Coming Events
- September 10, 11, 13 & 14 – 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. – Archery Safety Education, 4-H Building, York Fairgrounds
- September 17, 20, 24 & 25 – 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. – Hunter Safety Education, 4-H Building, York Fairgrounds
- September 24, – 8:00 p.m. – Extension board Meeting, Extension Office, York
Cropping Update
Still no rain! Hopefully we’ll get some soon? The ETgages dropped an average of 2.05 for the week ending September 2nd and I was gone on yesterday, so I did not read the ETgages, but with some cooler weather, it will not be 2.00â€, but more like 1.6†for the week!
With harvest earlier than normal, now is the time to get your Watermark Sensors removed from the fields. I’ve visited with a couple of producers and they indicated that they were having a very difficult time removing the sensors. They were using locking pliers and twisting the sensors to get them loose and with the extremely dry soils it was very difficult to get them pulled out without damaging the sensors. They ended up pouring a little water around the sensor and that helped a lot!
Since I have a lot of sensors out, this past year I purchased a Watermark sensor puller that was developed by Bill Collett of Collett Enterprises. Bill has been an active participant of our NAWMN and has been using the Watermark sensors for several years now and always had a difficult time removing the sensors. In 2010 he made a crude jack and used a pliers to clamp onto the sensor. In 2011 I used the locking pliers with the extended jaws which helped to hold on better with no damage to the sensor. He realized that other producers also had a difficult time removing their sensors were asking if there was a puller available, so he started manufacturing them. You can check them out at: http://www.colledun.com/wdc_puller/. Be sure to check out his youtube video on how to use the puller. Since it’s dry this year, I’d take a little water along the pour it around the sensors before you pull them. I know one thing for sure, it really helps making removal of the sensors a little easier.
Husker Harvest Days!
It’s hard to believe, but it’s “Husker Harvest Days†time! The theme in the IANR Big Red Building is on Beef, so I hope you’ll stop by and see the great research and extension activities that IANR is conducting in the area of beef!
Archery & Hunter Education Safety Training to be Held
This is my final reminder about archery & hunter education safety training. Dan Barrett and other instructors will be conducting both Archery and Hunter Education Safety Training in September. Classes will be from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the days listed in my Coming Events section of my column!
To register go to http://huntsafenebraska.org. For additional detail contact Dan at 402-366-4380.
State Fair Thoughts and Comments
We had a great group of 4-H and FFA families from York County participate at the Nebraska State Fair that ended a week ago Monday! I would like to congratulate all of our youth that participated in various contests as well as those exhibiting many different projects as well as some outstanding livestock projects. Gerald has been sharing many of the results and as you have seen, York County did very well. If you want to go on-line you can see them at: http://www.nebraska4hresults.com/.
It takes many different individuals to successfully run a county or state fair. I have spent 37 of the last 39 or so years helping at the state fair shows and on most Labor Day Shows that would be the 4-H Swine Show! I really want to thank our 4-H leaders and volunteers that help teach and work with youth. We have too many to mention, but a few will include Joan Strong, Mary Beth Kunze, and Stephanie Blum who trained our 4-H Horticulture and Tree ID participants as well as Karl & Nancy Heine and the 4-H Family parents of those involved with the State Fair Robotic Contest! They spent about 7 evening helping get the youth prepared for the Pizza Robotics Completion this past week! I know that both Eileen and Gerald could also name many other individuals that have volunteered time as leaders or project leaders. We can sure use many more and if you’d be interested just call me at 402-362-5508 or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu.
My Co-Worker from Clay County who also spent considerable time at the State fair and helped load pigs at 11:30 p.m. Monday morning prepared a great column that I fully agree with. As State Fair Swine Superintendent or in charge of county programs, I’ve experienced the same thing, so I thought I’d share her thoughts: “Sometimes I get frustrated with enforcing rules and with various aspects of fair. I know 4-H and FFA teach our youth many life skills-I’m so thankful for my experience and the life skills I was taught (Mine was in FFA in Wilber with Mr. Schrick my Ag Instructor)! Sometimes I need to be reminded of that. That reminder came from a 4-H dad from Scottsbluff County. Four years ago as State fair swine superintendent I wasn’t able to let two of his family’s pigs show due to incorrect ear notch identification. It’s hard enough kicking pigs out, not to mention a family from Scottsbluff County in their first year showing! I shared with him how to properly read notches and we changed the ID sheets after that year to help families more correctly ID their hogs. I see this family every year since and we visit. This year they came through weigh-in saying that was the most nerve-wracking part to see if their pigs were identified correctly. Then the dad told me although he wasn’t happy at the time, it was a great thing that happened for his girls in 4-H as they took time to learn about their hogs through the 4-H swine manual and learned how to correctly read and mark ear notches. Education is what the 4-H and FFA program is all about-what it should be about.â€
She closed by congratulating all the youth that exhibited at the State Fair and all those smiling faces that volunteer their valuable time and talents! It’s not the project that important, it’s all the skills learned and friend made along the way. I really don’t care what the ribbon is, I want “Purple†ribbon youth and volunteers!
Report Chopped or Hayed Crops
I received the following note from LeAnn Nelson at the York FSA Office and I thought I’d pass it along. If you have chopped, hayed, or grazed any crops (corn, soybeans, sorghum, etc.) that were originally certified as intended to be harvested as grain, you should contact the York County FSA Office to revise your acreage report with the actual use of those acres. We will update your original acreage report to show the actual use as forage. This allows the office to have the most accurate record on file in case intended use and actual use would have an impact on any future programs, including any possible disaster programs. Call 402.362.5700 ext 2 if you have any questions or want to schedule a time to make this revision.
