Coming Events
Jan. 18-19 – Nebraska Extension Precision Ag Data Management Workshop, 8:30 a.m., ARDC http://agronomy.unl.edu/precisionag
Jan. 20, 9:00 a.m. – Farmers and Ranchers Cow/Calf College at USMARC near Clay Center
Jan. 29, 9:00 a.m. – Gabe Brown Cover Crop, No-till Meeting, Ag Park, Columbus
Jan. 29, 1:00 p.m. – Unmanned aerial systems (drones) in agriculture, East Campus Union, Lincoln http://agronomy.unl.edu/unmanned-aerial-systems-drones-agriculture
York Ag Expo
I hope you had a chance to attend the York Ag Expo last week. I think it went very well! We had a great turnout Wednesday evening to learn about things going on at Innovation Campus and the of Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program. We had several people stop by our UNL On-Farm Research booth and hear from our various speakers and a great turnout for the Ag After Hours Thursday evening.
Cover Crops, No-till Meeting Planned
Gabe Brown will speak on cover crops and no-till in Columbus January 29th with registration at 9:00 a.m. and the program to begin at 9:30 a.m. Brown is from Bismarck, ND and is one of the most sought after speakers for no-till, cover crops, livestock grazing, and soil health presentations in the United States.Â
The day-long event will be at Ag Park and is free; however, attendees are asked to register by Jan. 27 by calling the Extension Office at 402-563-4901.
Topics include:
• No-till management tips
• Proper management, utilization, and advantages of cover crops
• Establishing and maintaining good soil health
• Importance of no-till practices for soil erosion and moisture conservation
Brown, who is featured in several YouTube videos, also has a farm website: http://brownsranch.us/. The Browns strive to solve problems in a natural and sustainable way. Improving soil health is a priority and no-till farming has been practiced since 1993. A diverse cropping strategy, which includes cover and companion crops are used. They have now eliminated the use of synthetic fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides.
Brown’s presentation is sponsored by Nebraska Extension, Platte County; Natural Resources/Conservation Service Office in Columbus; Lower Platte North NRD, Lower Loup NRD, Lower Elkhorn NRD, Prairieland RC&D, and the Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group. Several local banks and businesses are sponsoring the lunch.
For more information or assistance, please contact Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension in Platte County at 402-563-4901 or e-mail avyhnalek2@unl.edu.
Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) In Agriculture
I’ve received several questions about Unmanned Aircraft and wanted to share information about a mini-symposium planned by the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture for the afternoon of Friday January 29th in the Arbor Suite, East Campus Union in Lincoln. This symposium will feature four talks from UNL faculty and two talks from external speakers from the UAS industry. The talks will cover a wide range of material from technical aspects of UAS usage to data analysis and applications in agriculture. The symposium will end with a brief panel discussion. Â
The program will include:Â
1:00–1:30 pm Bringing aerial robots closer to crops: Sensing, sampling, and safety
Carrick Detweiler – Assistant Professor, UNL Computer Science and Engineering
1:30–2:00 pm How do I legally use my unmanned aerial systems
William Kreuser – Assistant Professor, UNL Agronomy and Horticulture
2:00–2:45 pm Getting the most from unmanned aerial systems
Nathan Stein – Ag Solutions, SenseFly
2:45–3:00 pm Break
3:00–3:10 pm Unmanned aerial systems to evaluate the timing of winter dormancy in Buffalograss
Keenan Amundsen – Assistant Professor, UNL Agronomy and Horticulture
3:10–3:45 pm Sensor-based nitrogen management: The role of unmanned aerial systems
Richard Ferguson – Professor, UNL Agronomy and Horticulture
3:45–4:30 pm Building big data solutions for drones in agriculture
Jeremy Baynes – Geospatial Scientist, PrecisionHawk
4:30–5:00 pm Panel discussion
For more information: http://agronomy.unl.edu/unmanned-aerial-systems-drones-agriculture
If you cannot attend in person you can join online at https://connect.unl.edu/FridaySeminarSeries (enter as a Guest).
2016 Crop Budgets Released
If you are interested in what the 2016 Crop Budgets look like, they were just released that past week and are available at CropWatch. Each and every producer has different inputs, cost and yields, but these budgets can be used to get you started on your enterprise budgets. I hope you’ll check them out.
Roger Wilson, from the Ag Economic Department reports that the breakeven prices for 2016 are lower than they were in 2015 because of lower fuel and fertilizer costs. He reported that prices for herbicides used in the budgets were mixed and prices for fungicides and insecticides used in the budgets either remained constant or increased modestly. The 2014-2015 report estimates of farmland prices decreased from a year earlier and these decreases showed up in the lower breakeven prices.
The decreased production costs is news, but they will not completely cover the reduced revenues from decreased crop prices. Check them out and download the excel files if you’d like at: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/.
