Water News Archive

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

The Soil Health Exchange: Addressing Waterlogging Issues with Soil Health Management

Fields with diverse soil types can pose distinct challenges in water management, especially under pivot irrigation. In this article, UNL experts review factors that contribute to waterlogged soil and several practices that can improve drainage issues.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Soybeans to be Newest Nebraska TAPS Competition in 2024

Although Nebraska is best known for the commodities of cattle and corn, soybeans land in the third-place spot among the top commodity rankings in the state, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is adding soybean to the lineup of Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) farm management competitions for 2024. The new soybean competition will be facilitated at UNL’s Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center (ENREEC) near Mead, Nebraska. The soybean competition will be supported by the Nebraska Soybean Board.

Friday, February 2, 2024

Nebraska Water Facts

Nebraska means “flat water” from the Omaha Sioux “ni braska” and Oto “ni brathge”/ Nebraskier describing the Platte River. The Platte River was named by early French explorers, also meaning “flat.” The Panhandle is almost 6.5 times higher elevation than the Southeast. (5,424 ft above sea level versus 840 ft). Southeast NE receives 2.5 times as much annual precipitation as the Panhandle (average 33” versus 13”).

Thursday, January 18, 2024

TAPS Awards Banquet Culminates 2023 Competitions

See the results of the 2023 UNL-TAPS Competition for sorghum, SDI corn, sprinkler corn and the newest category for the contest — irrigated popcorn.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Chemigation Training in 2024

Chemigation training for Nebraskans will be offered at nearly 50 in-person sessions from now through April, as well as online.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Pesticide Safety Certification Training for Private Applicators in 2024

Producers who need to acquire or renew a private pesticide applicator license this year can choose between several options, including in-person training, online self-study programs, and an NDA-administered exam.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Drought Tolerant Plants

With ongoing drought, conserving water in home, business and public landscapes is important. One way to conserve water is selecting drought tolerant plants. As a rule, a drought tolerant plant is one that can survive on average rainfall with little or no supplemental water once established.

Friday, January 5, 2024

Substituting Commercial Fertilizer with Manure a Focus of Annual Manure Training Events

It’s that time of year again and I’m here to help you stay on track for that New Year’s resolution to “Manure Better”. That wasn’t your resolution? I’m sorry, but it would be a great resolution and an achievable one at that, so add it to your list. My New Year’s resolution is to help crop farmers “Manure Better”. The annual land application (manure) training events are coming up soon and may be just the ticket to “help me, help you”.

Friday, December 15, 2023

Outdoor Water Management in Turfgrass Areas

Irrigation heads on the lawn projecting water blowing out of the irrigation system.

As we are ending 2023, the temperature high and/or low could be consistently at or less than 32°F with a possible chance of snow precipitation. For turfgrass areas in December, the process of dormancy for both warm and cool-season grasses has already occurred. In regards to water use in dormant lawns in cooler temperatures, December is not the time to use irrigation in grass areas. The Photo above is from Pioneer Underground Lawn Sprinklers. https://pioneerunderground.net/sprinkler-winterization-omaha/

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

University Releases Web-based Nitrogen Management Tool for Corn Growers

Available now on CropWatch, the web-based tool allows users to input data for individual fields to help fine-tune their nitrogen applications, and maximize yield and profitability.