Extension Update from Jenny Rees

UPCOMING EVENTS:  
Oct. 26-27:  Managing Impacts to Water Quality in Production Agriculture, Nebraska Innovation Campus, http://go.unl.edu/zqb7 
Oct. 28:  From Recipe to Reality, UNL Food Processing Center, RSVP:  Jill Gifford at 402-472-2819 or jgifford1@unl.edu
Nov. 1:  2017 Crop Insurance Workshop, Heartland Event Center Grand Island, RSVP:   https://cropinsure.unl.edu/
Nov. 3:  Produce Safety Alliance Compliance, Raising NE in Grand Island, https://events.unl.edu/acreage/2017/11/03/123489/
Nov. 4:  Fall Hop Production Workshop, 8am-5pm, near Plattsmouth, NE https://agronomy.unl.edu/nebraska-hops
Nov. 6:  So You Inherited a Farm, Now What? Hall County Extension, Grand Island 9:30 a.m. RSVP:  308-385-5088
Nov. 8:  Growing Nebraska Summit, Cornhusker Hotel Lincoln, 8:15 a.m.-4pm, RSVP:  https://ianr.unl.edu/ianr-fall-conference
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, RSVP (402) 362-5508 or jrees2@unl.edu
Nov. 13:  Estate Planning Meeting, 6:30 p.m., 4-H Bldg York, RSVP (402) 362-5508 or jrees2@unl.edu
Nov. 15:  Sprayer Clinic for Dicamba/Enlist, NE College Tech Ag Curtis, 12:30 p.m., RSVP 308-696-6705 or rklein2@unl.edu
Nov. 16:  Grain Marketing Seminar:  Intro to Futures and Options, 9:30-3 p.m., former ARDC near Mead, RSVP (402) 261-7572
Nov. 16:  York County Corn Grower Banquet
Nov. 19-21:  Facing Challenges: Shaping the Future Water Conference, Holiday Inn Kearney, http://www.newra.net/nwra-nsia-joint-convention/
Nov. 21:  Grain Marketing Seminar:  Intro. to Futures and Options, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Extension Office Holdrege, RSVP (308) 345-3390
Nov. 27:  On-Farm Research Brainstorm/Discussion Session, 1-4 p.m., 4-H Bldg Fairgrounds Aurora, RSVP jrees2@unl.edu or steve.melvin@unl.edu
Dec. 7:  Farmers and Ranchers College:  Dr. David Kohl, 1-4 p.m., Bruning Opera House, Bruning
Dec. 11:  Grain Marketing Seminar:  Intro to Futures and Options, 9:30 a.m.-3pm, Extension Office Beatrice, RSVP (402) 873-3166
Dec. 12:  Grain Marketing Seminar: Intro to Futures and Options, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 4-H Building York, RSVP (402) 362-5508
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
Jan. 30-31:  No-Till On the Plains Winter Conference, Wichita, KS http://notill.org/
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 and Grazing Updates:  Grateful for a nice week for harvesting and for the good yields being reported! It’s also good to see cattle being turned into cornstalks. A reminder to read herbicide labels to understand if there’s any grazing restrictions from corn and soybean herbicides applied in-season. It’s also important to look for any grazing restrictions on fall-applied herbicides to control marestail and other germinating weeds.  These restrictions can also be found in the 2017 UNL Guide for Weed, Insect, and Disease Management on pages 186-189.  The forage, feed, and grazing restriction only applies to the crop for which the herbicide was applied.  When it comes to grazing cover crops planted into these residues, one must use the replant/rotation restriction guidelines found on the herbicide label and also on pages 172-185 of the Weed Guide.  I will also post these on my blog at http://jenreesources.com.

If the label doesn’t specify any restrictions, then it should be ok. If you want to be on the safe side, a rule of thumb is to use the pre-harvest interval for the amount of time to wait before grazing stalks.  Some labels will say that residue should not be grazed or baled and fed to livestock.  Sometimes studies were actually conducted to know there is a safety concern.  In other cases, the chemical company may not choose to conduct all the studies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required for labeling due to high costs.  If that’s the case, the EPA requires the strongest restrictive language be placed on the label. Regardless, if it says there’s a grazing restriction on the label, the label needs to be followed as it is a legal document and the law. 

As you plan for next year’s herbicide program, if you’re thinking about fall cover crops, the following NebGuide may be of benefit to you as it goes through the grazing restrictions of various herbicides:  http://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2276.pdf.

Dr. Mary Drewnoski has a student, Mary Lenz, looking at cover crops and nitrate toxicity.   This study will require the cooperation of producers grazing annual forages to make the results practical and accurate. Methemoglobin in the blood, and nitrate levels in the forage will be measured in cattle grazing annual forages/cover crops. To measure methemoglobin, a subset of cattle will be gathered and blood samples will be taken. This will occur mid-afternoon, 4-7 days after turnout. This is a simple procedure, and the University can easily provide a portable corral and chute. To measure nitrates, a quality sample will be collected from the field, froze, and analyzed at the university lab. The data collection will be minimally invasive and should be a simple process.  If you are interested in this or have any questions, please contact Mary Lenz at mlenz7@huskers.unl.edu, or 307-761-3353. If you haven’t experienced a freeze yet this fall, you soon will. And remember, a freeze can cause hazards for using some forages.

With a hard freeze predicted this coming weekend, Dr. Bruce Anderson shares the following information: “Sorghum-related plants, like cane, sudangrass, shattercane, and milo can be highly toxic for a few days after frost. Freezing breaks plant cell membranes. This breakage allows the chemicals that form prussic acid, which is also called cyanide, to mix together and release this poisonous compound rapidly. Livestock eating recently frozen sorghums can get a sudden, high dose of prussic acid and potentially die. Fortunately, prussic acid soon turns into a gas and disappears into the air. So wait 3 to 5 days after a freeze before grazing sorghums; the chance of poisoning then becomes much lower.       Freezing also slows down metabolism in all plants. This stress sometimes permits nitrates to accumulate in plants that are still growing, especially grasses like oats, millet, and sudangrass. This build-up usually isn’t hazardous to grazing animals, but green chop or hay cut right after a freeze can be more dangerous.       Alfalfa reacts two ways to a hard freeze, down close to twenty degrees, cold enough to cause plants to wilt. Nitrate levels can increase, but rarely to hazardous levels. Freezing also makes alfalfa more likely to cause bloat for a few days after the frost. Then, several days later, after plants begin to wilt or grow again, alfalfa becomes less likely to cause bloat. So waiting to graze alfalfa until well after a hard freeze is a good, safer management practice.  Frost causes important changes in forages so manage them carefully for safe feed.”

On-Farm Research Brainstorming/Discussion Session:  You hear and read about various production practices and products that work for other farmers.  You may have questions regarding a specific practice or product working on your farm.  On-farm research is a way to answer this for yourself!  In the past, our area on-farm research cooperators met before the growing season to brainstorm ideas and discuss potential research topics together.  We are resurrecting this brainstorming/discussion session with it to be held on Monday, November 27^th from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Fairgrounds (4-H Building) in Aurora.  Farmers who have conducted on-farm research in the past or are considering/interested in on-farm research in the future are encouraged to attend.  If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP to Steve Melvin at steve.melvin@unl.edu or Jenny Rees at jrees2@unl.edu. 

Growing Nebraska Summit:  A Nov. 8 summit hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources will focus on leveraging partnerships, programming and research to spur growth in Nebraska. The summit will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Cornhusker Hotel, 333 S. 13th St., Lincoln. All are welcome.  Through a series of fast-paced presentations and interactive sessions, the summit will focus on creating a better quality of life, educating tomorrow’s leaders, igniting a passion and feeding a growing world.  The summit is free, and lunch is included. Space is limited. To learn more and register, please go to:  https://ianr.unl.edu/ianr-fall-conference.

2017 Crop Insurance Workshop:  “Making Risk Management Decisions in a Difficult Farm Economy” is the theme of the 2017 Crop Insurance Workshop to be held Nov. 1 at Grand Island. It will be held at the Heartland Event Center, 700 E. Stolley Park Road.  These workshops are for crop insurance agents, agricultural lenders, marketing consultants, agricultural educators, and other risk management service providers who want to help their clients make more profitable risk management decisions. Farmers and ranchers will be able to apply the information to improve their risk management decisions.  For more information or to register, go to https://cropinsure.unl.edu/.