Extension Update by Gary Zoubeck [October 8, 2015]

Coming Events

Oct. 18, York 4-H Achievement Party, 5:00 p.m., Fairgrounds, York

Oct.19, Extension Board Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Extension Office, York

Yard & Garden

I’ve received a few calls about nuisance pests biting people.  I’m not for sure what they are, but they may be pirate bugs, these tiny black insects that inflict painful bites.  Pirate bugs are one-eighth inch long, oval-shaped, black bugs with white markings. They are beneficial predators that feed on insect eggs and small insects by impaling their prey with their short blunt mouthparts. When biting humans, they do not feed on blood or inject venom or saliva so they are considered only a nuisance.

When bitten, some people have no reaction while others have bites that swell like a mosquito bite or turn red. Attempting to control minute pirate bugs by applying insecticides to landscape plants is not practical or effective, and will kill beneficial insects and pollinators. Skin repellents are generally not effective, although applying baby oil liberally to the skin may prevent bites. For the most part, we have to tolerate these tiny pirate bugs until a hard freeze kills them.

I had a co-worker in Butler County who had some brought insects into his office that were either the minute pirate bugs or minute flower bugs that were biting people. 

Another possible insect might be the western flower thrip?  When mature, this insect is only 1/10″ long, and often is yellow to dark brown in color, and is cigar shaped.   It can fly and will land on people and bite.  Western flower thrips are in our area and are known to be attracted to white.

It’s that time of the year, with harvest going on and the temperatures cooling many insects or on the move.  I’m sure the numbers will go down with the first freeze and colder temperatures, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that?

Cropping Update

If the weathermen are correct it looks like it’s going to be a more normal weeks with more typical temperatures and little chance for rain.  It should be a good week for harvest. 

Joe Luck, Nebraska Extension Precision Ag Engineer, shared a reminder in the latest CropWatch article that as you are getting started with harvest, it’s a good time to ensure that your yield monitor is collecting accurate data. 

“The most important (and time consuming) aspect of collecting accurate yield data is calibration of the yield monitor system. While many operators can use calibrations stored in the display from previous years (always double check to see how well previous calibrations are performing), most will need to perform new calibrations. Remember that separate calibrations are needed for different crops (e.g., corn or soybeans) and accuracy will generally improve when calibrating for significant moisture variability for a crop (e.g., high and low moisture corn).

For each calibration, try to conduct separate loads that span the variability (high to low) that you may expect to see when harvesting fields. Generally you can change combine speed or header cut width to varying crop flow through the machine to create this variation while calibrating. In general only 3,000 lb to 6,000 lb of grain are needed for each of these loads. Harvesting a full semi-load of grain per calibration load point won’t necessarily improve your calibration accuracy.

Another common issue that often affects yield data is acceleration or deceleration while harvesting. Sometimes it’s necessary to stop quickly, but this will often contribute to over-estimating yield. Minimizing speed changes can help reduce these types of errors.” 

Check out all of Joe’s tips at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/.

Good luck as harvest continues!

National 4-H Week

National 4-H Week is October 4 – 10, 2015!  It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the impact 4-H youth are making in their lives and their communities during National 4-H Week.  Did you know that 4-H is the nation’s largest youth organization; we empower more than six million young people across the U.S.  4-H is a community of young people, ages 5-18, across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. 4-H empowers youth to reach their full potential working and learning in partnership with caring adults. 4-H is education for life that uses a learn-by-doing approach.

In Nebraska, 4-H is present in all 93 counties across the state!  Nebraska 4-H Youth Development continues to make a difference in the lives of young people across the state! Throughout 2015, 4-H in Nebraska intentionally targets educational programs toward 4-H Science, Agricultural Literacy, Career Development and College Readiness, Community Engagement, and Healthy Living. In addition, 4-H has always been focused in supporting the post-secondary education aspirations of young people.

Did you know?

1 in 3 age-eligible youth across Nebraska are enrolled in 4-H

140,000 youth are reached by Nebraska 4-H

All 93 Nebraska counties offer 4-H youth development programs

12,000 Volunteers share their time and resources with Nebraska 4-H

For more information about the 4-H program visit these websites: http://4h.unl.edu/ or

http://www.4-h.org/ or http://york.unl.edu. 

We are always looking for volunteers or more members.  Call your local Extension Office for more information or to get involved.