Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sorted by date Results 495 - 519 of 586
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...
I hope by the time you are reading this article I have combines rolling in the field. Wheat harvest is running a few weeks later than normal this year. I think the harvest is going to be well worth the wait provided we get the wheat in the bin before something bad happens. Reports coming in from the southern Panhandle indicate we may be having a record winter wheat harvest yield this year. I’ve heard numerous reports of 50-70 bushels per acre or higher winter wheat yields in the southern Panhandle. It appears the winter wheat in our area is g...
This article was originally release in November 2009 Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over! Whoever coined this well known phrase sure hit the nail on the head. Water, and the lack of it, has turned to the courts for answers on who has the rights to how much of this valuable resource. There are lawsuits in every watershed it seems now, and states are suing states over water use and availability. Irrigation wells have been shut off in some areas in an attempt to come into compliance with decisions handed down through the legal...
I just got home from a real enjoyable no till field day meeting at Pat and Shane Cullan’s farm south of Chadron. We had a nice turnout and some good conversation throughout the morning on the benefits of continuous no till crop production on dry land acres in their area. I want to thank Shane and Pat for allowing us to use their farm as a starting point for the field day. The Nebraska Environmental Trust supports these field days with grant funding through the Nebraska No till Cadre. If you would like to host a field day at your farm or like to...
We decided this year to go back to drilling our edible bean crop rather than use the 15 inch planter we have used over the past several years. We saw some agronomic advantages to going back to using the drill which plants the beans in 7.5 inch rows. The narrower row spacing should help with weed control in our fields by developing a faster crop canopy which will compete better with weeds than the wider row spacings. Our main concern with weed pressure is the palmer amaranth weed which we first discovered last year in one of our fields. We also...
With all the abundant moisture around the Panhandle this spring we’ve received some severe weather that has caused a change in plans. Many producers have lost some of their fall and spring planted crops to violent hail storms that are often a part of our precipitation pattern. These producers are faced with the prospect of replanting or changing their cropping plans and going to a short season summer crop. These alternative crops include edible beans, proso millet, forage crops, or sunflowers. While it is never easy to change plans in the m...
The Panhandle No-till Partnership will host a series of field days around the region during the last full week of June, 2014. These field days are informal meetings to visit about all aspects of no-till crop production on dry land and irrigated acres. Everyone interested is encouraged to attend and bring along your questions, thoughts, and ideas on how to improve no-till crop production in our area. Producers and landlords who are considering adopting no-till crop production into their operation are encouraged to attend. We will visit about the...
Last week I wrote about the abundant moisture we have received in our area the past fall and so far this spring. I’ve also been tracking field pea and winter wheat yields over the past several years along with annual precipitation. I like to do this to see how our various dry land crops perform regarding the precipitation we receive during the growing season. Moisture is almost always the main limiting factor in crop production yields in our area. I use moisture received from the 1st of October through the end of June the following year to m...
Every once in a while I’m fortunate enough to catch a few fish for dinner. I’ve always felt the best way to cook a good batch of pan fish is to fry them up in some hot oil with a good batter on them. My wife Denise will often comment that the house smells like fish after one of my fried fish dinners. I always tell her that a house that smells like fried fish is a good thing. I’ll also occasionally tromp into the kitchen with mud on my boots. Denise will often point out to me that I could take my boots off outside. I’ll often remind her that mud...
I wish I had all the money I’ve spent over the years trying to control cheat grass on our farm. Cheat grass has been a problematic weed in winter wheat production for as long as anyone can remember. My grandfather and father were battling cheat grass when I was a young boy starting out farming. We were conventionally tilling our ground in a winter wheat/summer fallow cropping rotation. Dad would use a stubble mulch farming practice to maintain more residues on the soil surface. This would usually involve a couple of early season disking of t...
If you have been out and about in the countryside lately you’ve undoubtedly noticed a lot of activity. The boys and girls are back in the field to begin another farming season. Along with the activity come the headaches of battling to get the crops planted in the fields. Planting the crops always seems to be the most difficult part of the growing season. Our farming operation is similar to the Husker football team in that we sometimes fail to execute well thought out plans we’ve developed over the winter. We soon find out equipment was “sh...
There is no doubt in my mind that having living roots growing in the soil for extended periods of time is a key component to improving soil health. This is also the most challenging aspect of improving soil health in our semi-arid environment. As more and more producers move from a conventional winter wheat/summer fallow cropping rotation to a continuous no-till crop production system we are moving towards healthier soil. No-till crop production systems that include continuous diverse crop rotations adopt many of the key principles in...
The past few weeks I’ve been looking at the possibilities of improving the health of the soils we work with here in western Nebraska. The soils we work with have lost organic matter, soil microbial populations and diversity as well as soil structure over the years with our crop production practices. To begin to restore soil health, the remedies seem pretty simple but can be hard to implement. When I’ve listened to presentations by experts on the remedies for restoring soil health, there are common threads throughout each presentation. Some of t...
Last week I talked about the loss of soil health in our traditional winter wheat/summer fallow cropping system that has been the predominant system used by producers over the past several decades. In terms of soil health this is probably the most detrimental crop production system. When I have listened to experts in the field of soil health talk at conferences over the past several years there are a few key components to restoring soil health. The soil needs residues on the soil surface to protect the soil from wind and water erosion. These...
Last week I gave an example of what rancher/farmer Gabe Brown, from Bismarck, N.D. has accomplished on his operation by focusing his efforts on soil health. Over the past 15 years, Gabe has dramatically improved the health of his soil. This improved soil health has lowered his cost of production and improved the profitability of his operation considerably. This path towards soil health has been cleared by people like Gabe and has given us a blue print of how we can begin improving the health and performance of the soils we work with in our area...
I’ve been thinking about what I learned during the past winter months while attending numerous educational events focusing on no-till crop production. While there are many benefits to no-till crop production I think the most important message I heard was the benefits of diversifying crops and cropping systems to benefit soil health. The benefits of diversified continuous cropping are numerous including building organic matter, improved soil microbiology, water infiltration and water holding capacities of the soil. The biggest benefit is the i...
