HAY STORAGE – by Ben Beckman, Beef Systems Extension Educator A number of factors go into ensuring a quality hay crop is harvested each year. Proper storage of hay may be just as important for a quality forage as efforts in the field. Don’t let your work to put up quality hay be wasted by […] Continue reading → 
Out of abundance of caution with COVID-19, we did cancel the in-person option for Nebraska Extension field days and tours this summer in eastern Nebraska. However, these field days still went on behind the scenes as we recorded short videos to capture many of the demonstration plots and speakers. I want to highlight a few […] Continue reading → 
First, no one likes to see a soybean canopy devoured by Japanese beetles, grasshoppers, or various caterpillars. Second, most people overestimate the amount of defoliation that has occurred. Lastly, most folks do not like scouting several locations within a field in July/August because it is tough walking. We should tolerate some low level of defoliation […] Continue reading → 
Nebraska Extension released results from the 2020 surveys on farm custom rates, cash rent rates, and real estate values. Jim Jansen, Extension Educator for Agricultural Economics, leads the 2020 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report, and Glennis McClure, Farm and Ranch Management Analyst Extension Educator, leads the 2020 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates Report. These are two […] Continue reading → 
As a cropping systems Extension educator or public agronomist for the University of Nebraska in Saline, Jefferson and Gage counties, you would assume that I get many calls about corn and soybean production given it makes up a bulk of the acres. However, questions related to pasture, grass hay, and alfalfa production are actually the […] Continue reading → 
Corn Overall, the corn crop was in pretty could shape. Growth stages ranged from V6 to V10 (page 141 in 2019 pocket guide) and ranged in height from 18″ to 30″ tall (Figure 1). Many irrigated fields had plant populations ranging in the low 30s (Figure 2) while rainfed stands ranged throughout the 20s. The […] Continue reading → 
What is new on the website? A new page about local on-farm research highlights past work done by local producers in cooperation with Randy Pryor and other UNL faculty. The on-farm research results are organized by county and year. Past studies were on cover crops, corn nitrogen management, corn seeding rates, soybean seed treatments, and […] Continue reading →