Farm & Ranch

April 28, 2011

UNL Staff Members In Panhandle Get Tenure, Promotions

SCOTTSBLUFF — Dr. Carlos Urrea, dry bean breeding specialist at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center, has been promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

At the same Promotion and Tenure ceremony at Lincoln, Scott Cotton, unit leader at the Dawes County Extension Office; Jeanne Murray, unit leader at the Box Butte County Extension Office; and Jenny Nixon, unit leader at the Sioux county Extension Office, all were promoted to Extension educator.

Urrea has been at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center since 2005. He received a Ph.D. from North Dakota State University in 2000, a master’s degree from University of Puerto Rico in 1996, and a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 1984. His work has focused on genetics, variety development and evaluation of dry edible beans adapted to western Nebraska.

His recent accomplishments include identifying sources of drought tolerance in dry beans and mapping a new source of resistance to common rust.

He has released five lines, including one great northern cultivar (Coyne), three dry bean germplasms, and one garbanzo bean germplasm. He has authored a number of publications. He received the 2009 Award for Excellence from the Western Association of Agricultural Station Directors.

Murray, hired in 1998, received a master’s degree in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree in 1969, both from UNL. Her work focuses on Medicare education, food safety and adult nutrition. Among her major accomplishments are helping Medicare beneficiaries save more than $600,000 through one-on-one educational sessions when choosing their prescription drug plan; and helping 90 percent of food service managers who took the training earn ServSafe certification from the National Restaurant Association.

Notes From O$ Ranch

The Romance Of Branding Time

By JENNY HUTCHISON

It is that time of year. In some businesses, it is the equivalent to “inventory” — an initial assessment of the marketing strategy for the year takes place during Branding Season.

But most importantly, there is the sense of romance that Branding Season brings. It’s the equivalent to a good ole fashioned “barn raising” in that the entire ranching community comes together to make the event possible. It is a vital social release for most, who haven’t had much of a break all winter long.

With the roar of the fire, the romance of branding day, for someone like myself revisits me from years past. I can remember counting the last days of school, not for summer, but for branding season to begin.

Man, how could you not love branding season? And we could hardly wait for the first one …

The corporate ranching outfit my dad worked for for over 15 years branded calves for two weeks straight. They ran a full crew to get the job done, so day after day, pickup loads of kids would follow the branding circuit from one ranch to another, “wrastlin’” calves for the wage of $20/day and looking forward to Pat Yetter’s “to die for” meal at the Boone Place.

Being the oldest of three sisters, we all three often boasted on being just as “waspy” as the boys that the ranch hired and often found ourselves in a “wrastlin’” contest to see who could conquer the biggest calves or tackle the most work in any given day.

The true measure of “tough” was often whether or not you could eat a raw nut or accepting the dare to eat the fresh green cow manure that we all tried to avoid sitting in when on the ground, wrestling calves.

And the most fun was initiating the “town kids” who had never gotten the opportunity to “wrastle” a calf before. We would often tell them that as part of initiation, they had to eat a finger full of that fresh green cow manure or ride one of the biggest calves as we released him after being branded.

Even better was the end of the long hard day and a huge meal that would put any Christmas dinner to shame. We often skipped breakfast in order to tank up at some of the brandings for love of the cook. Each of the places was known for their signature entrée or dessert.

No-Till Notes

Ready For Spring Planting

Spring is in the air and another farm season is off and running. Our peas were planted the last week of March and early April directly into our dry land corn stalks are emerging. Our wheat is fertilized and looks to be in good shape after a long winter. It’s time to look at the planters and get them in good shape for the spring planting of corn and edible beans.

Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska Extension Engineer has a good article in last week’s UNL Cropwatch publication. The article is titled Planting Tips for Successful No-till. You can access this article by going to www.cropwatch.unl.edu. In the article Paul makes some recommendations and suggestions for improving the performance of your planter in no till crop production.

Some of the ideas Paul suggests also apply to grain drills for successful no till. I know several producers around the Panhandle had trouble last year getting the wheat seed planted to the desired depth with the dry summer and fall we had last year. The soil was very dry and hard at wheat seeding and made penetration of the soil difficult.

Paul writes in his planter article about the need for heavy down pressure springs and additional weight on planters especially if the soil is hard and dry so you can get the seed placed at the proper depth.

We have added down pressure springs on our planters, which give us about 400 lbs. of down pressure and 500 lbs. of down pressure springs on our grain drill. We have also added additional weight with water tanks mounted to the planters and drill which allow us to vary the additional weight as needed. If you have more weight and down pressure than you need to penetrate the soil you can cause sidewall compaction with your planter. Special attention must be given so you have the down pressure you need to cut the residue and penetrate the soil, but not have excessive weight which causes the sidewall compaction.

Paul also recommends that the double-disk openers are sharp and adjusted properly. Make sure the openers have approximately 2 inches of blade contact so they work together to cut the residue.

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IMPORTANT #s COMMUNITY LINKS Chamber of Commerce Visiting Box Butte County City of Alliance Box Butte Development Corp City Data for Alliance City of Hemingford Box Butte General Hospital Box Butte County Churches Alliance Public Schools St. Agnes Academy Hemingford Schools BNSF Crew Caller White Pages Yellow Pages Local Map and Directions AG LINKS Complete Hourly Local Weather Daily WESTCO Weather Camera Livestock & Grain Market News Fruits & Vegetable Market News Crop Watch UNL Extension in Box Butte County Panhandle Research & Extension Center UNL Agricultural Reserach & Development Center UNL High Plains Ag Lab ONE STOP Wheat Information Extension Crop Management Workshops Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources Pesticide Education Resources National Drought Mitigation Center Crop Protection Clinics Market Journal UNL Department of Agranony Variety Testing The High Plains Regional Climate Center The Nebraska Agriculatural Statistics Service	Alliance High School students who attended the FFA State Convention and Contests in Lincoln April 6-9 are, from left, front row: Chelsey Rodriguez, Ashtyn Shrewsbury, Shelby Andersen and Brittany Andersen; top row: Connor Wright, Chase Dye, Alyssa Dye, Krista Carter and Brittany Walker. Not pictured is Nikki Dunovsky. April 28, 2011 UNL Staff Members In Panhandle Get Tenure, Promotions SCOTTSBLUFF — Dr. Carlos Urrea, dry bean breeding specialist at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center, has been promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. At the same Promotion and Tenure ceremony at Lincoln, Scott Cotton, unit leader at the Dawes County Extension Office; Jeanne Murray, unit leader at the Box Butte County Extension Office; and Jenny Nixon, unit leader at the Sioux county Extension Office, all were promoted to Extension educator. Urrea has been at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center since 2005. He received a Ph.D. from North Dakota State University in 2000, a master’s degree from University of Puerto Rico in 1996, and a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 1984. His work has focused on genetics, variety development and evaluation of dry edible beans adapted to western Nebraska. His recent accomplishments include identifying sources of drought tolerance in dry beans and mapping a new source of resistance to common rust. He has released five lines, including one great northern cultivar (Coyne), three dry bean germplasms, and one garbanzo bean germplasm. He has authored a number of publications. He received the 2009 Award for Excellence from the Western Association of Agricultural Station Directors. Murray, hired in 1998, received a master’s degree in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree in 1969, both from UNL. Her work focuses on Medicare education, food safety and adult nutrition. Among her major accomplishments are helping Medicare beneficiaries save more than $600,000 through one-on-one educational sessions when choosing their prescription drug plan; and helping 90 percent of food service managers who took the training earn ServSafe certification from the National Restaurant Association. Notes From O$ Ranch The Romance Of Branding Time By JENNY HUTCHISON It is that time of year. In some businesses, it is the equivalent to “inventory” — an initial assessment of the marketing strategy for the year takes place during Branding Season. But most importantly, there is the sense of romance that Branding Season brings. It’s the equivalent to a good ole fashioned “barn raising” in that the entire ranching community comes together to make the event possible. It is a vital social release for most, who haven’t had much of a break all winter long. With the roar of the fire, the romance of branding day, for someone like myself revisits me from years past. I can remember counting the last days of school, not for summer, but for branding season to begin. Man, how could you not love branding season? And we could hardly wait for the first one … The corporate ranching outfit my dad worked for for over 15 years branded calves for two weeks straight. They ran a full crew to get the job done, so day after day, pickup loads of kids would follow the branding circuit from one ranch to another, “wrastlin’” calves for the wage of $20/day and looking forward to Pat Yetter’s “to die for” meal at the Boone Place. Being the oldest of three sisters, we all three often boasted on being just as “waspy” as the boys that the ranch hired and often found ourselves in a “wrastlin’” contest to see who could conquer the biggest calves or tackle the most work in any given day. The true measure of “tough” was often whether or not you could eat a raw nut or accepting the dare to eat the fresh green cow manure that we all tried to avoid sitting in when on the ground, wrestling calves. And the most fun was initiating the “town kids” who had never gotten the opportunity to “wrastle” a calf before. We would often tell them that as part of initiation, they had to eat a finger full of that fresh green cow manure or ride one of the biggest calves as we released him after being branded. Even better was the end of the long hard day and a huge meal that would put any Christmas dinner to shame. We often skipped breakfast in order to tank up at some of the brandings for love of the cook. Each of the places was known for their signature entrée or dessert. No-Till Notes Ready For Spring Planting Spring is in the air and another farm season is off and running. Our peas were planted the last week of March and early April directly into our dry land corn stalks are emerging. Our wheat is fertilized and looks to be in good shape after a long winter. It’s time to look at the planters and get them in good shape for the spring planting of corn and edible beans. Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska Extension Engineer has a good article in last week’s UNL Cropwatch publication. The article is titled Planting Tips for Successful No-till. You can access this article by going to www.cropwatch.unl.edu. In the article Paul makes some recommendations and suggestions for improving the performance of your planter in no till crop production. Some of the ideas Paul suggests also apply to grain drills for successful no till. I know several producers around the Panhandle had trouble last year getting the wheat seed planted to the desired depth with the dry summer and fall we had last year. The soil was very dry and hard at wheat seeding and made penetration of the soil difficult. Paul writes in his planter article about the need for heavy down pressure springs and additional weight on planters especially if the soil is hard and dry so you can get the seed placed at the proper depth. We have added down pressure springs on our planters, which give us about 400 lbs. of down pressure and 500 lbs. of down pressure springs on our grain drill. We have also added additional weight with water tanks mounted to the planters and drill which allow us to vary the additional weight as needed. If you have more weight and down pressure than you need to penetrate the soil you can cause sidewall compaction with your planter. Special attention must be given so you have the down pressure you need to cut the residue and penetrate the soil, but not have excessive weight which causes the sidewall compaction. Paul also recommends that the double-disk openers are sharp and adjusted properly. Make sure the openers have approximately 2 inches of blade contact so they work together to cut the residue.


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