Extension Update from Jenny Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS:  
Mar. 30:  Emerald Ash Borer Workshop, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds, Clay Center, no charge, RSVP to 402-762-3644
Mar. 31:  Household Hazardous Waste Collection, 4-6 p.m., Fairgrounds, Clay Center
Apr. 10-12:  Water for Food Conference, Nebraska Innovation Campus, http://go.unl.edu/p9rd
Apr. 11:  Pesticide Training, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m., Hruska Library, David City,mrethwisch2@unl.edu
Apr. 11:  Emerald Ash Borer Workshop, 6:00 p.m., Fillmore Co. Extension Office in Geneva, RSVP to 402-759-3712
Apr. 12:  Heuermann Lecture “Water and Global Issues”, 4:00 p.m., Nebraska Innovation Campus or live-stream:  http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu/
Apr. 22:  Household Hazardous Waste Collection, 8-11 a.m., Parking Lot of City of Seward Wastewater plant
Apr. 22:  Household Hazardous Waste Collection, 1-4 p.m., York County Landfill, York
May 30-21:  Youth Tractor Safety Class, 8am, Kearney Fairgrounds (308) 236-1235
July 10-11:  Youth Tractor Safety Class, 8am, Grand Island College Park (308) 385-5088.

Farm Finance Clinic Sites and Dates To sign up for a clinic or to get more information, call Michelle at the Nebraska Farm Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.

Household Hazardous Waste Collections Clay, York and Seward Counties:
Free Household Hazardous Waste collections are upcoming for Clay, York, and Seward Counties.  The Clay County collection will be held Friday, March 31 from 4-6 p.m. at the Clay County Fairgrounds.  The Seward County collection will be held Saturday, April 22 from 8-11 a.m. at the City of Seward Wastewater Plant parking lot (1040 S. Columbia).  The York County collection will be held Saturday, April 22 from 1-4 p.m. at the York County Landfill (1214 Road 15, York). 

For the Clay County Site, accepted items include:  all paint, cleaning products, lawn and garden chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, used oil, antifreeze, batteries, florescent bulbs, and mercury items (such as thermometers and thermostats) in household quantities only.  Not accepted include:  tires, electronic equipment, appliances, PCBs, picric acid, science lab materials, radioactive materials, biological hazards, pharmaceuticals, items containing asbestos, wood preservatives, explosives, or commercial quantities.  This collection is being sponsored by the Trailblazer RC&D and Clay County Supervisors.  Questions can be directed to (402) 746-3560 or (402) 762-3652.

The York and Seward locations are accepting acids, banned pesticide materials, cyanide, yard chemicals/pesticides, flammables, gas and oil (small quantities), antifreeze, lead acid batteries, mercury, florescent bulbs, all paint, stains, varnish.  They are also accepting appliances and electronics via a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) grant.  York and Seward locations are requesting no dried out paint cans as they are safe for trash, no tires, and no sharps.  There are York and Seward County flyers stating no farm chemicals will be accepted; however, they actually will be at a maximum of nine 2.5 gallon containers per person.  This collection is being sponsored by Four Corners Health Department funded through a grant from DEQ.  For questions, please call 877-337-3573.

Soil Temperatures:  Just a note that the soil temperature information at UNL’s CropWatch has been updated and is now more specific via location.  So for those of us who didn’t see ‘Clay Center’ on the list as before, it is listed under ‘Harvard aka Clay Center’.  Just mentioning this as I didn’t pay attention to the new towns and was just looking for the ones that we previously used!  You can find the soil temperature charts at:  http://cropwatch.unl.edu/cropwatchsoiltemperature.

Emerald Ash Borer Meetings in Clay and Fillmore Counties:
We had nice emerald ash borer meetings in York and Seward with great questions and interaction!  A reminder that this Thursday, March 30^th is the Clay County meeting in Clay Center at the fairgrounds with light supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. and program from 6-7 p.m.  There’s no charge but please RSVP to the Clay County Extension Office at (402) 762-3644 if you plan to attend. 

There will also be an emerald ash borer meeting in Geneva on April 11 at 6 p.m. at the Fillmore County Extension Office that will include a meal and information about caring for trees after the ice storm.  There is a $5 fee and please RSVP to the Fillmore Co. Extension Office at (402) 759-3712 if you plan to attend.

Vegetable Gardening:  This past week I had a handful of people ask about planting potatoes or waiting till Good Friday.  I plan on waiting but in talking with Gary Zoubek about this, he said he planted some potatoes and peas.  His suggestion was to consider planting some now and later.  The ones you plant now can be ready when your peas are and the others can be grown full season.  Gary put together an excellent vegetable guide for this area of the State which can be found at:  http://go.unl.edu/dd9j.

CropWatch:  Every week, we do our best to provide you with research-based information and timely crop updates in Nebraska Extension’s CropWatch newsletter at http://cropwatch.unl.edu.  Be sure to check it out and consider subscribing if you don’t receive it already!  This week has articles on selecting Bt traits, status of herbicide resistance weeds, farm leasing of machinery, and much more!

Pipeline Publication:  “Assessing Petroleum Pipelines – Facts and Safety,” was written by Steven S. Sibray, geoscientist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff, and Douglas R. Hallum, hydrogeologist at the West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte. The publication does not take sides or answer every question about pipelines, according to the authors. Rather it gathers factual information to facilitate discussion.  The publication can be accessed at:  http://go.unl.edu/73ex.

Severe Weather Awareness Week:
This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week where we all are encouraged to think about safety for severe weather events.  Wednesday, March 29^th is the Statewide tornado drill where you can practice your plan for sheltering in place.  If you don’t have a plan, now’s the time to make one. 

The statewide tornado drill will take place on Wednesday, March 29 between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. local time. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, if the situation allows, participate in the drill.  If you can’t participate at the designated time, plan for another date or time. Talk with those in your home and workplace. Use the drill as an opportunity to get everyone on the same page. Do you have new people in your office? Have you moved to a new office recently? Consider what you would do if you were hosting a program or had customers on site. Don’t assume everyone will know where to go or what to do. Be proactive!  Note: If there’s a chance for severe weather on Wednesday, the tornado drill may be postponed.

Other things you can do include:  Attend a storm spotter training by visiting your local National Weather Service website for details; Follow National Weather Service and your local news stations for weather updates (Twitter #NEwx); Participate in the state-wide tornado drill on March 29 and encourage others to do so; Get a weather alert all hazard radio; Download a radar app on your mobile device; and check out the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) website for additional information and ideas at: http://extension.unl.edu/disaster-recovery-resources/.