Extension Update by Gary Zoubeck [October 10, 2013]

Coming Events

• Oct. 6-13, 2013 – National 4-H Week!
• Oct. 20, 2013 – 4-H Achievement Party, 5:00-6:00 p.m., 4-H Building, York, RSVP 402-362-5508 if attending
• Oct. 21, 2013 – Extension Board Exec. Meeting, 8:00 p.m., Extension Office, York

Cropping Update
It was nice to get some needed precipitation this past week. The amount varied, but here at the Extension Office we received 2.25” one day and .25” the next. So for the months of September/October were near our long-term average of 4.33 for the two months!  I’m sure that the rain has slowed harvest for a few days, but not for long and it sure will help settle the dusty conditions we’ve been having.  We could also use a little less wind, but I guess that’s Nebraska; if you don’t like it, wait around and it will soon change.

I’ve been out and taken out a couple soybean plots as well as the York County RoundUp Ready Soybean Plot.  Overall, the irrigated soybean yields in these plots have been good and they’ve averaged from 73 to 78 bushels/acre.  I’m double checking all the data, but the York County RoundUp Ready Soybean Plot data should be posted soon to our website at: http://york.unl.edu/web/york/plotresults.

I’ve reminded area producers with ET Gages and Watermark and sensors, that now is a good time to get the equipment out of the fields. Following the recent rains it may be a little easier to get those deeper sensors pulled.  Check out our recent CropWatch article at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/.

Since we’ve had several new producers in our area using this equipment, I’d be interested in how they worked for you this past year.  Stop by our office at 2345 Nebraska Avenue, give me a call at 402-326-8185, or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu so that we can visit about your experiences this past year.

Speaking of our latest issue of CropWatch, it has some great topics this week as well as a great link to grain storage information that was compiled by retired Extension Educator, Tom Dorn.  Check it out at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/grainstorage2.

Third Annual Broadband Connecting Nebraska Conference Planned
I mentioned it last week, but I’ll mention it again.  The third annual Broadband Connecting Nebraska Conference will be held on October 16 and 17, 2013, in Kearney, Nebraska, with a focus to explore the potential of broadband technologies to promote economic and community growth for Nebraska.

Breakout sessions will highlight best practices in using high speed internet.  Session themes include:  marketing through broadband, data and information security, and business management through broadband.  A general session on Thursday will explore what communities can do to attract broadband to their area.  This general session will feature providers and community members.

Keynote speakers are:

•  Steve Kiene,  Nebraska Global.  Steve is an experienced entrepreneur, leader, senior executive, and strategist with over 20 years of experience in the IT Industry.

•  Jack Uldrich, Global Futurist & Best-Selling Author.  Books include the best-selling, “The Next Big Thing is Really Small:  How Nanotechnology will Change the Future of Your Business.

•  Doug Kristensen, Chancellor, University of Nebraska-Kearney

•  Chuck Hibberd, Dean and Director Cooperative Extension

•  Michael Curri, Strategic Networks Group who is a world leading broadband economist

•  Keith Adams, Assistant Administrator USDA Rural Development Telecommunications Program

An agenda and registration link can be found at: http://broadband.nebraska.gov/.  It looks like it should be a great conference.

National 4-H Week
Did you know that more than 6 million young people across the United States are celebrating National 4-H Week October 6-13, 2013!

Research has proven that participation in 4-H has a significant positive impact on young people. Recent findings from the Tufts University 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate that, when compared to their peers, young people in 4-H are:

1)      Nearly 4 times more likely to contribute to their communities

2)      Two times more likely to pursue healthy behaviors

3)      Two times more likely to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs in the out-of-school time

As you know, 4-H is the largest youth development organization in the world.  It’s a community of seven million young people across the globe learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills.  In the U.S., 4-H programs are implemented by the 109 land grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country. Overseas, 4-H programs operate throughout more than 50 countries.

To learn more about 4-H locally, contact our office at 402-362-5508 or on our webpage at http://york.unl.edu.  We would like to visit with you about the program and how you and your youth could become involved.  We’re always looking for potential volunteers and program ideas.  At the state level, check out http://4h.unl.edu/ and finally nationally, learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org.

Before I close today, I want to share a challenge made by UNL Extension in Adams and Fillmore Counties to Wear a 4-H Shirt and Post it on Facebook or Twitter.

When to Post: October 6 to 12, 2013.  Post your pictures then check back to “like” your favorite photos!  Official voting ends October 13th at midnight.

How to Enter: Post your picture via Facebook; post to the event titled: 2013 Wear a 4-H Shirt

Twitter: Use hashtag #weara4Hshirt

Be sure to tag your photo with your category entry

The picture categories:

1)      Most People in One Photo

2)      Nebraska Landscapes

3)      Fun and Food

The best picture from each category will receive a prize!  I hope to see many York County pictures.

Lawn and Garden
Boy, these recent rains are great for our landscapes and lawns.  It should help get them ready for the winter by helping refill the soil profile.  This past week Turf iNfo posted three excellent updates.  The first is why are broadleaf herbicides more effective in the fall than the spring?  It follows: “Mid- September through mid- to late October is easily the best time to control weeds like dandelion, clover, and chickweed with an application of a broadleaf weed herbicide. Why? Broadleaf weed herbicides are systemic and move through the plant in the phloem, which also transports photosynthate. The effectiveness of control increases when the herbicide reaches as much of the plant as possible. In the fall, perennial plants are “preparing” for winter, translocating photosynthate and storage products to the crowns and roots. Herbicide applied in the fall will translocate with the photosythate throughout the plant, thus usually causing a complete kill.

Conversely, in early spring the weeds tends to be moving storage products from its roots and crowns to initiate leaves and flowers. Thus herbicide applied in the early spring tends to remain in the leaves, not translocating throughout the plant, and not providing nearly as effective long-term control as a fall application. Furthermore, fall applications have limited drift risks because most of the non-target susceptible plants have either lost their leaves, are dead or soon to be dead, or mature enough to withstand some limited drift. Plus fall applications will control weeds and allow turf to fill in this fall before crabgrass or other weeds germinate next spring. We normally will recommend treating well into late October, but more information on late applications is in last year’s Turf iNfo at http://turf.unl.edu/pdfctarticles/Oct_how_late_fall_bdlv.pdf.

Other topics this past week included:

Late seeding and winterkill risks and helping improve Turf iNfo’s by taking a survey.

I hope you’ll check these two stories out and take the survey.  That address is http://turf.unl.edu/.