Panhandle Agricultural Research and Technology Tour - Plus

These are recorded presentations from the Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center virtual field day, the “Panhandle Agricultural Research and Technology Tour – Plus” (PARTT Plus) on Dec. 1-2, 2020. PARTT Plus supplemented the in-person PARTT field day held in August 2020. In the videos below, the sppeakers present updates on research they have been actively pursuing and completing during 2020.

Support from PARTT Plus comes from University of Nebraska – Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nebraska Dry Bean Commission, and 21st Century.

Keynote: South African Agriculture: Research and Technologies

Dr. R.J. Pretorius is a former student of Dr. Jeff Bradshaw and works at the Central University of Technology in the Free State of South Africa. His presentation on South African Agriculture: Research and Technologies introduces the diversity of agricultural production, examines the status of agricultural research, and highlights several projects that are ongoing in various regions of the Free State of South Africa. His presentation includes a discussion with speaker host Dr. Jeff Bradshaw about the current funding sources for a variety of current agricultural products, the challenges of production in an arid environment, seed breeding efforts and pest management techniques in the Free State in comparison to the US.

South African Agriculture

Ag Economics Update

Jessica Groskopf is the Ag Economics Extension Educator at the Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center. Her presentation regarding the Ag Economics Update for December 2020 examines the current (as of December 1, 2020) economic status of agricultural markets. She makes a series of recommendations for producers to take into consideration when making decisions including the evaluation of current fiscal status, being cautious of information overload and accounting for supplemental support payments that farms received. She explains the changes to the 2021 portion of the Farm Bill, the need for lease and rental agreements and encourages producers to get in touch with their accountants early. Her presentation concludes with a brief question and answer session during which she highlights some available resources to producers and encourages those who want more information to contact her to schedule a discussion.

Grain Marketing Update

On-Farm Research Update: Direct Harvest Research 2020

John Thomas is the Cropping Systems Extension Educator at the Box Butte County Extension Center. His presentation covers the results of the 2020 dry edible bean direct harvest research conducted via on-farm trials. He explains the pinto bean population studies performed in Morrill and Box Butte counties, an inoculation trial in Box Butte county and the Great Northern bean population studies in Sheridan county. He also describes the benefits and challenges to implementing direct harvest into dry edible bean cropping systems and highlighted the ideal plant architecture for direct harvest and methods to check harvest loss. His presentation concluded with a discussion with host Dr. Bob Harveson about changes to existing harvest practices and future directions for his research.  On-Farm Research Update - Direct Harvest

Irrigation Research Update

Dr. Xin Qiao is the Water and Irrigation Management Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation provides an update on several 2020 research projects focused on irrigation management. He provides a follow-up to the yield analysis for fields impacted by the Gering-Fort Laramie Irrigation Canal breach in 2019 and a highlight of the disease monitoring system for cercospora leaf spot in sugar beets built with Dr. Bob Harveson. His presentation highlights the treatments and results from their irrigation strategies with premature irrigation cut-off, along with the inclusion of soil amendments to maximize irrigation results. His session concludes with a discussion with Dr. Jeff Bradshaw, including updated data results and analysis from the 2020 growing season.   Irrigation Research Update

Potential UNL Dry Bean Breeding Line Releases

Dr. Carlos Urrea is the Dry Edible Bean Breeding Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation focuses on the breeding work completed in 2020, including highlighting a few specific Great Northern bean and Pinto bean lines that show promise for future releases in comparison to past lines in terms of yield, disease resistance and drought resistance. Finally, he highlights the two cultivars he has released: The Great Northern bean cultivars ‘Panhandle Pride’ and ‘Coyne’. His presentation concludes with a question-and-answer session with Dr. Nevin Lawrence, where they discuss the intricacies of bean breeding and chickpea cultivar development.  

Potential New UNL Dry Bean Breeding Line Releases

Research Update on Managing the Calf in a Confinement Production System

Dr. Karla Jenkins is the Cow-Calf and Stocker Management Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Her presentation provides an in-season update to her research, including what confinement feeding might look like to different producers, how weaning times and feeding techniques impact calf weight gain and a summary of the costs of following a similar program. Her session concludes with a discussion with Dr. Bob Harveson about the challenges in this type of research, the adaptability of a program like this for producers and other resources available at beef.unl.edu.

Managing Calves in Confinement Production System

Pathology of New Pulse Crops

Dr. Bob Harveson is the Plant Pathologist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation highlights the vast variety of diseases found in pulse crops in the Panhandle, including Ascochyta blight, bacterial wilt, root rots, and unidentified viral infections. He also describes a few different chemicals used to manage these diseases in conjunction with other management strategies, recaps the conclusions drawn from 2018 and 2019 and identifies future and ongoing directions for his program. His presentation concludes with a discussion hosted by Dr. Jeff Bradshaw including the general tenants of identification of viral and bacterial infections and testing different cultivars of pulse crops for disease resistance.  Pathology of New Pulse Crops

Soil and Nutrient Management in Sugarbeet (Dry Bean and Corn)

Dr. Bijesh Maharjan is the Soil and Nutrient Management Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center.  His presentation covers his research on how applied nitrogen interacts with the crops, soil fertility trials in sugar beet and the loss of nitrogen to Beet Topsoil Flume (BTF) during harvest.  After his presentation, he and Dr. Nevin Lawrence discuss yield impacts of the fertility trials in more depth, the potential changes to fertility recommendations and future research directions.

Soil and Nutrient Management in Sugarbeet

Controlling Palmer Amaranth without Reflex

Dr. Nevin Lawrence is the Integrated Weed Management Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation covers the research on palmer amaranth weeds in dry edible beans with several treatments to account for the potential and expected loss of the crucial herbicide Reflex. Following his presentation, he and Dr. Bob Harveson go more into depth on how palmer amaranth came to be such an issue in the Panhandle, and how to potentially manage herbicide resistance in dry edible beans with palmer amaranth. 

Controlling Palmer Amaranth without Reflex

Using Targeted Cattle Grazing on Cheatgreass-invaded Rangelands

Dr. Mitch Stephenson is the Range and Forage Management Specialist at the Panahandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation covers his research on using specifically timed cattle grazing to control rangeland infested with cheatgrass. He covers how GPS trackers on the cattle and fecal DNA tests combined with a regular assessment of plant species and growth enabled the modeling of when the cattle were grazing on cheatgrass infested rangeland. After his presentation, he and Dr. Jeff Bradshaw discuss how cows make their decisions to feed on specific plants, how this integrates into weed management and how this technique could be used by producers as part of their management strategy. Using Targeted Grazing on Cheatgrass

Nitrate and Uranium Water Quality Issues in the Southern Nebraska Panhandle

Steve Sibray is the Groundwater Hydrogeologist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation covers groundwater and nitrate and uranium levels, guiding viewers through where the nitrate and uranium come from, how they infiltrate into the water and how agriculture irrigation correlates to the development of these deposits. After his presentation, he speaks with Dr. Nevin Lawrence and goes more in depth on how Geiger counters detect uranium deposits, whether there are concerns for homeowners in the area, and what his plans are as he nears retirement.  

Nitrate and Uranium Water Quality Issues in Nebraska Panhandle

A Dry Bean-Wheat Relay Cropping System

Dr. Jeff Bradshaw is the Interim Director and the Entomology Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation examines the potential benefits and costs are for insect management and harvest in a relay system where both wheat and dry edible beans are planted in the same field. Following his presentation, he talks with Dr. Bob Harveson about aphid populations, how the different methods of tracing predatory insects fared, and whether or not this could be a truly viable system in the Nebraska Panhandle. Dry Bean-Wheat Relay Cropping System

Alternative Crops for Nebraska: Mint

Dr. Dipak Santra is the Alternative Crops Breeding Specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. His presentation focuses on the development of mint as a potential alternative crop for producers in the Nebraska Panhandle region. He describes the difference between peppermint and spearment with regard to the yield, oil analysis and growth patterns and explained how they may be a viable alternative crop for producers. After his presentation, he speaks to Dr. Jeff Bradshaw about the practicalities of planting this crop, the benefits to producers and future directions for this project.

Mint as Alternative Crop for Nebraska Panhandle