Coming Events
Feb. 4, 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. 6, Business After Hours, Salute to Agriculture, 5:00 p.m., Chances R Beer Garden, York
Feb. 7, Raising Nebraska Celebrates Nebraska 4-H Month, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Nebraska Building, State Fairgrounds 501 E Fonner Park Road, Grand Island.
Feb. 10, Pruning Deciduous and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs, Connect Training, 6:30 p.m., Extension Office
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. 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. 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, Â 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
Nebraska Weather
I guess it is Nebraska, we sure have had a change in the weather over the weekend. As I prepare this column Monday morning, February 2nd, Groundhog Day and my dad’s 90th birthday, it looks like we’ll be having 6 more weeks of winter weather. The sun is peak up and I don’t see many clouds, it’s just very cold -4° F.
Business After Hours, Salute to Agriculture
The York Chamber Ag Committee has move up the Business After Hours to this Friday February 6th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Chances R Beer Garden here in York. It’s been moved up so that it does not interfere with the start of field activities. It’s a great event….some great food and FANTASTIC prizes. Funds from the raffle go toward the scholarship fund for graduating seniors going into various areas of agriculture.
Mark this evening on your calendar and plan to bring a neighbor or two. I hope we’ll see you there!
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.
Farm Bill Decisions
How are you coming making decisions related to the farm bill? Are you an optimist or a pessimist or do you need a lot or a little price risk protection? You still have time to make those decisions, but it’s important to gather the needed information and to be sure and update as many of your yields as possible. We have not been able to do that for over 12 years and for most of the producers I know, yield have gone up. I’ve looked at the York County irrigated corn and soybean yields and they’ve gone up by 3+ bushels per year for corn and about 1 for soybeans.
If you’ve gathered the needed information, I’m willing to help input the data. Givve me a call at 402-362-5508 or email me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu the data and we’ll see if we can run the tool for you.
If you’d like to run the tool yourself, the links to the program can be found on our Farm Bill website: http://agecon.unl.edu/farmbill or the direct link is: http://usda.afpc.tamu.edu/.
Check out the latest CropWatch articles at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/.
It includes FAQs about: Base Acre Reallocation, Price Loss Coverage Program, County Agriculture Risk Coverage Program, plus a couple of Blog posts to help simplifying input and analyzing the program options.
I’m sure this information will help answer many of the questions you have, so check it out!
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.
Speaking of precision agriculture, the 2015 Nebraska Agriculture Technology Association (NeATA) Conference is planned for Feb. 4-5 in Grand Island. You can register for one or both days at the NeATA website: http://www.neata.org/.
The 2015 Nebraska Agriculture Technology Association (NeATA) Conference will focus on the latest products, practices, and services available to producers. The symposium registration starts at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4 and the conference registration starts at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5th.
The Feb. 4 program includes two half-day symposiums on:
- Integrated Agronomic Management Systems (Encirca, Field Scripts and ACS)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) use in Agriculture
The evening program on Feb. 4 will feature UAV technology demonstrations from the Nebraska Intelligent Mobile Unmanned Systems (NIMBUS) lab including autonomous flights and plant height determination.
The Thursday, Feb. 5, program will feature 16 breakout sessions with agribusiness and university presentations on the latest advances in ag technology. In the morning, the feature speaker, Larry Gualtney from E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company, will present “Crop Protection—Opportunities, Challenges.” Over lunch, Chuck Hibberd, dean and director of Nebraska Extension, will present “A Century of Extension.”
The closing keynote speaker, John Fulton, associate professor with Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering at The Ohio State University, will present “Trends for Enabling Data Driven Crop Production Management.” He will address
- Technology advancements and data streams being generated by technology;
- How advancements in machinery and seed technology are converging and influencing options at the farm level; and
- Options for cloud storage and data permissions today and tomorrow.
Looks like they’ve go another great program planned.
Raising Nebraska Celebrates Nebraska 4-H Month
In celebration of Nebraska 4-H Month, Raising Nebraska located on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds is hosting a 4-H Day on Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. All 4-H youth, families, and volunteers are invited to attend this free event. Guests will enjoy interactive hands-on stations focused on 4-H programs and enjoy Raising Nebraska as they explore and discover information about Nebraska agriculture.
Raising Nebraska is an interactive experience like no other. From science and innovation, to community and culture, and even the global economy, Nebraska’s agricultural experience touches everyone. Through this incredible 25,000-foot interactive exhibit, you actually become part of it – in ways you never imagined and that you’ll never forget.
Raising Nebraska is located in the Nebraska Building on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds at 501 E Fonner Park Rd, Grand Island, NE 68801. For more information on Raising Nebraska, visit www.raisingnebraska.net.
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.
