Upcoming Events:
Feb. Farm Finance & Ag Law Clinics
Feb. 24: Ag Land Management Mtg., 9 a.m., Extension Office, Kearney
Feb 24: Dicamba Training, 10 am, Aurora, Fairgrounds
Feb 24: Pesticide Training, 1:30pm, Aurora Fairgrounds
Feb 24: Pesticide Training, 6:30 pm, Seward, Harvest Hall on Fairgrounds
Feb 25: Pesticide Training, 9 am & 1 pm, Lincoln, Extension Office
Feb 25: Pesticide Training, 1 pm, Lindsay, City Hall
Feb 25: Pesticide Training, 1:30 & 6 pm, Geneva, Fairgrounds
Feb. 25: Ag Land Management Mtg., 1:30 p.m., Bayer Learning Center, Gothenburg
Feb. 26: Nebraska On-Farm Research Update, Extension Office, Kearney
Feb. 26: Optimizing Poultry Manure Value in Cropping Systems, Library, David City
Feb. 27: Nebraska Irrigated Cover Crop Conference, 9 a.m., Fairgrounds, Central City
Feb. 28: Nebraska On-Farm Research Update: Focus on Cover Crop Research, Holthus Convention Center, York
Demystifying Poultry Manure-optimizing agronomic value and minimizing environmental risks will be held Feb. 26th from 1-4 p.m. at the Hruska Memorial Library in David City. The Nebraska Extension Animal Manure Management Team wants to help crop producers and rural citizens understand why, how, when and where manure can add value to a cropping system. They also want to answer your questions about how chickens are raised, what’s in poultry manure, what practices can optimize manure value while minimizing environmental risks and any other questions you have. No cost. Pre-registrations welcome by contacting Butler Co. Extension at (402) 367‐7410.
Irrigated Cover Crop Conference will be held Feb. 27 at the Fairgrounds in Central City starting with donuts at 9:00 a.m. Topics include: Implementing Cover Crops to Increase Resilience & Returns in Cropping Systems, Benefits of Cover Crops for Weed Control, Crop Water Use Considerations, Does growing shorter season corn/beans, impact cover crop biomass?, Overview of Cover Crop Strategies in the Central Platte, Seeding Methods for Cover Crops, Grazing High Quality Cover Crops, Don’t Waste Your Cover Crop, and Methods to get Higher Grazing Efficiencies from Cover Crops. Cost is $10. For more info., please contact Steve Melvin at (308) 946-3843.
On-Farm Research Brainstorming Meeting Mar. 2: The purpose of this meeting is to allow area growers interested in on-farm research to discuss their project ideas for 2020. I’ve found this meeting lends additional support for growers allowing them to bounce ideas off each other and has led to several growers trying the same studies. Any growers interested in learning more about on-farm research studies or interested in trying studies on your farms are welcome to join us Mar. 2nd from 9 a.m.-Noon at the 4-H Building in York. Please RSVP to jrees2@unl.edu.
Annie’s Inspired Mental Health, Stress Management and Ag Leadership class is designed to help farm and ranch women recognize stress, provide tips to care for one’s mental health and learn how to be a great Ag leader. Please join us for this class taught by Brandy VanDeWalle, Fillmore Co. Extension Educator, on Monday, Mar. 2nd 6 – 8 pm at the Seward Civic Center, 616 Bradford St., Seward, NE. Cost is $5 and RSVP is required for meal (402) 367-7410.
Windbreak Workshop March 3 in Seward: Thinking about rejuvenating that old broken down windbreak? Perhaps you want to start a new windbreak? Maybe you’re looking for information on what ails your windbreak and how to treat it? This FREE workshop will address all these questions (and more). Please join us Mar. 3rd from 9 a.m.-Noon (Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.) at the Seward County Extension Office. Bring your questions and learn from experts on topics including: Renovating that old windbreak; New windbreak establishment; Local NRD tree planting program, and Windbreak health issues. Please RSVP to Seward Co. Extension at: (402) 643-2981.
Southeast Nebraska Soil Health Conference Mar. 3: Soil health, cover crops, and grazing annual cover crops will be among the topics at this Conference Mar. 3rd at the Community Center in Hickman. Registration and viewing commercial displays begins at 8 a.m., with program at 9 a.m. The keynote speaker, Dr. Dwayne Beck, is the manager of the SDSU Dakota Lakes research farm. Additional speakers include: Dr. Ray Ward speaking on nutrient cycling to build organic matter; Paul Jasa and Gary Lesoing will share on systems approach to soil health; Mary Drewnoski will talk about cow-calf grazing of cover crops. Tyler Burkey, Milford; Blake Huls, Cortland; Rodney Wiese, Wilber and Steve Mills, Greenwood will share information they have learned on ways to increase soil health. Sponsors include Nebraska Corn Board, Lancaster County Farm Bureau, and SARE. Please pre-register at: https://lancaster.unl.edu/ag. CCA credits are available.
Grain Bin Safety Week kicked off Feb. 16. In 2018, there were 30 documented grain entrapment cases-half resulting in a fatality. It’s so important for farm families to understand the dangers of entering grain bins! Free Showings of SILO film (https://www.silothefilm.com/) will be March 10th in Aurora at the 12th Street Cinema sponsored by Hamilton Co. Corn Growers, showing times are at 6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Call or text Mike Bergen (402) 631-9324 or Mitch Oswald (402) 624-1056 to reserve your seat! Inspired by true events, SILO follows a harrowing day in an American farm town when a teenager is entrapped in a 50-foot-tall grain bin.
