Local Interest

Thurston County Office Manager Description - (Full-time) Application review on October 10, 2023. Position open until filled.

To apply, contact Jennifer Hansen at jhansen6@unl.edu or 402-385-6041.
Cover letter, resume, and references may be sent to Nebraska Extension in Thurston County, 415 Main Street, PO Box 665, Pender, NE 68047.

The Office Manager position is county funded with employee benefits avaialbe. Thurston County is an equal opportunity employer.

Nebraska 4-H Summer Camps

Big Red Summer Academic Camps

Adventure Day Camp - June 2, 2023 (Hosted by Cuming County 4-H, Camp located in West Point, NE) - go.unl.edu/adventureday

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County (Week of July 25, 2022)

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator (Week of July 18, 2022)

If it were a simple matter of having outdoor spaces populated by plants Japanese beetles (JB) do not like to eat, we’d have less feeding damage to our favorite plants.  At 300 plus plant species they feed on, however, that quickly becomes a tall order. Typically, in the first year JB are found in an area, the amount of feeding damage is relatively low.  In the second and third years of infestation, however, their numbers are so high that it feels like an invasion!

Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator Dodge County (Week of July 11, 2022)

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator (Week of July 4, 2022)

There is a great line in the first Jurassic Park movie when Ellie, the character played by Laura Dern, says, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Plants can be pretty but will defend themselves if threatened.”  Assuredly, not all plants are sweet and accommodating. Of course, there are plants that throw in their lot with humans, giving people fruits and vegetables for food, fiber for textiles, and medicines for health. We manipulate plants to get what we need, and we aid their survival by saving seed and propagating plants.  It begs the question, though, are we manipulating plants or are they manipulating us?

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Unveiling of Historic Knorr-Holden Plot Signboard

September 25, 2023
Started in 1912, the Knorr-Holden Plot near Scottsbluff is perhaps the world’s oldest irrigated continuous corn research plot. It was recently commemorated with a sign to mark its significance to both Nebraska history and agricultural research history in Nebraska.

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Nebraska Equine Extension to host a second “Race Nebraska” Seminar

September 22, 2023
The passing of the Racetrack Gaming Act through a Nebraska 2020 ballot referendum has caused an expansion in horse racing. A series of educational seminars by Nebraska Extension’s equine program have been developed to help those interested in becoming more involved in the industry.

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Poll: Rural Nebraskans are increasingly pessimistic about present, future

September 18, 2023

Twenty-seven percent of respondents to the 2023 Nebraska Rural Poll indicated they are worse off than they were five years ago, up from 21% last year and 11% in 2021.

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Jansen discusses farmland valuations with RFD-TV

September 18, 2023

In Nebraska, ag land values are up about 14 percent over last year, mirroring a nationwide rise in ag real estate prices. Click through to watch Jim Jansen, an agricultural systems economist with Nebraska Extension, talk with RFD-TV about the impact of valuations.

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