Extension Update by Gary Zoubeck [August 8, 2013]

Another Great Fair!
I hope you had an opportunity to make the York County Fair!  We had some great weather, lots of great exhibits, and entertainment.  I want to thank many people for assisting with this effort.  The many hours of planning and the long days the Ag Society members and spouses spend during the fair!  The ground crew of Del, Steve, and Bob had the facilities and the grounds looking great!  I also want to thank our staff of Eileen, Gerald, Sue, and Steph for the countless hours planning, preparing, and conducting the various events and shows.  I especially want to thank Steph for running all the show programs and coordinating the tabulation using a new program this year.  During the fair, she gets pulled many different directions so, I’m sure it’s a really stressful week for her.  Great job team!

I also want to thank the York News Times staff for taking the many pictures of all the winners and preparing timely stories for over a week promoting the fair and all the activities!  Finally, I want to also thank all the superintendents and volunteers that assist the various shows and help with judging and displaying of all the 4-H, FFA, and open class projects.  Without their assistance York Ag Society, we could not have the fair we have!  Thanks also Katie and Dana for checking and inputting several of the livestock class results, it helped us tremendously!

Finally, thanks to the many, many, many individuals and business that sponsor activities and events along with those businesses and individuals that supported the special premiums for our 4-H and FFA youth!  Thanks to each and every one of you.

Yard and Garden
Last week I shared some information that our Turf Specialist Zac Reicher shared about deep infrequent irrigation of turf.  He shared a follow-up Turf iNfo this week that follows:

“Deep and infrequent irrigation is summarized as irrigation only after the first signs of drought stress become visible, water thoroughly wet the soil to the depth of rooting, and then do not water again until symptoms of drought stress appear.  What is “deep and infrequent” in May is far different than what it is in August, therefore irrigation controllers need to be changed throughout the year (No more “set it and forget it”!).

High soil temperatures decrease root growth while increasing root death, the end result is a shallower and likely less dense root system.  August rooting depth may decrease by 50% or more compared to May rooting depth.  Therefore, less water is needed to wet the soil to the depth of rooting.  Additionally, water use increases with temperature as the plant uses it to cool itself.  The end effect of these two process is irrigation frequency increases during the heat of summer, but the amount of water applied during each irrigation cycle is less.  Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast numbers recommended for amount and frequency of irrigation.  Turfgrass species, soil type, slope, exposure, compaction, mowing height and frequency, overall plant culture (or plant health), and daily wind, temperature, and precipitation will determine the amount of irrigation required on each individual lawn.  It is further complicated by irrigation method and if an underground system is used, volume, pressure, nozzles, head spacing, and condition of the system will also complicate the irrigation.

The bottom line is that turfgrasses require water for optimum performance, but they much prefer slightly drier conditions over slightly wetter conditions and are extremely capable of withstanding slight to excess drought or even drought-induced dormancy.  Therefore, ALWAYS error on the dry side when it comes to irrigating your lawn.  Not only will the turf perform well, you’ll reduce your overall water use.  More irrigation information can be found in “Irrigating Home Lawns” on our web page at http://turf.unl.edu/pdfcaextpub/homelawnirrigation2011a.pdf.”  Hopefully we’ll get a few more timely rains like the one last Wednesday and we will not need to water our turf as much, but only time will tell.

Speaking of watering, are you interested in preparing a rain garden?  A rain garden is a shallow depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. The garden should be positioned near a runoff source like a downspout, driveway or sump pump to capture rainwater runoff and stop the water from reaching the sewer system.  The water then is cleaned and goes back to the aquifer rather than running off into the sewer system or stream.

UNL Extension Educators will be conducting a “Rain Garden Workshop and Installation” session Wednesday, August 28, from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce Office located at 753 33^rd Av. in Columbus.  Workshop cost is $10.00 and registrations are due by August 23, 2013.  Participants will receive materials and hands-on experience installing a rain garden.  For more information and to register go to and click on the link: http://york.unl.edu/water-environment.

Cropping Update
Even though it was in the middle of fair week, it was a pleasant surprise to get a little over ½ inch of rain Wednesday-Thursday of this past week.  The rain varied considerably; with from very little to nearly 2” from the reports I received.  I have not heard of a lot of severe weather in our area, but I know other area like Clay County did have some.

With the cooler temperatures and higher humidity, the ETgages I monitor only dropped .75” this past week.  That’s one of the smallest drops we’ve had in several years.  The early planted corn near the ETgages I monitor is in the light brown to brown silk stage with some of the kernels in the milk stage while other are not that far.  The crop coefficient is 1.10, so to estimate the crop water use for we multiply .75 x 1.10 so our crop water use was only .83” or .12”/day for the week.  In most cases, we’ve received at least that much rain.

I’m sure that by now, most growers in the area know that southern rust  has been identified in 11 Nebraska Counties:  Kearney, Adams, Clay, Nuckolls, Thayer, Fillmore, Gage, Platte, Polk, York, and Boone.    This disease show’s up as very small, raised, tan-orange pustules on the upper leaf surface of leaves in localized areas on mid-upper leaves.   Jenny Rees, Extension Educator, has indicated that with the cooler weather last week, we were unsure how the disease would progress.  Southern rust likes sustained temperatures in the 80’s-90’sF with humidity and leaf wetness.  It’s important to scout for it, consider disease pressure, stage of growth, pre-harvest intervals, and length of time for fungicide residual in addition to economics when considering fungicide applications.  For the latest information on southern rust and other diseases, check out our CropWatch article at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/.

Soybean Management Field Day Planned
I hope you’ve marked your calendar and have called in to reserve your spot for our August 14^th Soybean Management Field Day just East of York on the Jerry Stahr farm.  Other dates and sites are August 13th is in Minden at the Olsen Cattle Co. Farm; August 15th in Pierce at the Mike Krueger Farm; and August 16th in Waterloo at the Walvoord and Sons Farm.  Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. with the program from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Topics include:  adjuvants and water quality; fungicide and insecticide inputs-yield results and risks; row spacing; soybean nutrients including micronutrient study; irrigation management; the golden triangle-Nebraska’s livestock production past, present, and future.

There is no charge thanks to the Nebraska Soybean Board but please pre-register at 800-529-8030.  For more information:  http://ardc.unl.edu/soydays.

I hope you’ll mark your calendar and plan to attend!