Local Interest
2025 ProHort Lawn and Landscape Update
A workshop for nursery & green industry professionals, public works employees, landscape managers, arborists, cemetery, and other groundskeepers. ISA and NAA CEU credits available.
The ProHort Lawn & Landscape Update is being held in Scottsbluff at the Panhandle Research Extension & Education Center, Wednesday, February 12 (Lunch included, registration requested by February 5).
Cost: $35.00 per person. For more information and to register: go.unl.edu/ProHort by registration deadline.
Topics:
- Common Customer Plant Problems
- Common Woody Plants Pests and Their Management
- Common Pest & Abiotic Turf Issues
- Right Plant? Nope, Try This!
For questions, contact Emily Stine at estine2@unl.edu or 308-632-1480.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is set to launch a new Master Irrigator program, providing Nebraska growers with a platform to connect with the latest agricultural innovations and conservation practices.
The program will begin in February with design summits offering an introduction to the initiative and allowing Nebraska growers to shape its future direction.
The goal of the Nebraska Master Irrigator program is to provide farmers with locally relevant insights into innovations from industry, policy, and research.
The goal of the program is to meet the needs of the state’s top irrigators, said Derek McLean, dean and director of UNL’s Agricultural Research Division. Nebraska’s Master Irrigator program will cater to those seeking to elevate their fields to the next level. Topics will include leveraging new technologies, implementing conservation and regenerative practices, navigating current events, and managing the complexities of modern farming.
The meeting in Scottsbluff is being held March 6 and is open to the public.
For more information or to register, visit go.unl.edu/master_irrigator.
High Plains Ag Lab annual research update scheduled for February 11
What issues are challenging crop and livestock producers in the High Plains region? What research are land-grant universities doing to address these issues? What lies on the horizon for ag in the High Plains?
A public meeting entitled “Dryland Production in the High Plains” in Sidney on February 11, 2025 will address these questions and related topics.
The morning agenda will be full of topics of broad interest in agriculture, highlighting work recently completed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s High Plains Ag Lab (HPAL). Lunch will be provided for all attendees. Following lunch, the annual meeting of the advisory committee for HPAL will take place. All are welcome to attend the committee meeting and offer suggestions for future research topics.
The meeting will feature speakers with updates on research going on at HPAL and updates on emerging issues of concern to agriculture in the High Plains. Updates on alternative crops, crop rotations, wheat stem sawfly, crop fertility, and more will be shared. The latest results from crop and livestock research at HPAL, and administrative and business updates will also be shared.
The morning session on Dryland Production in the High Plains will start with coffee and doughnuts at 8:30 a.m. at the Western Nebraska Community College Sidney Campus located at 371 S College Dr, Sidney, NE. The program will start at 9 a.m.
The public is welcome. Contact Dr. Cody Creech with any questions at ccreech2@unl.edu
Mark your calendars for the annual HPAL Field Day on June 11, beginning at 9 a.m.
Calculating the annual cost of cows in 2025
By Aaron Berger, Nebraska Extension Livestock Educator
The 2025 year is starting off with extremely strong prices for calves, feeder cattle, and fed cattle. The Nebraska Extension will host the Calculating Annual Cow Costs webinar series on Monday and Thursday evenings, February 17, 20, 24, 27, March 3, and 6 from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CST to assist producers. The interactive program will explain the fundamentals of knowing and calculating annual cow costs.
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ServSafe Manager is an 8-hour food safety training and certification course. This course is designed for restaurant owners, managers, food handlers, dieticians, and dietary managers.
- Protect your customers from food-born illness & improve food quality
- reduce liability risks
- improve profitability & give your business a competitive edge
- course includes: food microbiology, sanitary food handling & storage, personal health hygiene & housekeeping, and pest control & safety precedures
A course is being offered in Scottsbluff at the Panhandle Research Extension & Education Center on May 13, 2025 from 9:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Register 3 weeks prior to course date, $140 (all materials received at time of class), $150 (class manual mailed prior to class).
Register at go.unl.edu/westservsafe. Servsafe Food safety training registration opens January 1, 2025.
For more information, contact Brenda Aufdenkamp 308-532-2683 or baufdenkamp1@unl.edu.
By Gary Stone | Extension Water & Cropping Systems Educator / Jessica Groskopf | Extension Agricultural Economics Educator / John Thomas | Extension Water & Cropping Systems Educator / Xin Qiao | Irrigation & Water Management Specialist
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in conjunction with the Goshen Irrigation District, Gering-Fort Laramie Irrigation District, and HDR Engineering, held public meetings on January 8 at the Scotts Bluff County fairgrounds and on January 9 at the Fort Laramie Community Center.
New 4-H program will bring STEAM to area students
By Chabella Guzman, PREEC Communications
This winter, kindergarteners to middle schoolers in Scottsbluff and the surrounding area will benefit from a recently awarded Beyond School Bells, Think Make Create (TMC) Lab. The mobile trailer lab is designed to meet Nebraska’s rural Expanded Learning Opportunity (ELO) programs. The Nebraska Extension 4-H received a grant from the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation for the trailer.
