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Office hours are Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hours may vary on observed holidays.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detected in Nebraska Poultry
NDA press release with more information. Please contact the NDA with questions or concerns.
Upcoming Events
2024 Private Pesticide Applicator Training Options in Southeast Nebraska
Saline, Gage, and Jefferson training dates will be posted on this page soon.
Options for Private Applicator Certification/Recertification
In-person Training
2025 in-person training sessions If you don’t see trainings in your area, check back, dates are added daily.
If you are recertifying, please bring your Nebraska Department of Agriculture Letter with you to the training. This letter will have a barcode that is needed for recertification. If you don’t have your barcode, please bring your Pesticide License Number.
- Option 1 ($60 fee): In-Person Training hosted by Nebraska Extension – all 2025 locations available at https://edmedia.wufoo.com/reports/2025-psep-private-training-dates/
Online Training
Private applicators can certify or recertify by completing one of our online private self-study programs. These courses are open all year. However, once you begin a course, you must complete it by December 31 to receive certification credit and avoid paying a new registration fee.
($60 fee): Online training – Visit https://pested.unl.edu/ or call the Pesticide Safety Education Program at 402-472-1632 for more details on how to sign-up/pay/navigate in the training website.
- Online private self-study program
- Programa de autoaprendizaje en línea para aplicador privado de pesticida
NOTICE: If you enroll in an online private applicator training program in 2024, you must finish it by December 31, 2024, to receive certification credit. You will not be able to recover your progress after that date. The 2025 online private applicator training programs will become available on January 1, 2025.
Help with Online Training
- Navigating the online private self-study program (YouTube video)
Nebraska Extension's Crop Clinics
Nebraska Extension's Crop Production Clinics take place in January. Private applicators can certify or recertify by attending one of these full-day programs.
($95 fee): Attending one of the 2025 Crop Production Clinics – this is a full day training that covers a visit https://agronomy.unl.edu/cpc for more registration/information.
Private Applicator Exam
Private applicators have the option to certify or recertify by passing a private applicator exam. The NDA offers walk-in exam sessions throughout the year. Find an exam session near you.
2025 Crop Production Clinics
Practical, profitable, environmentally sound, high-impact training for agricultural professionals and producers focusing on:
Soil Fertility
Soil Water & Irrigation
Insect Pests
Plant Diseases
Weeds
Cropping Systems
Agribusiness Management and Marketing
We are excited to invite you to our 2025 NE Soil Health Conferences! Join us to explore key topics in sustainable agriculture, including Carbon Stocks, Crop-Livestock Integration, Nitrogen Management, and Cover Crop Resources. Gain insights from leading experts and discover practical strategies for enhancing soil health. More details and registration information can be found by clicking the image above or https://cropwatch.unl.edu/soil-health-program/events
Upcoming Programming:
December 3, 2024 - Economic Shockwaves: Challenges & Opportunities featuring Dr. David Kohl - Opera House in Bruning with registration at 12:45 and the program starting at 1:00 p.m.
January 21, 2025—Cow/Calf College—U.S. Meat Animal Research Center near Clay Center. Registration will be at 10 a.m., and the program will run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
February 21, 2025 - '25 Crop Insurance & the Farm Program with Steve Johnson and Weather Update
Registration is not required but is appreciated for planning purposes.
Timely Topics
Nebraska Farm Custom Rates
A survey of agricultural custom operators is conducted in Nebraska every two years. A total of 159 survey responses were received in 2024 with information reflecting the current rates charged by custom operators for machine hire services and other work they provide for neighboring farms and ranches or as part of a business enterprise that covers a broader area. Survey participants identified by Nebraska Extension personnel, or in some cases, self-identified custom operators, received a paper survey or a web link to complete the custom rates survey online.
Actual rates paid for custom services may vary from those listed in these survey results due to differences in the operators responding and those providing services across the State. This report provides a summary of State averages for specific custom operations in Table 1. More detailed information covering the results of the custom rates survey by Nebraska Agricultural Statistical Districts is provided in two parts. Part I of the survey focused on spring and summer farm and ranch operations such as planting, tillage, and baling hay. Part II of the custom rates survey included questions about fall operations such as harvesting, hauling grain and livestock, as well as miscellaneous custom work activities on the farm.
Nebraska Farmland Values and Cash Rental Rates
The Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights 2023-2024 publication was created for educational purposes to provide insight into recent trends in agricultural land values and rental rates across Nebraska. Agricultural land values and rental rates in the report represent averages for different regions of the state. Actual agricultural land values or rental rates for an individual parcel in Nebraska will vary from reported figures depending on the area's quality attributes and local market forces. Agricultural land values and rental rates for this publication were obtained by surveying expert panel members engaged in agricultural land and rental markets throughout Nebraska.
The panel members’ validity relies on their expertise and accuracy, and the authors do not make any guarantees as to their qualifications or the reliability of their responses. While survey responses were examined to eliminate obviously erroneous data, no further effort was made to verify or corroborate the data independently. Physical attributes such as location, soil type, topography, or depth of water may affect the value of a given real property, causing the value to deviate substantially from what may be considered normal for the area.
Also, local market forces, such as the competitive nature of an area, and local government policies, such as restrictions on the use of water, all have the ability to greatly impact agricultural land values or rental rates. In addition, variations exist within reporting Districts that may cause real estate values and rental rates to differ substantially within the region. For example, the North reporting district spans almost 200 miles from east to west. Precipitation in Nebraska decreases, on average, one inch for every 25 miles a person travels westward, resulting in a possible decline of eight inches from the eastern side of this district to the west. An eight-inch difference in precipitation for a semi-arid region will substantially change the value and rental rates for crop and range ground. Due to the inherent limitations of this survey, some of which are listed above, information in this report should not be used to set a specific rental rate or value for a particular parcel of real property for sale or property taxes, security for a loan, and other related legal matters.
