REFRESH PAGE FOR UPDATES! --- UPDATED 05/16/2008 2:24 PM ... Jordan Hooper leaps 18-2 in the long jump to break her own school record and earn the silver at the State Track and Field Meet at Omaha --- Myles Mills soared 14-4 in the pole vault for the silver medal at the Nebraska State Track & Field Meet Friday --- Alliance’s Fresh Start gas station plans to start selling gas from all their pumps again today after state red-tags some pumps --- FIND OUT MORE IN THE PRINT EDITION OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR ONLINE EDITION

COMMUNITY LINKS  

Charlie Fenster, Eunice Fenster and Drew Lyon (from left) share a moment during the ceremony honoring Lyon as the first Fenster Professor of Dryland Agriculture.

 

No-Till Notes —

Checking Soil Quality Indicators

 

By KATHY BUTTLE

NRCS Resources Conservationist

 

Soil quality is the capacity of the soil to function, or in other words, do what you want it to do. This article will deal with the capacity of the soil to sustain or enhance agriculture productivity, maximize profit, and maintain the soil resource for future generations. There are three indicators of soil quality; chemical, physical and biological. These often have an influence on one or both of the other indicators. At the Natural Resources Conservation Service, we have a soil quality test kit that can help assess the soil quality on your farm. The chemical factor of soil quality includes organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity or salt content, and cation exchange capacity. The most important of these is organic matter. Tillage speeds the decomposition and loss of organic matter. Increases in organic matter means increases in nutrients in your soil and higher water holding capacity. No till systems increase fungi in the soil. The fungi will keep the pH levels lower. As soil quality levels increase, the cation exchange capacity also increases. CEC levels are listed on soil tests results. CEC is the amount of negative charges available on clay and humus to hold positively charged ions. In other words, the cation exchange capacity is the ability of the soil to hold nutrients for plant use. When the wind blows, and we see dirt in the air, we are seeing the clay particles that are holding onto the nutrients we need to grow our crops. Water is our limiting factor in this area for growing crops. The soil structure or the physical indicator is essential to using what precipitation we do get to our best advantage. Soil structure or the crumbly particles we see in the top few inches of native rangeland or in long term no till fields let the rain we get infiltrate into the soil. The crumbly makeup is soil particles held together by glue produced by the soil organisms. A mistaken concept is that we need to till the soil to let the rain soak in. When we till we destroy the structure which decreases the aggregate stability. Aggregate stability is the ability of the soil to resist degradation. A rain drop can break apart the soil particles, making them more susceptible to wind and water erosion. The clay and silt particles will seal the pores, blocking rain from entering the soil. Good soil structure will also help alleviate compaction. The Rainfall Simulator demonstration that has been shown at many of the no till events is a very good illustration of this. The third indicator, biological, is perhaps the least understood and the most interesting. According to Kris Nichols, microbiologist with the Agriculture Research Service, there are more living organisms in a spoonful of soil than there are people on earth. As stated before, those organisms can affect the pH of the soil and bind soil particles together into stable aggregates.

For a more detailed story see the print edition.

 

Dr. Lyon Named Fenster Professor Of Dryland Agriculture

 

SCOTTSBLUFF — Dr. Drew Lyon, Extension Dryland Crops Specialist at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff, has been named the first Fenster Professor of Dryland Agriculture. This is the first established professorship for faculty in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources faculty who are at an off-campus location. The position is supported by the Charles R. and Eunice R. Fenster Professorship Fund. The Fensters live in Gering. Charlie Fenster is retired and a professor emeritus at the Panhandle Center, where he spent several decades conducting research and extension activities into dryland crops in western Nebraska. While at UNL, Fenster was an innovator in the area of conservation farming in Nebraska. His work on conservation tillage and ecofallow is fundamental to the environmentally sound cultural practices used in dryland farming today. The Fenster Professorship is intended to perpetuate scientific progress in dryland agriculture by supporting research and Extension programs that enhance the profitability and sustainability of dryland agriculture in the Nebraska Panhandle. Lyon has served as the dryland cropping systems specialist at the Panhandle Center since 1990. He was recommended for the Fenster Professorship by a nominating committee, which noted that he has developed and provided a strong research and education program that addresses dryland cropping systems intensification, improved control of winter annual grass weeds in winter wheat, more efficient use of precipitation, and increasing the profit potential of  dryland crops. He also has led efforts to encourage the adoption of hard white wheat, which earned him the 2001 Man of the Year Award from the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association. One of his current efforts is pursuing funding to initiate research into dryland organic crop production at the High Plains Agricultural Lab near Sidney.

For a more detailed story see the print edition.

May 15, 2008

 

NGPC: Additional Income On CRP Acres

 

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever are currently enrolling Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres into the CRP-Management Access Program (CRP-MAP). The CRP-MAP program offers landowners the opportunity to increase their income from CRP land by opening it to public access hunting. “This is a great chance for landowners to enroll CRP land into the CRP-MAP program,” said Steve Riley, assistant administrator of the Commission’s Wildlife Division. “CRP-MAP has been one of our most popular programs with Nebraska’s hunters and landowners.” Interested landowners should contact a Commission staff member if they are interested in enrolling CRP acres or learning about the program’s options. In order to be enrolled for the 2008-09 season, landowners need to be signed up by June 1. CRP-MAP provides annual payments to landowners for walk-in access to CRP fields during hunting and trapping seasons.

For a more detailed story see the print edition.

 

Range Tailgate Sessions Scheduled For Northern Panhandle

 

RUSHVILLE — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Educators in Sioux, Dawes and Sheridan counties will be following up their winter “Cow Coffee” session with a series of pasture and rangelands tours. May 28 (3 p.m.) — Sheridan County — Tour will visit Roger Vincent property north of the Niobrara River on Highway 250 to evaluate range readiness for grazing and some simple monitoring tools. Meet at the UNL Extension Office in Rushville. Call (308)327-2312 for information. June 2 (3 p.m.) — Sioux County — Tour will visit a site to be arranged near Harrison to review dominant grass species and how they help producers evaluate range stocking capacities. Meet at the Sioux County Courthouse. Call (308) 668-2428 for information.

For a more detailed story see the print edition.

 

Extension Minute

By Bill Booker

Extension Agent

 

Crabgrass Control Time

Now is the time to control crabgrass. A report from UNL Horticulture Department reminds us that, “Crabgrass is a warm season annual grass. A minimum soil temperature of 50-55°F degrees is needed for crabgrass seed to begin to germinate, with most crabgrass seed germinating at even higher soil temperatures. Pre-emergent herbicides for control of crabgrass are best applied just prior to the active germination period to provide the longest period of effective control. In Nebraska, apply these products the first week of May in eastern Nebraska and the second week of May in western Nebraska. If they are applied much earlier, a second application may be required in mid to late June. Maintaining a dense, healthy turf that competes with crabgrass and raising the mowing height to 2.5 to 3 inches will also reduce crabgrass.”

For a more detailed story see the print edition.

HOME | SPORTS | LIFESTYLES | CLASSIFIEDS | ADVERTISE | CONTACT US

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE!  

©2008 Alliance Publishing Company, Inc. • Privacy Policy