Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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Spring is just around the corner and it’s time to consider planting the garden. Most of us already know what we want to plant. But there are a number of items you should consider before selecting cultivars for direct seeding, growing your own transplants, or purchasing transplants from your local garden center. The first consideration is the variety choice: either a proven variety for the area or an “All-American” cultivar that has been grown and tested across the United States. They are generally widely adapted and will provide a quali...
Farm Credit Services of America has announced that eligible customer-owners in 13 counties in the Panhandle of Nebraska and Southeast Wyoming will receive checks this month totaling $3,019,000 – their share of the financial cooperative’s record $160 million cash-back dividend for 2014. FCSAmerica has distributed a portion of its net earnings to eligible customer-owners for each of the past 11 years, returning a total of nearly $1 billion in cash-back dividends to farmers, ranchers and their local communities. The share returned to cus...
The path to soil health has many stops along the way to obtaining a live, vibrant and functioning soil. Each of us will find a resting point along this pathway and may settle into a comfortable spot along the way. I think it is very encouraging that those of us in production agriculture are even thinking and talking about our journey down the path to soil health. Our farm’s journey began many years ago and we didn’t even know it at the time. We switched our operation from a conventionally tilled crop production system to a no-till crop pro...
The District is beginning the process of review and evaluation of its ground water management in preparation to set ground water allocations for irrigators over the next allocation period (2016-2018). The 2015 growing season marks the end of the second allocation period the District has imposed after beginning to use allocations as part of its ground water management practices. The board of directors felt this was a necessary step after seeing ground water levels drop drastically, in some instances more than 30 feet, from historic levels. The...
After listening to various speakers over the past month at the no-till conferences I attended, it became pretty obvious that we are working with degraded soils on our farms and ranches. The soils we work with now are not the same quality of soil that was present when farmers and ranchers originally began production agriculture on this land. The soil is lacking carbon, or organic matter as it is often referred to, when compared to the virgin soil our ancestors tilled for the first time when the sod was originally broken. I would estimate the...
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – Cody F. Creech will join the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research and Extension Center this spring as a dryland cropping systems specialist. Creech's appointment was announced by Jack Whittier, research and extension director at the Panhandle R&E Center. He is one of several recent additions to the faculty. Creech will replace Drew Lyon, who left for a position in Washington State. Creech is scheduled to begin May 1. He will be responsible for c...
Based on 2014 county corn yields released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and current price projections, it is clear that Nebraska Panhandle base acres enrolled in ARC-CO for corn are likely to receive a commodity program payment for the 2014 crop. Payments for ARC-CO are triggered when the average county revenue for a covered commodity is less than the county revenue guarantee for that commodity The county revenue guarantee is 86 percent of the county benchmark revenue. The county benchmark revenue for a crop is the five-year O...
Nebraska Extension will conduct a chemigation certification training session in Sidney on March 11 at 1 p.m. at the Country Inn & Suites. Producers who plan to apply crop nutrients and pesticides through irrigation systems during 2015, including those whose 2014 permits expired Dec. 31, are required to attend a training session and pass the test administered afterward. Attendees are asked to pre-register at the extension office at 920 Jackson St. They will receive a training manual and calibration workbook to review before the training...
The common thread that ran throughout the no-till winter conferences I attended in the past month is carbon. Adding carbon to the soil is critical to restoring health to the soil by increasing the organic matter content of the soil. Producers in today’s modern agricultural systems are working with soils that contain far less carbon than our soils originally contained prior to the implementation of modern agriculture. All of our soils are now degraded. The good news is we now know how we can regenerate our soils and put the carbon back in the s...
The new office and laboratory building at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln High Plains Agricultural Laboratory near Sidney will be named the Charles R. Fenster Building in recognition of the pioneering UNL researcher. Approval of the building name was announced by Dr. Jack Whittier, UNL research and extension director for the Panhandle District, at the recent annual meeting of the High Plains Ag Lab Advisory committee. Plans will be made for a formal dedication and sign to coincide with the su...
Calving season for many producers is near, which means it is time to develop a Herd Health Plan to start those newborn calves out on the right track and promote good health. An appropriate herd health plan/protocol ensures that all cattle are raised in the best health. A strong HHP begins with a yearly production calendar that includes cattle nutrition, reproduction management, vaccination schedules, and marketing – all of which are critical to sustainable beef cattle production. Management practices can be better matched with cattle needs b...
Private pesticide applicators with licenses expiring in 2015, and anyone seeking first-time private applicator certification, can attend upcoming training sessions scheduled throughout western Nebraska. The dates, locations and contact information are: Alliance, Feb. 26: Extension Office; call (308) 762-5616 Oshkosh, March 3: 1 p.m., Wesleyan Church; call (308) 632-1230. Bridgeport, March 5: 1 p.m., Prairie Winds Community Center; call (308) 632-1230. Alliance, March 11: 1 p.m., Extension Office; call (308) 762-5616. Harrison, March 11: 1...
Over the past couple of weeks, I attended No till On the Plains winter conference and the Colorado Conservation Tillage Association’s High Plains No-till Conference. I enjoyed both conferences and felt each had a lot to offer. After getting home and taking some time to think about what I learned, it dawned on me that nobody told me anything about how to farm. Not one speaker told me how deep to plant my corn, what herbicides to use or what crops to plant. I still left both conferences with knowledge about how to improve our farming o...
One of the pleasures of traveling to the various winter conference meetings and summer field days I attend is getting introduced to some real innovative producers and researchers who strive to really make a difference in modern production agriculture. Last week, I visited about our tour to Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre, S.D., and the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District, in Bismarck, N.D. Dwayne Beck, farm manager for Dakota Lakes, and Jay Furher, head of the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District, are two of the innovative...
The 2015 federal grazing fee, which is determined annually through a Congressionally-mandated formula, will increase by $0.34 on March 1. The fee applies to more than 8,000 permits administered by the U.S. Forest Service and nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The 2015 fee will be $1.69 per head month (HM) or animal unit month (AUM) for lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, respectively. An HM or AUM, which are treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes,...
The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts – the trade association for the 23 districts in Nebraska – held its annual Legislative Conference the last week of January. The conference is one of things we do as Nebraska’s resources districts to watch out for your interests as landowners and residents and to protect your interests. Eighteen new senators are part of the first session in the 104th Legislature, which is a 90-day session. There are 10 new committee chairs within the body, which has seen 603 bills introduced. One of the most impor...
I am the chairman of the Panhandle No till Partnership. I wanted to share with you more about our partnership, our educational opportunities and an exciting new project that I think the producers in our region will find very interesting. The Panhandle No till Partnership members include the Upper Niobrara White, South Platte and North Platte Natural Resources Districts, representatives from the local offices of the Natural Resource and Conservation Service, Panhandle Resource Conservation and Development and myself. Our mission is to provide...
LINCOLN, Neb. – The Food Processing Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provides the National Food Entrepreneur Program, which is specifically designed to assist individuals who want to start a food business. The program consists of two phases: The first phase is the “Recipe to Reality” seminar, which helps attendees understand how the food industry works, the challenges they will encounter and the decisions they should make before starting a business. Following the seminar, attendees may choose to enter the second phase, “Product to P...
LINCOLN, Neb. – Farm operators and agronomists from across the state are invited to attend the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network research update program Feb. 13 at the Hall County Extension Office located on the College Park Campus in Grand Island, Feb. 16 at the Lifelong Learning Center located on the Northeast Community College Campus in Norfolk, or Feb. 17 at the University of Nebraska’s Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead. Registration is at 9 a.m. and the program is from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CDT at all locations. Pro...
The Panhandle No-till Partnership is hosting the Panhandle No-Till Conference on Feb. 10-11. The conference is to be held at the Gering Civic Center beginning with registration at 8 a.m. each day. The local Natural Resources Conservation Service offices in the panhandle have mailed the brochure to producers with the conference agenda and the preregistration form included. This information is also posted on the PNTP website at www.panhandlenotill.org. Pre-registration is appreciated so the meal counts for the conference will be accurate....
The High Plains Ag Lab north of Sidney, operated by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will turn 45 this year. For nearly 40 of those years, Tom Nightingale has managed the farming operations there, overseeing work in the research plots where scientists try to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of dryland agriculture in the High Plains region. Nightingale will retire at the end of the month. But in nearly four decades, he...
On Feb. 3 and 4, I’ll be attending the 27th Annual High Plains No-till Conference. The conference is hosted by the Colorado Conservation Tillage Association and is held each year at the Community Center in Burlington, Colo. I’ve spoken at this conference in the past and have attended the conference over the past several years. This year I will get to just sit back, listen and learn from some excellent speakers lined up. I enjoy this conference as it is a smaller version of the No Till on the Plains winter conference. The CCTA conference att...
LINCOLN, Neb. – USDA Rural Development is seeking applications for the Rural Energy for America Program. REAP is available to agricultural producers and rural small for-profit businesses to complete energy efficiency improvements or install a renewable energy system to their current farm or business operations. Grants and guaranteed loans may be used for the purchase and installation of energy efficiency equipment and renewable energy systems, such as heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) units, lighting, windows, pivots or s...
Center Pivot Irrigation Management short courses are planned for Scottsbluff and three other Nebraska sites in February to help producers enhance the value of water through advanced irrigation management practices. The Scottsbluff course is Feb. 9 at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, 4502 Avenue I, Scottsbluff. There is no cost to attend, however participants are asked to register so that adequate materials and meals will be available. To register call (308)-632-1276 or email [email protected] Other short courses have been planned...
Training for private pesticide applicators whose certification will expire in 2015 will be offered on Tuesday, Jan. 20 in Sidney at the Country Inn & Suites. The training is also for people who would like to become certified as a private pesticide applicator for the first time. The training will be offered at 1 p.m. Contact the Nebraska Extension office at (308) 254-4455 for additional training locations in the Panhandle and other options for pesticide certification....
