Water News Archive

The Soil Health Exchange team shares insights and potential solutions for a southwest Nebraska farmer who has observed a significant yield decline in a field after terraces were built in 2010.

Leaves. Useful to the tree. Great for jumping in. Not much fun to clean up. Find out what you should be doing with those fallen leaves to let them help you and your landscape in the long run.

Soil moisture supplies and pasture conditions in Nebraska were on a downward trend as of Nov. 12. Corn and sorghum harvest remain on track, with less than 10% of each crop to be finished.

I often hear from vegetable or flower gardeners who are unhappy with their soil quality. They routinely incorporate organic matter in the soil each fall, but are still disappointed with their heavy soil. Why aren’t they developing beautiful crumbly dark brown soil that’s easy to plant and great for vegetable root crops? Routinely tilling your garden soil each fall and spring could be the culprit.

This article provides a brief summary of the irrigation decisions made in the TAPS sorghum, popcorn, SDI corn and sprinkler corn competitions this year.

A new pivot valve, created by KZValve of Greenwood, Nebraska, has self-power generating capabilities that could potentially be used in partial variable rate irrigation.

October has had a wet start in most of the state, with some areas receiving several inches of rain. Considering potential impact on yield and ability to harvest these fields will be critical in the next few weeks.

Mulch is very important to the overall health of our plants, but are all mulches created equal? Some may have more benefits than others and some may not be as helpful as we think they are. Benefits of Mulch Mulch, when properly applied, can provide a lot of great benefits to our plants, including:

Recommendations for collecting soil samples to ensure the quality results needed for good management decisions about fertilizer, manure and lime application rates.

Harvest updates for sugarbeets, dry edible beans and corn in western Nebraska, and insights on the availability of water in reservoirs for the 2024 growing season.

Results of a three-year study investigating the impact of mitigating water stress during soybean reproductive stages on the two components that comprise yield — seed number and seed mass.

Researchers involved in a UNL-USDA NRCS study on cover crops highlight the importance of species selection, as each type of cover crop has a unique root system that contributes differently to soil health.

Throughout the field day, educators shared insights and conducted live demos on optimizing management of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, including via sensor-based fertigation.

During its inaugural year, the Nebraska Soil Health School educated more than 200 producers and ag industry stakeholders on the latest research and practices for healthy soils to increase crop productivity.

Drought conditions have led to stress in established trees and difficulty starting young trees. With the need for supplemental watering, correct irrigation practices are important to tree health and efficient water use. Fall is tree planting time and an important time to water established trees in the absence of adequate precipitation. Whether a new tree or an established tree, correct watering is important. Too little as well as too much water can lead to tree stress, a decline in growth, and water waste.

With harvest around the corner, you might be considering trading manure for cornstalks or vice versa. In many ways, it’s easier to pay cash for either product, but there are advantages to trading. This article will focus on what kinds of things to consider to be sure any deal made is a fair trade.

Producers at the field day swapped ideas and observations about cover crop production, and heard from extension educators and agronomists about best practices for their agricultural regions.

As responsible land stewards, farmers, who follow “good neighbor practices,” may save on commercial fertilizer costs while at the same time protecting groundwater from contamination due to nutrient leaching. Properly stockpiled manure stored on field edges can be a “win-win” for farmers and their rural neighbors through addressing two common concerns: runoff and odors.

A review of this year's irrigation season in the Panhandle and crop water use expectations for Aug. 28-Sept. 3.