Coming Events
Jan. 8, 2015, Crop Production Clinic, 8:45 a.m., Adams Co. Fairgrounds, Hastings http://agronomy.unl.edu/cpc
Jan. 13: UNL Heuermann Lecture, 7:00 p.m. Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center; 2021 Transformation Drive, Lincoln, NE http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu
Jan. 14, 2015, Crop Production Clinic, 8:45 a.m., Holthus Convention Center, 3130 Holen Ave., York http://agronomy.unl.edu/cpc
Jan. 14, 2015, Farm Bill and Texas A&M Computer Training, 9:00 a.m., Innovation Campus, Lincoln http://bit.ly/1wh96bm
Jan. 15, 2015, Farm & Ranch Succession & Estate Planning Workshop, 9:00 a.m., York Country Club http://york.unl.edu/crops-future
Jan. 27: Cow/Calf College – Partners in Progress, 9:30 am-4:00 pm, USDA-MARC, Clay Center, NE
Jan. 30: Land Applicator Training, York
Feb. 2, 2015, Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, 1:30 p.m., 4-H Building, York
Feb. 4, 2015, Farmers & Ranchers College – 5:30 p.m. Fillmore Co. Fairgrounds, “Ag: Trends, Topics & Tomorrow†– Damian Mason. Call 402-759-3712 one week ahead to reserve a spot!
Feb. 4-5: Nebraska Ag Technology Association (NeATA) Conference, Grand Island Holiday Inn, http://neata.org
Feb. 11: Center Pivot Irrigation Short Course, Central City
Feb. 13: Nebraska On-Farm Research Meeting, College Park in Grand Island
Feb. 17: Nebraska On-Farm Research Meeting, ARDC near Mead
Feb. 23, 2015, Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, 1:30 p.m., 4-H Building, York
Feb. 24: Precision Ag Workshop York,
March 12, 2015, Chemigation Training, 1:00 p.m., 4-H Building, York
March 12, 2015, Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, 6:30 p.m., 4-H Building, York
Happy New Year!
It hard to believe that it’s 2015! I hope you had a great New Year’s Day and start to the New Year!
Popular Publications
This time of year we have several request for a couple of popular publications, they are Farm Record Books and the Farmer’s Tax Guides. If you’d like copies of them, we have them both available at our office located at 2345 Nebraska Avenue.
Heuerman Lecture
I’d like to remind you of the January 13th Heuerman Lecture that will discuss: “Genetically Modified Animals: the Facts, the Fear Mongering, and the Futureâ€. Presenter will be: Alison Van Eenennaam, University of California – Davis. For more information, go to: http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu/. It’s planned for 7:00 p.m. on Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center; 2021 Transformation Drive, Lincoln, NE. If you cannot make it to Lincoln, you can watch it live via video. It should be an interesting lecture.
Crop Production Clinics Planned
It’s that time of the year for our annual Crop Production Clinic across Nebraska. We have sessions in our area on Jan. 8th in Hastings and January 14th here in York. We’ll have two sessions going at the same time for you can select from. They have great programs planned, topics include: pesticide safety, water management, crop production, agribusiness management, the farm bill and soil fertility.
It’s important to pre-registration by 3:00 p.m. January 13th! Cost is $65 which includes:
• 2015 Guide for Weed Management in Nebraska
• 2015 CPC Proceedings
• Noon meal & refreshments
Go to http://agronomy.unl.edu/cpc to register. I hope you’ll plan to attend one of the Crop Production Clinics.
Farm & Ranch Business Succession & Estate Planning Workshop
I’ve mentioned that we’re hosting a Farm/Ranch Business Succession & Estate Planning workshop on January 15, 2015 at the York Country Club. The workshop will go from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There is no charge for the workshops, but you need to register by calling the Rural Response Hotline at 1-800-464-0258 or our office 402-362-5508 by January 12, 2015.
Presenters will be Dave Goeller, Deputy Director, Northeast Center for Risk Management Education at UNL and Joe Hawbaker, Agricultural Law attorney from Omaha.
Thanks to the Chamber Ag Committee, a free lunch will be provided as part of the workshop. The sponsors are: Cornerstone Bank, Henderson State Bank, Midwest Bank and York State Bank.
More information is posted at: http://york.unl.edu/crops-future, or give me a call at 402-362-5508 or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu.
Farm Bill Education Training
A hands on training about Texas A&M Agricultural Food Policy Center comprehensive Farm Bill Decision Aid computer program will be held Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at the new Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, 2021 Transformation Drive in Lincoln, Nebraska. Those attending will learn how to use the Computer Decision Aid, how to interpret the results and how managing risk is integrated into the model. Participants are encouraged to bring their own iPad, tablet or laptop computer.
For information about the workshop go to: http://bit.ly/1wh96bm. Online pre-registration is open until Wednesday, January 7, 2015. Participants need to pre-register at http://go.unl.edu/farmbill.
York Extension Centennial Notes
I said last time that I was cone sharing York Extension Centennial Notes, but I thought I’d share one more and ask for help. I believe I’ve mentioned that I’m working on a power point about the history of irrigation in York County and Nebraska. If you have pictures or tidbits of information that you’d be willing to share, bring them in and we’ll scan the images or email me that info, I’d like to add those images and bits of information to the presentation. THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Over the years, I’ve tried to continually update information about the York area rainfall. For 2014, we received 35.19†of precipitation, this compares to our 94 year average of 26.99â€. The 2014 total ranks 9th out of the 94 years of data I have, the top year I have was 40.37†in 1993. My figures are not exact, but they’re close. In August we received the 4th most precipitation for a month at 10.22â€. The top historic months I could find were 16.04†in 1950; 13.60†in 1967; 10.46†in 1958. One thing for sure no two years are the same and you cannot predict the weather!
I also have file that I continually update with the York County corn and soybean yields and acres planted over the years. The data is from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). I’ve charted this information and will include this with this week’s column. The data is from 1949 for the corn and from 1964 for soybeans.
In 1949 we raised about 150,000 acres of corn most of which were rainfed. Today, we have around 225,000 acres of corn most of which is now irrigated. Since 1949 our irrigated corn yield have gone up about 3.2 bushels/year. For irrigated corn, we’ve gone from less than 100 bushels/acre to now over 200 bushels/acre.
Since 1964, for soybeans we’ve gone from planting very few to planting about 90,000 acres most of which are irrigated. Over the years, irrigated soybean yields have gone up by about .85 bushels/acre/year and now average 60-65 bushels/acre.
We’ve sure made great progress in producing more crop and at the same time become more efficient with both nutrient and water utilization. We need to continue to make improvements if we’re going to be able to feed our world’s population. It will be interesting to see what crops we are growing 50 years from now as well as what the yields will be.
