About the Fremont Corn Expo
The Fremont Corn Expo is organized and hosted by Nebraska Extension. The Fremont Chamber Ag Business and Natural Council, Nebraska Farm Bureau in Dodge County, Colfax-Dodge Corn Growers Association, local FFA chapter, and the Nebraska Corn Board are the primary partners supporting Nebraska Extension in making the Fremont Corn Expo a great local event for corn growers. The Fremont Corn Expo is held the beginning of January each year. The Fremont Corn Expo attracts 300 to 400 attendees in a 1-hour driving distance from Fremont along with 48 agribusiness exhibitors. The expo is financially supported by local partners and agribusiness exhibitors. The Fremont Corn Expo was started in 2004 by former Extension Educator, Dave Varner.
The Fremont Corn Expo features speakers and panelists that provide local corn growers with the knowledge they need to effectively manage locally-relevant issues each year. Specific areas of focus include:
- Applying Emerging Technology
- Improving Economic Viability
- Increasing Resiliency to Extreme Weather
- Enhancing Soil and Water Resources
Take a look back on last year’s 2016 Fremont Corn Expo including videos, presentations, radio interviews, and more. What did last year’s attendees say:
- “Useful Expo”
- “Another great show”
- “Excellent speakers”
The Fremont Corn Expo is a free event open to the public. We hope that you can join us this year and enjoy our great expo!
Fremont Corn Expo Location
Christensen Field Main Arena
1730 West 16th St., Fremont NE 68025
2017 Program Schedule – Thursday, Jan. 5
7:30 a.m Breakfast and View Exhibits (50 exhibitors) – “The Waffle Man” serves breakfast compliments of the Fremont Chamber Ag Business & Natural Resource Council
8:45 a.m. Welcome – Tad Dinkins – Fremont Chamber Ag Business & Natural Resource Council President
9:00 a.m. Summary of 2016 UNL Multi-Hybrid Planting Collaborative Research Efforts – Joe Luck, Nebraska Extension Precision Ag Engineer
9:30 a.m. The Economic Outlook for U.S. Agriculture – Brent Gloy, Agricultural Economists
10:20 a.m. Break – View Exhibits – Grab some Mom’s Popcorn for a Snack!
10:45 a.m. Panel Discussion: Looking Ahead at Finances – Moderated by Nathan Mueller
- Accountant – Tina Barret w/Nebraska Farm Business Inc.,
- Ag Lender – Representative w/First National Bank
- Cash Rent/Lease Specialist – Allan Vyhnalek w/Nebraska Extension
- Economist – Brent Gloy w/Purdue University
- Fertilizer – Charles Shapiro w/Nebraska Extension
11:30 a.m. Business & Industry Update – NE Farm Bureau, Fremont Chamber, Local FFA Chapter, Colfax-Dodge County Corn Growers Association, NE Corn Board
Noon Lunch – View Exhibits – Dee’s Catering compliments of the Nebraska Farm Bureau in Dodge County
1:00 p.m. With Phosphorus, You Have Choices – Charles Shapiro, Nebraska Extension Soil Science/Plant Nutrition Specialist
1:50 p.m. Tools to Help Weather the Storms Ahead – Brian Smith, National Weather Service Meteorologist
2:40 p.m. Door Prize Winners Announced and Prizes Handed Out – Colfax-Dodge Corn Growers Association
3:00 p.m. Safe travels
Following the Fremont Corn Expo at 3:00 pm will be the Nitrogen Certification & Water Conservation Training Class for Lower Platte North NRD producers in the small meeting room at Christensen Field Main Arena
For more information on the Fremont Corn Expo, please contact Dr. Nathan Mueller, Nebraska Cropping Systems Extension Educator, at 402-727-2775 or
2017 Speaker Bios and Presentation Descriptions
Joe Luck
Biography
Dr. Joe Luck joined the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at UNL in April, 2012 as Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist for Precision Agriculture. His responsibilities include developing extension and research programs regarding the application of precision agriculture technologies in crop production as well as teaching in this focus area. His current research and extension efforts are focused on demonstrating agricultural data management strategies and technology applications for improving crop production efficiency. He works closely with interdisciplinary teams to evaluate technologies including crop canopy sensors for nitrogen application, advanced pesticide application systems, and multi-hybrid planters. Joe was raised on a family farm in western Kentucky that produced corn and soybeans and operated a small cattle operation.
Presentation (0.5 Crop Mgmt CEU): Multi-Hybrid Planting Prep
Multi-hybrid planters represent an emerging technology that provides the ability to place two different hybrids or seed treatments in pre-defined management zones. In 2016, the UNL Precision Ag Team led a cooperative group of industry partners and producers to demonstrate and evaluate a commercially-available multi-hybrid planter from Kinze Manufacturing. Study sites included five corn fields aimed at evaluating differences in ‘drought-tolerant’ and ‘racehorse’ hybrid placement based on management zones. In addition, three SDS-prone soybean fields were planted to evaluate the potential for placement of ILeVo (a SDS inhibiting product) at the sub-field level. A brief overview of project methods will be presented along with a summary of 2016 study site results.
Brent Gloy
Biography
Dr. Brent Gloy is an agricultural economist specializing in agricultural finance and agribusiness management. His research has been quoted and referenced in media ranging from the farm press, to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Economist, among others. Brent founded and served as the first Director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. Dr. Gloy’s current writings can be found on his website Agricultural Economic Insights, www.ageconomists.com, which he co-founded with David Widmar.
Dr. Gloy has held tenured faculty positions in agricultural economics at Purdue University and Cornell University. He currently operates his family farming operation in Southwest Nebraska, is a partner in Agricultural Economic Insights, LLC, and serves as a visiting professor at Purdue University. Brent received his masters and doctorate degrees in agricultural economics from Purdue University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Presentation (1 Professional Dev. CEU): The Economic Outlook for U.S. Agriculture
After many years of high commodity prices and strong profitability the situation in agriculture has shifted dramatically. What are the factors driving the profit squeeze? How can you position for success in this environment? What are the most important trends in agriculture? What should you expect this year and in the years to come? Dr. Brent Gloy will cover these issues and more. Dr. Gloy is an ag economics professor turned farmer who will bring his practical and understandable economic perspectives to this session that will help you think about how to position your business for the future.
Charles Shapiro
Biography
Dr. Charles Shapiro is a Soil Scientist – Crop Nutrition Professor of Agronomy and Horticulture with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Shapiro was born and raised in a suburb north of New York City. After graduating from Cornell University in 1974 he worked on a dairy farm and a processing vegetable farm before moving to Nebraska in 1975. Dr. Shapiro completed his MS (1978) and PhD (1982) at UNL under the supervision of Dr. A. Dale Flowerday. His first professional position was as Research Scientist for Castle & Cooke (owner of Dole brand bananas) in Ecuador. He returned to the University of Nebraska in 1984 as Assistant Professor at what is now the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory (HAL) near Concord, NE. His appointment has been 50% research and 50% extension. Dr. Shapiro has conducted research mainly in improving nutrient use efficiency. The overriding principle he has worked to promote is that getting more nutrients into a crop results in greater value to the producer, and less potential loss to the environment.
Presentation (1.0 Nutrient Mgmt CEU): With Phosphorus, You Have Choices!
Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus mostly sticks around where you put it. There are some losses from run-off, and depending on the soil properties, it might form unavailable forms. One can decide to ‘load up’ on phosphorus or dribble it out as needed. Is there a correct, best strategy? Making the phosphorus decision is more than an agronomic one, many factors make broad generalizations difficult. We will discuss the agronomy and also some of the non-agronomic factors that might influence the decision to P or not to P.
Brian Smith
Biography
I grew up in Geneva, IL , which is 35 miles west of Chicago. I started getting interested in weather after tornadoes struck my hometown in 1965 and 1967. I attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL and receive my B.S. in Meteorology. Because of my interest in severe storms, I went to graduate school at the University of Chicago and received my M.S. in Meteorology. It was there, that began my interest in analyzing storm damage, as I studied under world‑renown tornado expert, Dr. T. Theodore Fujita. In 1988, I started working for the National Weather Service at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (now called the Storm Prediction Center). In 1994, my family and I moved to Nebraska and accepted a position as the Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Valley. At the National Weather Service, I manage the weather warning and public outreach program. I still have a passion at analyzing storm damage and am involved with other meteorologists and engineers creating a standard for wind speeds in tornadoes. I have been married for 28 years to my wife Paula, and have four sons. In my spare time I enjoy watching baseball (Go Cubs!), playing the trumpet in the Blair Area Community Band, building scale plastic models, and working on my O gauge model railroad layout.
Presentation: Tools to Help Weather the Storms Ahead
Severe weather has a big impact on the agricultural community. Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms caused $10 billion dollars in property damage in the United States in 2015. It is also important for people in the rural to protect themselves from the hazards of severe thunderstorms. Having good situation awareness is tantamount to survival. I will cover the cloud features that accompany severe storms and how to interpret them. We will look at how to protect you and your family from the hazards of severe storms. Finally, we will look at the ways weather messages are communicated and show you how to receive warnings that may save your life.
2017 Corn Gold Level Sponsors
2017 Exhibitors
| AFAN | Johnson’s Cycle |
| Agnition | KHUB Radio |
| AgWest Commodities | Mid-Continent Irrigation |
| Butler Ag Equipment | Monke Bros. Fertilizer Co. |
| Central Valley Ag | Nebraska Corn Board |
| Channel | Nebraska Corn Growers Association |
| CL Construction LLC | Nebraska Farm Bureau |
| Colfax-Dodge Corn Growers | Nebraska On-Farm Research Network |
| CropMetrics, LLC | NPA Agronomics |
| Don Peterson & Associates | P & R Sales |
| Farm Credit Services of America | Petersen Ag Systems |
| First National Bank Fremont | Pioneer Seed |
| First State Bank and Trust | Platte Valley Implement |
| Fremont Biosolids | Select Sprayers and Equipment |
| Fremont Chamber | Servi-Tech |
| Frontier Coop | Stine Seed Company |
| Gene Steffy Auto Group | Storm Flying Service |
| Great Plains Home Safety | StrongField Resources |
| Green Gable Contracting | The Maschhoffs LLC |
| GVA Inc. | Titan Machinery |
| Heartland Farm Partners | Tri County Ag Service, Inc. |
| Hoegemeyer Hybrids | Union Bank & Trust |
| Hotsy Equipment Co. | USDA NRCS / FCS |
| Hurley & Associates | Ward Laboratories, Inc. |