It has been a joy to write 137 columns over the past 4.5 years for farmers, agronomists, and landowners in southeast Nebraska. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as a local University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Educator. My last day with Nebraska Extension will be June 21. Many have emailed, called, and texted me […] Continue reading → 
Nebraska Extension has numerous field days that agronomists, conservationists, and farmers can attend during the summer across the state. Locally, we have two upcoming regional field days at the end of June and early July. Please learn more about each of the field days and consider attending. First up is our Weed Management Field Day […] Continue reading → 
The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows parts of the U.S. that are in drought, how intense it is, and short-term and long-term impacts. As the Water & Cropping Systems Extension Educator for Gage, Jefferson, and Saline counties, I contribute reports for this area directly to the weekly authors in Nebraska through our internal Nebraska drought […] Continue reading → 
I hope you enjoyed my previous 5-part series on basic cation saturation ratio concept this winter that you can still read online at https://croptechcafe.org. I ended that series with a call to action to focus on soil acidity and its management using soil pH, buffer pH, and lime to increase soil pH. To that end, […] Continue reading → 
Early season fungal diseases were low (prior to May 1). However, there are recent reports of stripe rust in Nebraska including my own reports of it in Jefferson and Saline Counties at low levels (view reports/map at https://cropwatch.unl.edu/plantdisease/wheat). Fusarium head blight (FHB), also called head scab, is a fungal disease that infects wheat during flowering, which typically occurs between the third week […] Continue reading → 
As a reminder, a private pesticide applicator is a person who uses or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides in the production of agricultural commodities on land owned or rented by them or their employer. Applicators are not eligible to purchase or apply restricted use pesticides until they take a certified training and licensed. […] Continue reading → 
This is a 5-part series (previous parts at https://croptechcafe.org) on the basic cation saturation ratio (BCSR) concept. Summary of Part 1 & 2 was that authors Bear, Graham, and Albrecht of the BCSR concept in the 1940s-1970s suggested narrow basic cation saturation ratios existed, and a balanced cation saturation of the soil’s cation exchange capacity […] Continue reading →