could be affected by chemical drift to avoid inadvertent drift by registering their specialty crops and beehives on-line with DriftWatch/Beecheck website.
Local Interest
Crops growing in the numerous small plots at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center this summer will include the usual assortment of dry beans, corn, sugar beets, peas and various alternative crops. In their midst, one small plot has rows of plants that look like the dandelions in local yards.
In fact, they are dandelions of a different type. Their roots produce rubber, and this test plot is part of a multi-state collaborative project to see if rubber and biofuels can be grown and processed in the United States from dandelions. The project is titled Biofuel and Rubber Research and their Agricultural Linkages (BARRAL).
Scotch thistle (also known as Cotton thistle, Heraldic thistle, Scotch cotton thistle (Onopordum acanthium L.), introduced into the United States from Eurasia as an ornamental plant in the 1800s, is a non-native biennial forb from the sunflower family, but it can behave as an annual or short-lived perennial.
By Gary Stone, Extension Educator, Panhandle Extension District
Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) is a concept to identify potentially invasive species prior to or just as the establishment of the invasive is taking place. An Integrated Pest Management plan (IPM) can be developed to manage, contain and eradicate the invasive species before it can spread further. This will avoid costly, long-term control efforts.
The devastation Nebraska has experienced these past few months is unimaginable. Communities and people’s lives have changed forever. Though not the highest priority, one item that should be addressed in the near future is the chance that invasive plants may show up in areas that have never had them before.
By Dave Ostdiek, Communications Associate
UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center
As a growing population competes for available freshwater supplies, depletion of groundwater aquifers will be a growing challenge to water policy managers in the United States. Adopting policies to address this issue is a matter of understanding the causes and the local hydrology, then choosing a policy that fits water-management goals.
These are some of the lessons that emerge from a recent issue paper published by a national science policy group. The paper is based partly on experience and expertise from western Nebraska. It highlights a case study of what happened in the Panhandle when over-development caused aquifer depletion along a stream.
By Gary Stone, Extension Educator, Panhandle Extension District
Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) is a concept to identify potential invasive species prior to or just as the establishment of the invasive is taking place. An Integrated Pest Management plan (IPM) can be developed to manage, contain and eradicate the invasive species before it can spread further. This will avoid costly, long-term control efforts.
A native species that has become a major problem in Panhandle and Sandhills rangeland is Marestail or Horseweed, a native annual forb also known as Canadian horseweed and Canada fleabane.
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Sugar beets begin harvest, but water still necessary for maturing crops
September 4, 2024
Western Sugar began its early harvest on Monday, Sept. 2, and sugar beets are beginning to pile up in the yard before heading into the factory for slicing and processing.
“We’ve been running for a day and a half, and our sugar content is 15.4, a record high for this time of year,” said Jerry Darnell, Vice President of Agriculture, South Region for Western Sugar. He contributed the high sugar content to some good growing degree days, the herbicide Goltix, and sugar beet seed CR+, which helped with Cercospora.
Nebraska Extension offering workshop on tax planning for farms and ranches
September 4, 2024
Lincoln, Neb. —Nebraska Extension will host an Introduction to Schedule F, Tax Planning for Farms and Ranches Workshop on Thursday, September 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Scottsbluff at the Panhandle Research Extension and Education Center, 4502 Avenue I.
“Farmers and ranchers, especially new and beginning producers, often have questions about tax planning for their business,” said Jessica Groskopf, Extension Educator. “This workshop will provide you with the basic information you need when filing a Schedule F.”
Nebraska in the national news: August 2024
September 4, 2024
A trio of University of Nebraska–Lincoln political scientists were interviewed by national media outlets in August. The stories were among 30-plus national news stories featuring Husker faculty, staff, centers and programs during the month.
Nebraska Extension’s program receives NIFA Grant to support STEM Education for at-risk youth
August 29, 2024
Lincoln, Neb. — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension has been awarded a five-year grant from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) Program.
CYFAR is a national initiative developed to meet locally identified needs, through quality research-based programs for vulnerable, at-risk, low-income, and low-resource children, youth, and families to promote positive life outcomes.