Crop Production

The production of crops is the heart of Nebraska's economy. Water is essential to all plant growth. Thus Nebraska's economy relies on a plentiful supply of water to produce crops – in both rainfed and irrigated environments. Several factors involved with producing crops interact with either water supply or water quality issues – or both.

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Impact of Irrigation Technologies on Water Use: Clarifying Water Withdrawals and Consumptive Use

A new Nebraska Extension NebGuide clarifies the concept of consumptive use of water with regard to irrigated crop production and provides guidelines for determining the efficiency of new irrigation technology.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

2023 Manure Training Locations and Dates

map of Land Application Training locations

The Animal Manure Management team has announced the locations and dates for land application training in 2023. These sessions will take place in February and March. Anyone is welcome. Crop farmers and livestock operations will learn useful information to apply to their operations.

Friday, January 6, 2023

Nebraska On-Farm Research Network Meetings Begin Feb. 15

Combine in Field, photo by Laura Thompson

Nebraska farmers and agronomists are set to present results of their 2022 on-farm research studies on cover crops, variable rate seeding, starter fertilizer, biological products, seed treatments, variable rate nitrogen management and more.

Friday, January 6, 2023

Reverse Osmosis In-Service: Treating high nitrate concentrations in private wells

In 2023, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB1014. This bill took 4 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act and allocated it to treating nitrate issues in Nebraska. 1.2 million dollars of that has been dedicated to a Reverse Osmosis Rebate Program that is directed at private well owners. The general idea of the program is that any individual private drinking water well owner can test their water AND if the nitrate concentration comes back above 10 ppm, they might be eligible for UP TO $4,000 support to get a reverse osmosis system to treat their nitrate.

Monday, December 19, 2022

Rust-stained irrigation pipes hint at lack of nitrate in groundwater

According to study from Department of Natural Resources researchers, irrigation pivots stained with rust may indicate the absence of nitrate in the groundwater supplying the pivots. This information can potentially be used to help screen for areas for the potential absence of nitrate and, in an ideal world, could indicate areas at higher- or lower-risk for nitrate contamination before it becomes a problem.