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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I’d like to start off by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This is a good time of year to reflect back on last year’s growing season and give thanks for all the many blessings we have received. There are always challenges in agriculture but at the end of the year we are lucky to be able to work with Mother Nature and our natural resources on a daily basis to produce food and fiber for our livelihood. I wanted to make everyone aware of the upcoming educational events around the region that focus on no-till crop and fo...
Dr. Mitchell B. Stephenson will join the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research and Extension Center next spring as a range and forage management specialist. His appointment, announced by Dr. Jack Whittier, research and extension director at the Panhandle R&E Center, is one of several recent personnel changes in the Panhandle Extension District in which faculty vacancies are being filled and positions realigned to meet clientele needs. Stephenson is scheduled to start...
Several Nebraska Extension staff from the Panhandle District have received statewide or national recognition for their accomplishments. The Broadband Planning Team, which includes Extension Educator Connie Hancock of Sidney, received the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources 2014 Omtvedt Innovation Award for its efforts to improve the speed of internet service to rural Nebraska. Broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. Broadband adoption and Internet use in some...
The changing beef industry will be the focus of Nebraska Extension’s annual “Ranching for Profitability” meetings in January at eight sites around Nebraska: O’Neill, Ainsworth, Broken Bow, Grand Island, Brady, Mullen, Valentine and Kimball. Last year was one for the record books. Many sale barns broke record cattle prices. Mother Nature was unpredictable. Input prices also continued to creep upward, and forage was no exception. Cattle producers may have questions about what to do next in 2015. The meeting agendas will include these speaker...
I recently attended a workshop on the new farm bill. The workshop was hosted by UNL Extension and our local FSA office. I truly appreciate the effort by these organizations to attempt to educate local producers on the decisions producers will need to make concerning the new farm bill. It was obvious to me after attending the workshop and visiting with other producers that this is an extremely complicated farm bill. There are several options producers can choose from and it doesn’t appear there are any clear cut options that will be the best. I...
The South Platte Natural Resources District board of directors closed out its final meeting of 2014 by bidding farewell to a pair of retiring long term members. Directors Paul Hutchison and Tom Biggs attended their last meeting as part of a board that established most of the District's water management rules and regulations during their tenures. Both were board members when LB 962, the Nebraska Ground Water Management and Protection Act, was passed by the Nebraska Legislature. The resulting...
Last week, I had a producer call to visit about weed control in continuous no-till crop production systems. The conversation started with what herbicides we use to produce our crops. I explained to the producer that herbicide selection is very important, but not the whole story when it comes to controlling problematic weeds. I’ve always felt that the place to start with good weed control is with solid management strategies. Implement good management practices on your farm and use herbicides to control the weeds your management strategies may h...
With Thanksgiving just past and Christmas rapidly approaching, this is an appropriated time to be thankful for the gift of the natural resources that provide for our livelihood, enjoyment and very survival. Nebraska is all too often considered a state best flown over, or driven through as quickly as possible. But those who take the time to slow down in our state and take a look around can discover what we already know. That even our parched “desert” region is teaming with life. As with the state’s other NRDs, part of our management respo...
Early registration runs through Dec. 1 for the New Crops Technology Conference scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 4, at Sidney. The conference, sponsored by Nebraska Extension, will focus on the challenges of bringing new crops to market for western Nebraska. It begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. at Western Nebraska Community College’s Sidney campus. Conference speakers will share information about marketing and economics and research on production under limited irrigation of proso millet, sunflower, pea, fenugreek and biofuel. The conference w...
I would like to start off by wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We’ve all got a lot to be thankful for. Last week I wrote about how we drilled our edible bean crop this year in 7.5-inch rows with an air seeder. Prior to this year we had been planting our beans in 15-inch rows with a planter. I wanted to share with you some observations I made during the growing season and some changes we plan to make next year. Let’s start by looking at the edible beans in our cropping rotation. We have been planting our edible beans in a crop rot...
We drilled our edible bean crop this year rather than planting them with a planter as we’ve done for the last several years. I think we learned a few lessons from this year’s bean crop that I would like to share with you. Let’s start by taking a look at how we planted this year. We had drilled edible beans several years ago and had good success. We planted that bean crop into winter wheat stubble. This first experiment worked well with two exceptions. We didn’t feel we had as good of a plant stand as we would have liked, and we had to load th...
The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts submitted formal comments today on behalf of the 23 Natural Resources Districts across the state in opposition to the proposed changes to the Waters of the United States rule that would significantly expand federal regulatory authority by the EPA and U.S. Corp of Engineers over Nebraska citizens. While NARD supports efforts to protect water quality and quantity in Nebraska, and has a proven track record of cooperation with local residents and other agencies to do so, we believe the proposed rule...
Last week, we looked at two of the rotations Dwayne Beck uses on his dry land acres at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Pierre, S.D. The first rotation is a simple rotation of cool season grass, warm season grass, and cool season broadleaf. A lot of continuous no till crop producers use this rotation on their farms. We use this rotation of our farm with a rotation of winter wheat, corn, and field pea, then back to winter wheat and repeated. This rotation utilizes two thirds high residue crops which produce enough carbon to the system to...
In September, the District Board of Directors approved the current annual operating budget of $2,959,361. These are the funds the District uses for operating expenses and projects and programs for its current fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015. Of that budget, only 44 percent, or $1,312,448, of the funding needed is derived from new property tax, or about 2.5 percent of your total tax bill. Our overall tax asking figure is 5.6777 cents per $100 in valuation, or $56.77 for a $100,000 home. For perspective if you buy,...
I wanted to take a look at the dry land crop rotations designed for the Dakota Lakes Research farm. Dr. Dwayne Beck has given careful consideration to the rotations in place at the research farm. I think looking at his rotations may give helpful insight to designing rotations for my farm. Designing the proper crop rotation for your farm is the single most important consideration to successful no-till crop production in my opinion. Beck has many publications that address the concepts for planning a good rotation for your individual farm. I...
The final stop on our tour at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, S.D., was a look at the dry land portion of the farm. I’ve always felt dry land farming is much more interesting than irrigated farming. The ability to irrigate can mask some deficiencies in cropping rotation and soil health. On dry land acres, there is much less room for error. Proper management of crop rotations is critical to the success of a continuous no-till cropping system. Lack of carbon inputs, lack of sufficient residues to protect the soil surface, poor crop d...
I’ve been thinking about the value of water and what this resource means to our communities. I suspect if we didn’t have this valuable resource our landscape would look quite a bit different than what we are now accustom to seeing. Since we have tapped into this resource we have experienced significant economic growth in our agricultural community, primarily with center pivot irrigation. So what is the economic value of the water? If we look at the economic benefit to producers we could figure increased yields in our crop production. There is...
ALLIANCE – About 60 Panhandle high school students traveled outside of Alliance to display their knowledge of range management at the Area I Range Judging contest. The top scoring team was from Sidney High. It was comprised of Colton Onstott, Logan Uhlir, Tanner Neinhauser and Skyler Arent. It was coached by Pat Welch. The overall individual winner of the contest and senior division was Keith Everitt from Creek Valley High School. The top finisher in the junior division was Pierce Leef from Cree...
Our final stop on our field tour of farms and ranches in Burleigh County, N.D., was a visit to the Black Leg Ranch. It’s owned and operated by Jerry Doan and his family. Jerry greeted us in his farm yard and visited with us about his operation and his commitment to agriculture. It was obvious from listening to Jerry that he has a real passion for the agricultural community. Jerry has worked with numerous associations and university research members over the years to help guide agriculture in his region. Jerry has a real burning desire to i...
Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts are unlike any natural resource management system anywhere. So unique in fact, the system is the only one of its kind and the envy of managers across the country as they seek to adequately manage their own natural resources. One of the things that make NRDs so special is the makeup that allows for local management responsibilities, based on river basins, being overseen by locally elected boards. These board members, who live in the areas they represent, depend on the same water, use the same land, and brea...
I’d like to continue visiting about our tour of the Burleigh County Soil District near Bismarck, N.D., that a group of producers from our region went on a few weeks ago. I find the approach the producers in this region are taking to improve soil health is something we can all learn from. These producers are taking the steps down the path toward improving the health of the soil they have on their farms and ranches. After enjoying a lunch at the Menoken Soil Health Research farm south of Bismarck, we continued on our tour to the Small Angus R...
Last week I talked about our soil health tour to North and South Dakota. We looked at all aspects of high quality no-till crop production and grazing practices implemented on farm and ranch lands in the region. Everyone on our tour came away with a greater appreciation for the work these individuals are doing to improve the health of the soil they work with on their farms and ranches. We started our tour in Burleigh County, North Dakota with Jay Furher and his Burleigh County Soil Conservation team hosting our group. Jay took us out the first d...
After visiting with producers around the Panhandle, I would guess that the winter wheat and field pea harvests that have just wrapped up are going to be some of the best crop yields this region has recorded. We were blessed with good fall, spring and early summer precipitation around our region and the yields reflect the abundant moisture we received. There were some areas that experienced significant hail damage from some of the severe weather in our area. Aside from these pockets of hail damage, I would guess the crops are some of the best th...
Last Friday I was invited to Alton Lerwick’s farm. Alton works with his sons, Grant and Dean, on their no till crop production farm and ranch. They integrate cattle into their farming operation with the use of forage crops as part of their cropping rotation. Alton and I share a similar educational background having both graduated from the University of Nebraska with degrees in agronomy. Alton had invited Dr. Gary Peterson to tour his farm. Dr. Peterson taught Alton and I soil science classes. Along with Dr. Peterson, Dr. Joe Brummer, a Colorado...
I was invited to do a presentation via webinar by the American Society of Agronomy. They sponsored a three series webinar titled “Replacing Fallow with Cover Crops and Annual Forages in the Semi-Arid Central Great Plains”. The other participants presenting during this three series webinar included Dr. Dave Nielsen, research agronomist, ARS in Akron, Colorado, Dr. John Holman, cropping systems agronomist, Kansas State University, Garden City, Kansas, and Dr. Clain Jones, soil fertility extension specialist, Montana State University, Die...
