Category: Programming

Programming, Uncategorized, Youth

Progressive Ag Safety Day

Brandy VanDeWalle

Statistics from those impacted by a farm-related injury or death are sobering. Many know someone who was impacted by a farm accident that in many cases could have been prevented. This is why I feel so passionately about conducting the Annual Progressive Safety Day each year. The Progressive Agriculture Foundation provides safety and health information to rural communities that need it, which is why I’ve teamed up with them. The mission of Progressive Agriculture Days is simple – to provide education, training, and resources to make farm and ranch life safer and healthier for children and their communities.Safety_Day

During the program’s first year, a total of 2,800 participants and volunteers were reached throughout the South and Midwest and now the program impacts close to 110,000 annually. To date, the program has impacted more than 1.3 million children and adults.

Current 1st through 6th graders are invited to attend Progressive Agriculture Safety Day on Thursday, May 26, 2016 at the Fillmore County Fairgrounds. Youth will participate in a variety of events designed to help them be aware of safety in potentially hazardous situations such as bike riding, agricultural settings, electrical safety and others. This year, youth will walk away with an emergency disaster kit to use in the case of storms and other emergencies. Registration and consent form is REQUIRED by all youth who participate. This can be found on the Fillmore County Extension website.

April 28th is early bird registration at only $3 per child that includes a t-shirt, lunch, snack and goodie bag. After April 28th registration increases to $5 per youth in order to participate.

This event is hosted by Nebraska Extension in Fillmore County, Shickley and Fillmore Central FFA chapters, 4-H and W.I.F.E. For more info or to register, call 402-759-3712 or email brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu.

Programming, Uncategorized, Youth

NE Extension Tractor Safety Courses

Brandy VanDeWalle

With planting season right around the corner, there will be a lot of tractors out on the roadways. As a reminder, any 14 or 15 year old who plans to work on a farm other than his/her parents’ needs to participate in Nebraska Extension’s Tractor Safety/Hazardous Occupations Course. This course will be offered at seven locations in Nebraska during May and June.

Federal law prohibits youth less than 16 years of age from working on a farm for anyone other than his or her parents or guardian. Certification through the course grants an exemption to the law allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to drive a tractor and to do field work with mechanized equipment.TractorCourse

The most common cause of death in agriculture accidents in Nebraska is overturn from tractors and all-terrain-vehicles (ATVs), according to farm fatality surveillance data. Tractor and ATV overturn prevention are featured in the class work. Instilling an attitude of ‘safety first’ is a primary goal of the course, according to class instructors, where youth have the chance to learn respect for agricultural jobs and the tools involved.

Classes consist of two days of instruction plus homework assignments. Classes are from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day. Dates and locations include:

— May 23-24, Fairgrounds, Kearney
— May 26-27, Fairgrounds, McCook
— June 2-3, Fairgrounds, Valentine
— June 13-14, West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte
— June 16-17, Legacy of the Plains Museum, Gering
— June 20-21, Fairgrounds, Wayne
— June 23-24, College Park, Grand Island
— July 6-7, Fairgrounds, Gordon

Pre-registration is strongly encouraged at least one week before a location’s start date to the Extension Office at the course site. Cost is $60, which includes educational materials, testing, supplies, lunches and breaks. For more information, contact Aaron Yoder at (402) 552-7240, aaron.yoder@unmc.edu or Ellen Duysen at (402) 552-3394, ellen.duysen@unmc.edu.

The first day of class will consist of intensive classroom instruction with hands-on demonstrations, concluding with a written test that must be completed satisfactorily before students may continue driving tests the next day.  Classroom instruction will cover the required elements of the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program. Homework will be assigned to turn in the next day.

The second day will include testing, driving and operating machinery. Students must demonstrate competence in hitching equipment and driving a tractor and trailer through a standardized course as well as hitching PTO and hydraulic systems.

Crops, Livestock, Programming, Uncategorized

Passing the Farm to the Next Generation

Brandy VanDeWalle

At our final Farmers & Ranchers College program for the programming year, Dr. Ron Hanson from the University Of Nebraska – Lincoln Ag Economics Department spoke on the Importance of Family Farm Succession. This is never an easy task, yet essential for the farm to be passed on and able to financially operate. Most importantly, it is important to maintain relationships with family members and honor the wishes of the parents who intended for assets to be transferred a certain way.IMG_4969

Hanson had eleven challenges families face in order to being this process.

  1. First consider “Who is family” and is entitled to owning the farm. Are in-laws considered family? Usually excluding in-laws will backfire and cause hard feelings.
  2. It is difficult for parents to not play favorites with their adult kids. Parents should be fair and equitable, which is different than equal. Unfortunately, there are adult kids who are greedy and plan to retire on their parents’ assets, which is not an acceptable retirement plan. Parents should consider who has always taken care of them and which kids will care for them in end of life situations.
  3. Controlling parents need to give control of the farm/ranch to the adult kid who is farming. Serve as mentors and hand over responsibility to the future owner.
  4. Consider when farm ownership will happen. How will those changes occur?
  5. Think about if it is possible to keep the farm in the family. Are there kids who actually want to farm?
  6. Too often families don’t talk about the “what-ifs”. If a parent or adult kid were to tragically die tomorrow, are you prepared for that?
  7. If parents don’t agree on how to transfer assets, more than likely nothing will get done.
  8. Some children feel they are entitled. Children should RESPECT their parents and agree to their parents’ decision. Your parents don’t owe you anything.
  9. Greed has become a curse of family wealth and assets. Wealth can destroy family relationships and end a family legacy. No farm is worth losing family relationships!
  10. Families that don’t communicate openly about the parents plans are more likely to be unsuccessful with a succession plan. Parents must talk openly and honestly to all children – preferably at the same time. Parents should ask their children:
    1. Have we as parents done anything to make you not get along as a family when we are no longer here? If so, please tell me. Then apologize.
    2. Is there any reason you kids can’t get along as a family?
  11. Each family farm/ranch should have a vision. Family members should share this vision.

Family farm succession is time consuming, complicated and emotionally draining, but essential! After all, consider all of the hard work you have done to keep it going through rough economic times; why wouldn’t you put a plan together to protect it?

Irrigation, Programming, Uncategorized

Nebraska Ag Water Management Network Conference

Brandy VanDeWalle

Updates on irrigation engineering tools and research on new irrigation technologies, variable rate irrigation and fertigation fundamentals and cover crops will be the focus of the Nebraska Ag Water Management Network Conference that will be held on Thursday, March 10th. It will be a

MVC-003L
Those who participate in the program receive assistance installing equipment and education on how to read the equipment.

t the Holthus Convention Center, located at 3130 Holen Avenue in York. The conference will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3:20 p.m., with registration beginning at 9:15 a.m.

Producers, crop consultants, NRD, DNR, NRCS, irrigation districts and other professionals are invited to attend. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences that have helped make the Nebraska Ag Water Management Network (NAWMN) successful and any ideas they have for growing the network.

Topics that will be covered include:

  • Update on status of the NAWMN
  • Water-related smart phone apps
  • Z-Mag Ag Water Management Guide
  • Automated Water Use Database Project
  • Cover Crop Research
  • NRD Update
  • Update from the Upper Big Blue NRD CropTip
  • Underground Wireless Sensor Update
  • Soil Moisture Sensor Research Update
  • Variable Rate Irrigation Science and Engineering and Variable Rate Fertigation Research

A total of 4 continuing education units have been applied for in Soil/Water Management.

The NAWMN goal is to transfer high quality research information to producers to use water and energy resources more efficiently for crop production and to enhance crop water productivity. Started in 2005 with 15 collaborators, NAWMN has now grown to nearly 1400 collaborators who implement cutting-edge water management technologies/practices taught in the Network. Many of them regularly contribute water use database to a central NAWMN website. In turn, this information is used by growers across the state to fine-tune their irrigation management and application timing to current plant water needs. The fundamental objective of the NAWMN has been to integrate science, research and education/outreach principles to provide citizens best information available to help them to make better informed decisions in their irrigation management practices, which contributes to the Land-Grant Mission of UNL. The practices/procedures taught in the NAWMN have been based on the scientific and research-based information led by UNL-IANR professor Dr. Suat Irmak.

There is no cost to attend. Lunch will be provided but we ask participants to RSVP for planning purposes by March 7th to Jenny Rees at the Clay County Office Extension Office at 402-762-3644 or jenny.rees@unl.edu.

 

Programming, Uncategorized

Business Succession & Estate Planning Workshop

Brandy VanDeWalle

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Network’s Farm Succession Series continues in March with a workshop locally offered in Geneva at the Fillmore County Fairgrounds from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., March 2nd. The free workshop will cover business succession and estate planning for farm and ranch owners, families and beginning farmers and ranchers.

farmsuccession.pngTopics will include:

  • Stages of succession planning, contribution & compensation, balancing the interests of on-farm and off-farm heirs;
  • Importance of communication, setting goals, analyzing cash flow, and balancing intergenerational expectations and needs;
  • Beginning farmer loan and tax credit programs;
  • Use of trusts, wills, life estate deeds and business entities (such as the limited liability company) in family estate and business succession planning;

Lunch will be provided. To register (and for questions) call the Rural Response Hotline at 1-800-464-0258 or the Fillmore Extension Office in Geneva at 402-759-3712.

The program presenters are Dave Goeller, Deputy Director, Northeast Center for Risk Management Education, UNL & Joe Hawbaker, Agricultural Law attorney, with Hawbaker Law Office, Omaha.

This workshop is made possible by the Nebraska Network for Beginning Farmers & Ranchers, the Farm and Ranch Project of Legal Aid of Nebraska, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Next Gen, Nebraska Farmers Union Foundation, University of Nebraska Extension Office Fillmore County.

Programming, Uncategorized

Women in Ag Conference

Brandy VanDeWalle

Nebraska women will learn how to plan and make better business decisions for their farms and ranches, communities, families and themselves at the 31st Women in Agriculture Conference, the longest-running women’s conference of its kind in the country, Feb. 25-26 at the Kearney Holiday Inn, 110 S. Second Ave.

This year’s theme is “Women in Agriculture: The Critical Difference,” and the conference features a variety of workshops, “funshops” and speakers, including Jolene Brown of West Branch, Iowa, and Trent Loos of Litchfield.Farm

Brown will be the keynote speaker the morning of Feb. 25 with her talk, “The Balancing Act: 10 Ideas to Relieve Stress and Bring Renewal to Our Farm and Family Life,” about realistic and applicable ideas to help bring a breath of fresh air, renewal and balance to work and family life. Brown’s talk is sponsored by Farm Credit Services of America. Loos will be the capstone lunchtime speaker on Feb. 26 as he presents “Passion for the Purpose” about developing and sharing a passion and meaningful purpose in one’s life.

Five concurrent sessions will offer participants more than 30 workshops to choose from with topics including crop and livestock marketing, applications for big data, forestry, alternate livestock, real-estate trends and lease provisions, labor management, women’s heart health, pesticide training, business transition, family communication, livestock disease outbreak, farm programs, financial planning and agronomy issues. The evening of Feb. 25 includes time for networking and exercise.

Booth exhibitors will share information with participants that may also be useful in their farm/ranch operation.

Those interested can register online at http://wia.unl.edu or mail a completed registration form with a check to UNL Agricultural Economics, 303 Filley Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0922. More information about Women in Agriculture is available at that site.

The early-bird registration fee is $125 for those registering by Feb. 12. Beginning Feb. 13, the fee is $150. The fee includes workshop materials, registration and all meals and breaks.

The conference is sponsored by the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nebraska Extension, the Department of Agricultural Economics, Farm Credit Services of America, Reinke Irrigation and the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation. Opportunities for conference sponsorship and booth exhibits still remain.

Lodging is available at the Kearney Holiday Inn, 110 S. Second Ave., by calling 308-237-5971.

Crops, Programming, Uncategorized

Precision Ag Workshop

Brandy VanDeWalle

Learn how to extract more information from your precision agriculture data at the 2016 Nebraska Extension Precision Ag Data Management workshops this winter.  Presentations and hands-on exercises will cover yield data quality, geospatial data collection, multi-layer analysis and imagery analysis.prescipmap.png

Participants get hands-on training to learn how to get more use from their precision agriculture data. A two all-day workshop will be held at Clay Center with the first day addressing intermediate ag data management topics, while the second day will address more advanced ag data management. Individuals can register for one or both days. Workshops begin with check-in at 8:30 a.m. and sessions from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cost is $75 for one day or $130 for both. Registration includes printed learning guides, a jump drive with workshop tutorials attendees can reference at home, and data.

Day One, Intermediate Ag Data Management Topics:

  • Working with as-applied data, tracking product locations and rates
  • Creating templates to speed up the data import process
  • Terrain analysis diagnostic opportunities and working with LiDAR data
  • Georeferenced soil sample data input and prescription map development options
  • Setting up on farm research trials with precision ag data – case study from Project SENSE: Crop Canopy Sensors for In-Season Nitrogen Management

Day Two, Advanced Ag Data Management:

  • Generating maps from geo-referenced soil samples:  Map interpolation strategies
  • Improving Yield Monitor Data Accuracy with Yield Editor Software from USDA
  • Multi-layer geospatial analysis to determine hybrid performance across changing landscapes
  • Imagery analysis using data from active and passive sensors

On-line preregistration is required and class size is limited to 20 to facilitate the hands-on training. To register online, visit the program website.

Crops, Livestock, Programming, Uncategorized

Helping Farmers & Small Businesses with Employee Relations

Brandy VanDeWalle

HR 4 Ag & Main Street

Many farmers, ranchers and other small business owners often have little to no training in human resources or leadership related training. This can make it difficult to serve as an effective supervisor and can lead to employee-relation issues. Nebraska Extension has just created a new program, HR 4 Ag and Main Street to help those business owners.Blog graphic.png

The HR 4 Ag & Main Street workshop is a three-hour face-to-face session created by Nebraska Extension and designed for farmers/ranchers and other agriculture and main street business owners. The goal of the program is to provide education on human resource management and human risk mitigation strategies to increase your farm, ranch, or other business’ resiliency and stability. Topics to be covered include: recruiting and retaining the best employees, pay and benefits, motivating and engaging employees, communication, building and leading your team, managing conflict, and more.

The program will be presented at four locations across Nebraska this winter in Norfolk, York, North Platte, and Scottbluff.

  • NORFOLK

Tuesday, January 19th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the Lifelong Learning Center. To register call: Northeast Research & Extension Center (402-379-4000)

  • YORK

Tuesday, January 26h from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the York County Extension Office. To register call: York County Extension Office (402-362-5508)

  • NORTH PLATTE

Thursday, January 28th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the West Central Research & Extension Center. To register call: West Central Research & Extension Center (308-696-6740)

  • SCOTTSBLUFF

Tuesday, February 9th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the Panhandle Research & Extension Center. To register call: Panhandle Research & Extension Center (308-632-1230)

This program is made possible through a grant by the North Central Risk Management Education Center. For more information contact a HR 4 Ag team member:

  • Ben Dutton, Extension Educator – Red Willow County (308-345-3390)
  • Jessica G. Jones, Extension Educator – Johnson County (402-335-3669)
  • Tim Lemmons, Extension Educator – Northeast Research & Extension Center (402-370-4061)
  • Marilyn Schlake, Extension Educator – UNL Ag Economics Dept. (402-472-4138)
  • Brandy VanDeWalle, Extension Educator – Fillmore County (402-759-3712)
  • Aaron Yoder, Assistant Professor – University of Nebraska Medical Center (402-552-7240)
Programming, Uncategorized

Farm Women are Decision Makers – Annie’s Project Prepares Them Well

Brandy VanDeWalle

It’s been several years since I’ve had the privilege to teach an Annie’s Project class and I’m pleased to announce in January 2016 I will be offering another class. Farm and ranch women are generating a cultural tide in American agriculture that is moving management, assets and opportunities to a new wave of farmers across the country. At Annie’s Project courses, farmwomen become empowered to be better business partners or sole operators through netwAnnieLogoorks and by managing and organizing critical information.

Annie’s Project is a six-week course that is a discussion-based workshop bringing women together to learn from experts in production, financial management, human resources, marketing and the legal field. There’s plenty of time for questions, sharing, reacting and connecting with presenters and fellow participants. It’s a relaxed, fun and dynamic way to learn, grow and meet other farm and agricultural women.

Whether new or experienced, understanding the five areas of agricultural risk, knowing how to analyze agricultural spreadsheets and other necessary skills are vital. Learning them in a friendly environment where questions and discussion are welcomed, allow the learning process to flourish.

Annie’s Project courses have successfully reached more than 9,000 farm and ranch women in 33 states.

Locally, Annie’s Project will start January 25th and run through March 7th in Geneva, NE at the Extension Office on 1340 G Street. Statewide, Farm Credit Services assists in sponsorship of the program. Locally, Flint Hills Resources has generously sponsored nearly all costs making this 18-hour course only $30 per participant! The registration fee guarantees participants a workbook and support materials for all sessions. A light supper will be served before each class at 6 p.m. Course size is limited, so please register soon.

An Annie’s Project alumna says, “I took the class to gain a better understanding about agribusiness and how financial decisions impact our farm operation. I have a better understanding of balance sheets and the futures market…this class has improved communication with my spouse on concerns he works with on a daily basis.”

For more information contact Brandy VanDeWalle, Nebraska Extension Educator at 402-759-3712 or brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu. Registration forms are available at fillmore.unl.edu. More information can be found on the Annie’s Project website..

Programming, Uncategorized

Crop Production Clinics

Brandy VanDeWalle

 

The Annual Crop Production Clinics provide a variety of topics covering farm topics to help producers and agribusiness professionals remain current on research and other relevant topics to improve one’s profitability. A recent CropWatch article summarized what to expect at the Crop Production Clinics in January. Pre-register to guarantee you get a comprehensive pest management guide, meal, and other resources. Some topics covered include:CPCpic16

  • What does it take to produce 80 bu/ac soybean routinely?
  • How can you control glyphosate-resistant weeds?
  • What can you do to delay corn rootworm resistance on your farm?
  • Where is the safety in the farm income safety net?
  • What are the truths and the legends of cover crops?
  • How can you employ climate-resilient irrigation systems?

These are among the many topics to be covered at the 2016 Nebraska Extension Crop Production Clinics this January.  These one-day workshops will be held at nine sites, each featuring location-specific topics as well as timely research updates and recommendations for any farm. Pesticide applicator recertification for private applicators and for commercial/noncommercial ag plant, demonstration/research, and regulatory will also be available. This multi-disciplinary program is designed to help farmers and ag professionals learn about the latest topics with presenters on cropping systems; soil fertility; insect, disease, and weed management; irrigation; soil water management; and agribusiness management and marketing.

All programs start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. A meal and resource materials, including the 2016 Guide for Weed Management in Nebraska and the CPC Proceedings, will be available to those who preregister at agronomy.unl.edu/cpc. Preregistration is $65 or registration is $80 at the door. Preregistration closes 3 p.m. the day before the clinic.

The programs closest to us include:

  • Friday, Jan. 8 — Holthus Convention Center 3130 Holen Ave, York
  • Tuesday, Jan. 12 – Beatrice Country Club 1301 Oak St., Beatrice
  • Wednesday, Jan. 13 — Adams County Fairgrounds 947 S. Baltimore, Hastings
  • Thursday, Jan. 14 — Younes Conference Center 416 W. Talmadge Rd., Kearney
  • Thursday, Jan. 21 —Saunders County Extension Office ARDC (Mead) 1071 County Road G, Ithaca

A maximum of six CCA credits will be provided per day in the areas of crop production (2), nutrient management (1), integrated pest management (6), water management (1), or professional development (2).

For more information, go to agronomy.unl.edu/cpc, or call 402-472-5636. Online preregistration is currently available on the website and program information by site will be added soon.