Coming Events
Feb. 11, Center Pivot Irrigation Short Course, Central City
Feb. 13, Nebraska On-Farm Research Meeting, College Park in Grand Island
Feb. 13, Landowner/Tenant Lease Workshop, 9:30 a.m., Lancaster Extension Office (call 402-441-7180 to reserve a spot and handouts)
Feb. 13, Wilber Crop Clinic Focusing on the Bottom Line, 9:00 a.m., Sokol Hall, Wilber (Information available at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/)
Feb. 17, Nebraska On-Farm Research Meeting, ARDC near Mead
Feb. 17-18, Central Plains Irrigation Conference & Exposition, Colby, Kansas
Feb. 17, Insects – Beneficial’s in the Garden & Landscape and Vegetable Insect Pests, Connect Training, 6:30 p.m., Extension Office
Feb. 19, Landowner/Tenant Lease Workshop, 9:30 a.m., Fairgrounds Clay Center. (call 402-762-3644 to reserve a spot and handouts)
Feb. 19, ProHort Update, 10:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Hall County Meeting Room, College Park, Grand Island. Cost $25.00 (Call 308-385-5088 to register or for more information)
Feb. 23, 2015, Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, 1:30 p.m., 4-H Building, York
Feb. 24, Wildlife Damage Management, Connect Training, 6:30 p.m., Extension Office
Feb. 24, Precision Ag Workshop York, 8:30 a.m., 4-H Building, York
March 12, Chemigation Training, 1:00 p.m., 4-H Building, York
March 12, Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, 6:30 p.m., 4-H Building, York
Many Educational Opportunities
I hope you enjoyed the weekend weather! It was great! It is the meeting season, we have many educational programs plan on a wide variety of topics. Please check out my list of coming events for more information about the various educational opportunities NE Extension is providing. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information about any of the events.
Nebraska On-Farm Research Updates
Have you conducted any on-farm research studies? With today’s commodity and input prices, it’s more important than ever to know the answer to your questions. Some of the best education events we have each year are the yearly Nebraska On-Farm Research Updates. We have three planned this year and they’re coming up soon. Those dates and locations are: Friday Feb. 13 – Hall County Extension Office located on College Park Campus (3180 W. Highway 34) – Grand Island, NE; Monday February 16 – Lifelong Learning Center located on Northeast Community College – Norfolk, NE; and Tuesday Feb. 17 – Nebraska Extension (Agricultural Research and Development Center – ARDC – near Mead, NE. Sessions run from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm with a complimentary sponsored lunch.
There is no cost to attend. Pre-registration is required for meal planning purposes. Please call 402-624-8005 or email Christina Franklin at christina.franklin@unl.edu and indicate which site you plan to attend.
These updates will be a great opportunity to learn from the producers who conducted replicated On-farm Research this past year and how you can participate in the Nebraska On-Farm Research effort in 2015! I hope we’ll see you there.
For more information about the Nebraska On-Farm Research effort go to: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/farmresearch.
Landowner/Tenant Lease Workshop
Nebraska Extension with sponsorship of the Nebraska Soybean Board has been holding several Landowner/Tenant Lease Workshops. A couple coming up in our area will be held Feb. 13th at the Lancaster Extension Office and on Feb. 19th at the Clay County Fairgrounds. Both sessions begin at 9:30 a.m.
Topics will include: Trends in farmland values and cash lease values, good lease communications, writing a good lease and Flexible cash leases. Register for the Lancaster workshop by calling 402-441-7180 and for the Clay Center workshop by calling 402-762-3644.
ProHort Update
Nebraska Extension in Hall County and the Nebraska Forest Service has teamed to develop a program specifically for public work employees, landscape managers, tree board volunteers, arborist, cemetery and grounds keepers, nursery and green industry professionals. This full-day workshop will cover current and emerging issues in the landscape. The workshop will be held Thursday February 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hall County Extension Office Meeting Rooms located in College Park in Grand Island. Cost of the workshop is $25.00 including lunch.
Topics will include: Young tree pruning, Emerald ash borer update, turf management update and what’s happening now. For more detail check out the program flier at: http://york.unl.edu/water-environment or contact Elizabeth at 308-385-5088 for more information.
Precision Ag Data Management Workshop
NE Extension is hosting a series of hands-on workshops on precision agriculture! These hands-on workshops are designed to demonstrate methods for extracting more information from your Precision Ag Data. The workshops will combine short lectures with Hands-on activities (laptops and data will be supplied) using AG Leader SMS Advanced software.
Session topics will demonstrate strategies to:
- Conduct multi-year yield data normalization analyses,
- Analyze yield monitor data versus as-applied split planter hybrid data,
- Analyze yield monitor data versus as-applied seeding rate data
- Quantify yield monitor data versus NRCS soil survey boundaries and soil electrical conductivity (EC) maps generated from Veris data,
- Develop prescription maps for various crop inputs under irrigated and dryland conditions,
- Develop and evaluate the performance of management plans for crop inputs
Registration Cost is $50.00 and include printed learning guides, jump drive and lunch. For more information go to our webpage: http://york.unl.edu/crops-future and click on the appropriate link. For a complete list of all the area Precision Ag Data Management Workshops go to the CropWatch site: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/farmresearch and click on the appropriate link.
Irrigation Management
Most of us are really not thinking about irrigation management at this time, but it’s a good time to be thinking about ordering some Watermark Sensors and ETgage thru the Upper Big Blue NRD.
If you are planning to order some equipment, that link is available on the NRD Website: http://www.upperbigblue.org/PAGES_primary/PAGE_forms_applications.htm.
Getting the most value from your irrigation water will be the focus of the Center Pivot Irrigation Management Short Course, a day-long class to be hosted by Nebraska Extension. Four sessions are planned. Feb. 6th in Norfolk, Feb. 9th in Scottsbluff, February 10th in Holdrege and February 11th in Central City.
Topics will include:
- Sprinkler package selection
- Soil water management
- Pumping plant performance
The day begins with check-in at 9 a.m. and speakers from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The program is free but participants are asked to pre-register so appropriate materials and lunch can be provided. To register, Norfolk, call 402-370-4040; Scottsbluff, call 308-632-1276; Holdrege, call 308-995-4222; and Central City, call 308-946-3843.
Crop Scout Training
With days like we had over the weekend, maybe spring is around the corner? Keith Glewen, Extension Educator in Saunders County has planned CROP SCOUT TRAINING for Pest Mangers for Thursday, March 5th at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center (ARDC) near Mead. The session will go from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Topics will include:
How Corn and Soybean Plants Grow and Develop
Soybean and Corn Insect Management
Nutrient Deficiencies
Identifying Weeds – Plan Morphology
Using a Key to Identify Weed Seedlings
Crop Diseases and Quiz
For more information or to register goto: http://ardc.unl.edu/cmwp.shtml.
