Coming Events
- Dec. 19, 2013 – Nebraska Soybean Day & Machinery Expo, 9:00 a.m., ARDC, Ithaca
- Dec. 23, 2013 – Extension Board Exec. Meeting, 12:00 noon, Extension Office, York
- Jan. 9, 2014 – Crop Production Clinic, Hastings Register at: http://cpc.unl.edu/
- Jan. 15, 2014 – Crop Production Clinic, York Register at: http://cpc.unl.edu/
Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo
Just a reminder about the Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo will be held in the pavilion on the Saunders Co. Fairgrounds in Wahoo on Thursday, December 19, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 2:30 p.m.
Speakers start at 9:00 a.m., topics will include:
The World of Weather and Agriculture – Dr. Elwynn Taylor, Climatologist, Iowa State University
5 Tips for Profitable Soybean Yields – Farmer and President of Calmer Research, Marion Calmer, Alpha, Illinois
Markets – The Soybean and Corn Complex – Darin Newsom, DTN Senior Analyst
Research Report – No-till vs Strip Till Discovering Production Answers on Your Farm, Keith Glewen, Extension Educator
Registration is available the day of the expo at the door. For more information about the program or exhibitor information, call (800) 529-8030 or e-mail kglewen1@unl.edu.
This program is sponsored by UNL Extension in the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Nebraska Soybean Board, Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization and private industry. There is no registration fee. Program details at: http://go.unl.edu/q08a. It looks to be an excellent program, so I hope you’ll have an opportunity to attend.
In an effort to help stop hunger, the Saunders County Soybean Growers Organization requests that each participant donate one or more cans of nonperishable food to the food pantry.
Crop Production Clinics Planned
The series of 2014 Crop Production Clinics will be beginning January 7 with the first one in our area on January 9 in Hastings. The one in York will be on January 15. Cost for the clinic will be $60.00 if you enroll ahead on line at: http://cpc.unl.edu/ or $75.00 the day of the program. These Crop Production Clinics will be a way to renew your license in any of the following Commercial Pesticide categories: Ag Plant (01), Regulatory (REG) or Demonstration/Research (D/R). If you are a Private Pesticide Applicators you can also renew your license.
Pesticide Education Safety Programs (PSEP) and Chemigation Certification Training
I’ve prepared a letter that will be going out this week to producers that needing PSEP certification. This information will also be posted in my weekly columns and on our website: http://york.unl.edu. My dates are set for:
Dates–Location–Time
Jan. 24, 2014, York 4-H Building, 9:00 a.m.
Jan. 24, 2014, York 4-H Building, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 3, 2014, TBA, 6:30 p.m.
March 13, 2014, York 4-H Building, 1:30 p.m.
I will also be conducting this training in Seward and Osceola. If you cannot make these dates, you can attend sessions in other locations as well as attend the Crop Production Clinic here in York on January 15! You can also stop by our office and pick up a copy of the home study and complete the 100 questions and get certified or do it on-line. These options cost $60.00 rather than the $30 it costs to attending in person. That website to take it on-line is: http://pested.unl.edu.
As for chemigation training, I’ll be doing chemigation training on Feb. 19 and March 20 in Grand Island at College Park and on March 21 here in York at the 4-H Building. These sessions will begin at 1:00 p.m.
Three-State Beef Conference
Area beef producers should make plans to attend the first annual Three-State Beef Conference that will be held on January 14, 15 and 16, 2014, with locations in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Topics and speakers for the conference are as follows: “Cover Crops for Grazing,†Dr. Rob Kallenbach, Forage Specialist, University of Missouri Extension; “Drylotting and Cow Management,†Dr. Rick Rasby, Extension Beef Specialist, University of Nebraska; “Pasture Rental: Balancing Economics and Relationships,†Tim Lemmons, UNL Extension Educator.
On January 16, there will be two different sessions held in Nebraska. The first session will be held at the UNL Ag Research & Development Center (ARDC) in Ithaca, Nebraska. Registration for the Ithaca location will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the meeting will start at 11:00 a.m. Later that day, an evening session will be held at the Gage County UNL Extension Center in Beatrice, Nebraska with registration at 5:30 p.m. and the program to follow at 6:00 p.m. We request that attendees pre-register by Friday, January 10, 2014. A pre-reservation helps with meal plans and also helps keep costs down. The registration fee is $20 per person and it includes a meal and copy of the conference proceedings.
The Three-State Beef Conference (formerly the Four-State Beef Conference) is designed to give beef cattle producers and others in the beef industry in Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska a regular update on current cow-calf and stocker topics. The conference provides a forum of specialists from three of the United States’ leading beef cattle land grant universities as well as other industry experts. To register for the ARDC location, call or e-mail Lindsay Chichester, 402-624-8030 or lchichester2@unl.edu. To register at the Beatrice location, call or email Paul Hay, 402-223-1384 or phay1@unl.edu. For more information, contact your local university extension office or visit our website at http://extension.iastate.edu/feci/3StBeef/.
Farm Beginnings Program
UNL Extension will begin its 6th Farm Beginnings® Program class on January 4 at the First National Bank (basement meeting room) in Syracuse. Farm Beginnings® participants engage in a mentorship experience and network with a variety of successful, innovative farmers and attend practical, high quality seminars, field days, and conferences.
The program is unique in that several successful farmers participate in the program as presenters, explaining firsthand the nuts and bolts of their farming operation. While any beginning farmer would benefit from attending these training sessions, most of the farmers that present come from small to medium sized farming operations that produce and market many different diversified and value-added products. Many of these farmers direct market their products.
The program consists of a series of 11 sessions from January through April that cover a variety of topics including: building networks, goal setting, whole farm planning, building your business plan, marketing, business and farm management and financial management. Cost of the program, including conference and farm tours, is $500, but partial scholarships are available. For more details, a brochure and an application form, go to http://nemaha.unl.edu and scroll down to the Farm Beginnings® article. You can also contact Gary Lesoing, UNL Extension Educator at glesoing2@unl.edu or at 402-274-4755.
Precision Ag Workshop Planning
I’m working with Joe Luck, our new Precision Ag Specialist and Jenny Rees planning a day long workshop for January 30 in York and January 29 in Clay Center.
Producers, I need some input from you. What topics would you like us to address? We plan to have some lecture time to talk about how we collect yield data, BMPs for collection and reducing errors, software for reducing errors (Yield Editor from USDA). Then, we plan to move into hands-on activities using the software (in this case AgLeader SMS) for importing, analyzing, and comparing yield data.
We’re also working on similar activities, primarily with developing Prescription (Rx) maps for lime and nitrogen (maybe P & K) as well as performing end of the year evaluations to look at how yearly management practices affected crop productivity within management zones. As you can imagine, this focuses a good deal on software. Do you want to know how to conduct these activities or do you and your consultants want to work together?
The cost would be $45 or so and the day would go from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
We’re trying to decide what to include: Yield data or prescription maps? Please call me at 402-362-5508 or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu. I’d really like to hear from producers that might be interested in attending our Precision Ag Workshop. We really want to plan a program that will help you improve your management skills and make wise decisions relative to your cropping systems.
