Extension Update from Jenny Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS:  
Oct. 2:  Paul Hay Retirement Party, 3:00 – 6:00 pm (presentation 5:15 p.m.), Gage County Extension Office in Beatrice.
Oct. 3:  Heuermann Lecture:  Impact of Nebraska Immigrants, 3:30 p.m. Nebraska Innovation Campus or Livestream: http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu/.
Oct. 5:  Non-Profit Boot Camp, Former ARDC near Mead, 4:30-8:30 p.m., RSVP 402-374-2929 http://communityvitality.unl.edu/nonprofitbootcamp
Oct. 6-8:  4S Goat Expo, Lincoln Co. Fairgrounds in North Platte, http://www.4sgoatexpo.com/
Oct. 28:  From Recipe to Reality, UNL Food Processing Center, RSVP:  Jill Gifford at 402-472-2819 or jgifford1@unl.edu
Nov. 3:  Produce Safety Alliance Compliance, Raising NE in Grand Island, https://events.unl.edu/acreage/2017/11/03/123489/
Nov. 9:  Forest Products Marketing Workshop, Kearney, NE, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forest-products-marketing-workshop-tickets-38081724463
Nov. 13:  So You Inherited a Farm, Now What? 1:30 p.m., 4-H Bldg York, RSVPjrees2@unl.edu
Nov. 13:  Estate Planning Meeting, 6:30 p.m., 4-H Bldg York, RSVP jrees2@unl.edu 
Nov. 16:  York County Corn Grower Banquet
Dec. 7:  Farmers and Ranchers College:  Dr. David Kohl, 1-4 p.m., Bruning Opera House, Bruning
Dec. 12:  Grain Marketing Seminar, 4-H Building York
Jan. 10-11:  York Ag Expo, Holthus Convention Center, York
Jan. 11:  Crop Production Clinic, North Platte
Jan. 16:  Crop Production Clinic, Norfolk
Jan. 18:  Crop Production Clinic, Lincoln
Jan. 18-19:  Hops Grower, Brewer Conference, Embassy Suites Downtown Omaha,http://www.growbrewnebraska.com/registration/
Jan. 24-25:  Crop Management Conference, Kearney
Feb. 7-9:  Nebraska Ag Tech Assoc. (NeATA) Conference
Feb. 19:  Nebraska On-Farm Research Network Update, former ARDC near Mead
Feb. 20:  Nebraska On-Farm Research Network Update, Lifelong Learning Center Northeast Com. College, Norfolk
Feb. 21:  Nebraska On-Farm Research Network Update, Hall Co. Extension Office, Grand Island
Feb. 22-23:  Women in Ag Conference, Kearney

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.

Crop Updates:  There’s not much new I have to share in the way of corn and soybean updates this week with the recent rains.  Regarding sorghum, the sugarcane aphid was detected in a sorghum field near Pawnee City, which is the first reported siting in Nebraska sorghum.  The aphid levels are currently low in this field.  Sugarcane aphids have to migrate north each year from southern areas where plants in the sorghum family remain green over the winter.  Sugarcane aphids can be identified from other aphids we commonly see by their light yellow to gray bodies with black cornicles (also known as tail-pipes).  Corn leaf aphids, common in Nebraska, also have dark tail pipes but their bodies are green in color.  Look for aphids on the undersides of lower leaves first, and then higher in the canopy as populations increase.  The presence of a black sooty mold may also be present as the secondary fungus grows on the sugar ‘honeydew’ secretions from the aphids.  If you feel you may have sugarcane aphids in your field, please contact your local Extension educator.

Heuermann Lecture Focus on Impact of Nebraska Immigrants:  The next Heuermann Lecture will be held October 3, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, 2021 Transformation Drive. Lectures are also streamed live at http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu/.

Lourdes Gouveia, professor emerita of sociology and co-founder of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will give the first Heuermann Lecture of the season.  Gouveia will examine the role that immigrants have played, and continue to play, in the social, economic and cultural development of Nebraska and its diverse communities.

Gouveia has authored and co-authored a number of articles aimed at documenting the profound sociodemographic changes and processes of immigrant incorporation occurring in new destination states such as Nebraska. As OLLAS director, she was charged with the task of producing a number of policy-relevant reports, which have been offered as key evidence by Nebraska state senators opposing the passage of bills seeking to restrict immigrant rights. Her current work focuses on the growing exodus of middle-class, highly educated Venezuelans.

The theme for the seventh year of Heuermann Lectures is “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The lectures are funded by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips. The Heuermanns are longtime university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska’s production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.
Colleagues,

4S Goat Expo:  Goat producers in Nebraska and the surrounding region are encouraged to attend the 4S Goat Expo that is scheduled for Oct. 7 – 8 at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds, 5015 W Rodeo Road, North Platte Nebraska. 

The Expo will feature: Disease prevention in goat herds; Managing parasite pedigrees to maximize deworming impacts; Marketing goats in Nebraska (important dates); Famacha for goats; Benefits of purchasing quality genetics; Youth goat judging contest (awards will be given to top youth in junior and senior divisions); Goat producer panel; and Fitting your goat for show and sale.  Goat check-in is 3 – 9 p.m. Oct. 6 and before 8 a.m. on Oct. 7. The expo seminar will start at 10 a.m.  The Oct. 8 show will start at 8 a.m. with a sale-goat only show followed by a show-goat only show.  The sale will start at 1 p.m.  For more information, visit http://www.4sgoatexpo.com/ or http://go.unl.edu/0bot.

Produce Grower’s Produce Safety Alliance Compliance:  Those produce growers who must comply with FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule guidelines, are required to have one supervisor or responsible party from their farm who has successfully completed food safety training equivalent to the national Produce Safety Alliance curriculum.

Earliest compliance dates for large growers is January 26, 2018. Compliance dates, for all covered produce except sprouts, by business size is:

• Very small businesses – January 26, 2020. Businesses with greater than $25K but less than $250K average annual produce sales over the last three years.
• Small businesses – January 26, 2019. Businesses with greater than $250K but less than $500K average annual produce sales over the last three years.
• All other businesses – January 26, 2018. Businesses with greater than $500K average annual produce sales over the last three years. 

Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture will be offering the first food safety class for growers that meets these requirements on November 3, 2017 in the Raising Nebraska Building, Grand Island, NE.  After successfully completing the program, growers will receive an official course participation certificate.  The program registration cost is very low, due to sponsorship by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.  For more information on how to register for this program, please go to the following page:  https://events.unl.edu/acreage/2017/11/03/123489/.