Dry edible beans such as pintos, great northern, and black beans are a very valuable commodity raised in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming, ranking Nebraska second, and Wyoming eighth in national dry bean production. However, hail and drought can easily reduce bean quality and the feasibility of harvest for the rigorous human consumption standards. So the question becomes, when dry edible beans are not suitable for human consumption, what options are available?
Local Interest
EXTENSION CREATES READ FOR RESILIENCE PROGRAM
In response to the March 13, 2019 disasters, Nebraska Extension’s The Learning Child team created the Read for Resilience program. The team identified nine children’s books to support their coping and understanding feelings after experiencing a disaster, loss and/or grief. Then team members developed reading guides to accompany the books to provide parents and caregivers with age-appropriate probing questions to explore children’s thoughts and feelings.
By Gary Stone, Extension Educator, Panhandle R&E Center, Scottsbluff
Nebraska Extension has been receiving many calls this summer about two weedy vines that have been found in shrubs, trees and fences. If left un-managed, they can smother out shrubs and trees by preventing the tree leaves from photosynthesizing and eventually killing them, especially evergreen trees.
The first is Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata), also known as balsam apple or mock cucumber. Wild cucumber is a native plant, an annual with a shallow root system that reproduces by seed. The vines are bright light green in color and will attach and climb on anything they can.
Dave Ostdiek, Communications Associate
Panhandle Research and Extension Center, Scottsbluff
Four high-school students from Scottsbluff and Bayard are spending their summers teaching elementary students, and in the process learning a few things themselves.
They are participants in the Teens as Teachers program, sponsored by Nebraska Extension and in its third year in Scotts Bluff, second year in Morrill, and a handful of other counties in Nebraska.
Karla Wilke Cow/Calf, Stocker Management Specialist
Panhandle Research and Extension Center
The July 17, 2019 breach of the Gering-Fort Laramie canal left over 100,000 acres of irrigated crops in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska without water. Without irrigation water and adequate rainfall, taking the corn to full maturity and grain production may not be the best option for the crop.
Producers with a corn crop impacted by the canal breach may want to consider making corn silage out of this year’s crop. There are several things to consider when making the decision to make silage.
Rural Stress
Stress has become a fact of life for farm families. A number of factors are behind this: low commodity prices; shifting international trade outlook; and damage and obstacles created by storms, floods, and other natural disasters. There’s added stress this summer in Scotts Bluff and Goshen counties from the loss of irrigation water to more than 100,000 acres of crops due to the collapse of the Fort Laramie Canal tunnel. But there are resources to help farm families address problems caused by stress.
Susan Harris-Broomfield, Nebraska Extension Educator, Rural Health, Wellness, & Safety
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2020 Master Gardener training
November 7, 2019Lincoln, Neb. — Nebraska Extension is offering Master Gardener training throughout the state in 2020. The Nebraska EMG program is a horticulture-related volunteer training program based in many counties and has been part of Nebraska Extension since 1976.
4th annual Nebraska Grower and Brewer Conference & Trade Show
November 6, 2019November 6, 2019
Lincoln, Neb. — The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has announced the dates for the fourth annual Nebraska Grower and Brewer Conference and Trade Show. The two-day conference will be held Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 27-28, 2020, at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney, Nebraska.