Spring Cold Snaps: How to Handle Your Yard Before and After a Late Frost
Frost can form as ice crystals on plant leaves when temperatures fall below 32-36 degrees Fahrenheit. Photo from Pixabay.com.
By Rachel Anderson, Extension Educator of Horticulture in Lancaster, Cass, Otoe, Seward, and York Counties
Often, the last frosts (32-36°F temperatures) and freezes (28-32°F temperatures and below) of spring pass through our landscapes without much notice or cause for concern. However, such events can affect yards, gardens, trees and lawns in undesirable ways. Follow these tips to minimize damage from cold snaps as winter recedes.
Don’t plant too early.
Check the weather forecast before the average last frost date of the year, which is mid- to late April in southeast Nebraska. As long as nightly low temperatures are set to stay above 32-36°F for the next ten days, you should be safe to plant outside. Exceptions are dormant trees and shrubs as well as many hardened-off cool-season vegetables and annuals, which can be planted earlier in April.
Check that what you plant is proven hardy for your area.
Flowers, grasses, shrubs, trees and other perennials must be adapted to our region’s climate to grow back year after year. Make sure plants are rated for USDA Hardiness Zone 5 or below for eastern Nebraska to ensure survivability through the cold months.
Locate fruit trees and other early blooming woodies in a protected place.
Fruit trees such as cherries, peaches, and plums can fail to produce a crop in years when their flower buds have been damaged by a spring frost or freeze. Help prevent this at planting time by selecting hardy, later-blooming varieties. Locate the plants on north and east facing slopes or sides of structures, which warm up slower in spring, to help delay budbreak until after frost season. This approach can also work for early-blooming, tender-flowered ornamentals like magnolia and forsythia.
Don’t walk or work on frosty lawns.
Avoid walking or driving on lawns with frost on them, as this can damage plant crowns and result in turf browning and dieback. Mowing or fertilizing is not recommended, either.
Walking on a lawn with frost can cause damage that shows up as footprint-shaped dead spots during spring green-up. Photo from Adobe Stock.
Wait to cut back old foliage.
Leaving last year’s stems standing on flowers, grasses, and other herbaceous perennials provides insulation from cold and wind over the winter while serving as habitat for beneficial insects. Don’t remove such material until after the last spring frost (especially with rose and berry canes) or leave at least 9 inches of clearance above plant crowns when cutting back to maintain some protection.
Last year’s stems can be left standing until after the last frost of spring or cut back to 9-12 inches to provide insulation to plant crowns and help prevent frost heaving. Photo from Pixabay.com.
Remove winter mulch and plastic trunk guards.
If you applied extra mulch last fall to protect vulnerable plants over the winter (such as strawberries), make sure to remove it as soon as green growth starts again this spring. Keep in mind that you will need to temporarily reapply such mulch ahead of any forecasted frost or freeze to prevent plant damage.
Plastic trunk collars (typically made of white PVC) put around tree trunks to safeguard against frost cracking over the winter also need to be removed for the growing season. Do this as soon as the risk of frost has passed so that moisture doesn’t get stuck behind the wrap, bringing pest insects or disease.
Remove plastic trunk collars for the growing season as soon as the risk of frost has passed to prevent moisture and pests from collecting behind the wrap. Photo from John Fech.
Signs of Frost Damage and Next Steps
Watch for the following symptoms of plant injury after a late frost or freeze and practice good plant health care to help with recovery. This means keeping plants and trees mulched well past the edge of their leaf canopy with 2-4 inches of shredded wood or leaves, straw, or pine needles (not rubber or rock) and providing deep, infrequent watering so the soil is moist, not soggy or dry. Do not apply fertilizer and refrain from spraying herbicides in the vicinity to minimize the chance of drift while the plant recovers.
Herbaceous Plants
Frost-damaged foliage of non-woody plants first develops a water-soaked appearance, then wilts and collapses, finally turning white, brown or black. For hardy perennials, cut off the foliage after it dies. New shoots will appear on their own in a few weeks. Tender plants such as annuals, tropicals and vegetables, however, typically don’t survive such injury and will need to be replaced.
Frost Heaving
Poorly-rooted perennials can be pushed up out of the ground as the soil freezes and thaws over winter, which can be fatal. Unfortunately, by springtime the damage has been done and you’ll likely have to replace the plants.
Lawns
Damage to lawns from frost alone is rare in Nebraska; however, you may see grass that fails to green up where it was subjected to vehicle or foot traffic over the winter. This often shows up as dead spots in the shape of tire marks or footprints. To help your lawn recover, give it extra time before mowing and cut at a higher height. If the damage turns out to be severe, take steps to mitigate the soil compaction before replacing the grass.
Trees and Shrubs
Trees and shrubs native to the northern Great Plains are well-suited to weather extremes and rarely suffer damage from spring frosts, even if they occur later than usual. However, frost injury to trees and shrubs is possible, especially for less hardy species as well as recently planted woodies that haven’t had time to heel in. In any case, facilitate plant recovery by practicing regular watering and mulching and control pests as needed during the summer to avoid additional stress.
Mulching with shredded hardwood and using a soaker hose to provide deep, infrequent watering are standard care practices that can help trees and shrubs recover from frost damage. Photo from John Fech.
LEAVES: Frost-damaged leaves that have already emerged from their buds at first appear water-soaked and may be darker green in color even as they dry up, sometimes turning black or brown. Frost-damaged leaves that haven’t emerged yet will exhibit browning or leaf tatter later when they eventually grow, which should not be mistaken for insect or disease problems. Do not prune out damaged leaves—allow the plant a few weeks to re-leaf on its own.
Frost damage exhibited by the blackened, curled new shoots of a young walnut tree. Photo from Adobe Stock.
FLOWERS: Frost-damaged flower buds turn dark brown, shriveled or dry, while open flowers go brown, limp and mushy. Woody plants do not regrow new flower buds if the original set is damaged. In the case of fruit trees, such damage provides an entry point for serious diseases like fire blight, so plan to treat accordingly. Otherwise, a loss of flower buds has little negative impact on overall tree and shrub health and doesn’t require intervention.
TWIGS: Frost-damaged twigs and branch tips typically turn darker in color and develop a sunken and wrinkly, ribbed surface. Woody stems exhibiting such symptoms will likely not recover and should be pruned out in late spring after the plant has had time to recoup. To check the extent of the damage, gently scratch a small area of bark away with your fingernail. If you see green tissue, the branch is alive and should be left on. If underneath the bark is brown, the branch is dead and should be pruned back to the closest live bud or side branch.
Frost Cracking on Tree Trunks
Frost cracks that separate a trunk’s bark from its inner wood can appear over winter on some trees. While healthy specimens can close cracks in time with callus tissue, such a wound on a tree already struggling may mean it will never thrive. To increase chances of recovery, follow good care practices related to watering and mulching and do not apply paint or wound dressing. Remove any ragged edges or loose hanging bark from the crack with a clean cut using a sharp, sterilized knife.
Damage from frost cracking, shown here as a split along the trunk, can severely impair a tree’s long-term health. Photo from John Fech.
Evergreens
Symptoms of frost damage to evergreens can appear right away as dying and curling shoot tips, sometimes occurring only on the windward side of the plant. Or it can show up later as wilting and browning of new growth that is often mistaken for herbicide damage. Streaks of white sap on branches can also indicate freeze injury. As correction, prune any curled tips and dead twigs back to a live bud or side branch and provide regular watering and mulch.
Browning and curling of new shoot tips can be a sign of frost injury on evergreens, as with this spruce tree. Photo from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Bugwood.org.
2026 Planting Considerations and Soy Seed Treatments
The warmer air, wind, and warming trend of soil temperatures have allowed for planting to begin for some. Last week I mentioned watching the soil moisture where seed will be placed as pre-irrigation may be necessary with the lack of rain most of us received. The winds continue to remove surface moisture and each field varies in soil moisture at seeding depth.
The decisions we make at planting impact the entire season. Aiming for fit soil conditions that are proper and even soil moisture where the seed is placed, warming trend of soil temperatures, and even planting depth are important. We saw how uneven emergence was last year with uneven moisture at the seeding depth. I recommend putting corn and soybeans in the ground at 2” (our research recommends 1.75” for soybean). This allows for buffered soil moisture and temperature conditions when planting. Bob Nielsen, emeritus professor at Purdue said corn can be seeded 2.5-3” deep if that’s where uniform soil moisture is located in order to achieve uniform germination and emergence, particularly for non-irrigated fields. Don’t plant soybean below 2.5”.
Since 2004, we’ve shared the importance of planting soybean early (mid- to late-April or first week of May) to increase yields. We often hear a preference of planting corn and soybeans in as close to 50°F or greater soil temperatures as possible. Below 50°F, I prefer to see corn planted on a warming trend of 5-7 days. The consideration is for soil temps in the mid-40’s on a warming trend with no chance of a cold snap (cold rain/snow) within 8-24 hours for soybean and 48 hours for corn. The time-frame is due to the imbibition (critical water uptake) time-frame for corn and soybean. Soil temps for your field can be monitored by using a thermometer or checking out CropWatch soil temps at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/soiltemperature.
Soybean Seed Treatments: From 2023-2025, growers have conducted 11 site-years of Nebraska on-farm research soybean seed treatment studies (Table 1). The studies were conducted in Seward, York, Polk, Hamilton, and Clay Counties with planting dates ranging from April 23 to May 30. The goals for the growers were to evaluate the economics and yield resulting from the seed treatments. Some of these growers also desire to move away from traditional fungicide/insecticide seed treatments due to potential impacts to pollinators, soil health, and human health. Some were also interested in any increased plant health due to early seed and microbial associations with a biological seed treatment that may have influenced a healthier rhizosphere microbiome (Berendsen, 2012). Only yield and any presence of disease was assessed.
Results: The results of Table 1 show that in only 1 site-year (Seward-1 2025) the yield of the full company seed treatment out-yield the biological or untreated seed with which it was compared. The cost of the treatments varied by grower due to the products applied to the seed and the seeding rate. Planting dates varied on the year and location, with the locations in 2024 receiving more spring rainfall with later soybean planting. The locations in 2025 were generally planted into warm, dry soil conditions. Soybean disease was not observed as a problem in any of these on-farm research fields even though several of the locations in 2023 and 2024 had a history of white mold. Try this yourself! This is easy to do by splitting a planter or skipping planter passes with treated vs. untreated seed. Please contact me if you’re interested in trying this for on-farm research! Full article: https://go.unl.edu/uyp7.
Treatments Used:
- Full company seed treatment (Cost: $13.72-29.00/ac)
- Untreated Seed (No Cost)
- Biological seed treatment in all the locations other than the two listed in the next bullet point (created and treated by one of the growers): blend of 2 oz PhycoTerra® ST, 1 oz Heads Up®, 1 oz N-Gage Ultra ST, 0.75 oz Bio ST VPH in 100 gal solution. In a second tank, 2 oz of Exceed Soybean inoculant was used per 100 gal only for this treatment. Cost: $9.00-$9.20/ac
- Two other biologicals used included a seed treatment by Elevate Ag (Clay 2025) (Cost: $34/ac) and a home-made compost extract seed treatment (Lancaster 2025) ($0.63/ac).
Table 1. Eleven Site-Years of Nebraska On-Farm Research Seed Treatment Yield Data
| Location, Year | Number of Reps | Planting Date | Full Company | Biological | Untreated | Full Company Cost ($/ac) | Biological Cost ($/ac) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seward, 2023 | 6 | May 2 | 62A | 61A | no data | $28.00 | $9.20 |
| York, 2023 | 6 | May 10 | 66A | 67A | no data | $28.00 | $9.20 |
| Hamiliton, 2023 | 6 | May 22 | 69A | 68A | no data | $16.63 | $9.20 |
| Seward 1, 2024 | 4 | May 10 | 71A | 69A | 70A | $27.00 | $9.00 |
| Seward 2, 2024 | 6 | May 30 | no data | 70A | 70A | no data | $9.00 |
| Polk, 2024 | 4 | May 27 | 77A | 75A | no data | $17.10 | $9.20 |
| Clay, 2025 | 6 | May 5 | 71A | 68B | 70A | $18.50 | $32.14 |
| Seward 1, 2025 | 4 | April 29 | 76A | 73B | no data | $29.00 | $9.00 |
| Seward 2, 2025 | 3 | April 28 | 76A | no data | 75A | $13.72 | no data |
| York, 2025 | 3 | April 28 | 77A | no data | 76A | $13.72 | no data |
| Lancaster, 2025 | 4 | April 23 | 63A | 63A | 63A | $18.51 | $0.63 |
Table 1 Note: Same letters are not statistically different at 90% confidence level. Analyzed by each individual location.
Berendsen, Roeland L., Pieterse, Corne´M.J., and Bakker, Peter A.H.M. August 2012. The rhizosphere microbiome and plant health. Trends in Plant Science Vol. 17, No. 8, pg. 478-486.
Wildfire Info. and Pre-Irrigation
Custom Grazed Forage for Wildfire & Drought: I’ve received questions from farmers who originally planned to terminate rye and oat cover crops to plant corn or soy ask whether they could instead use the forage for livestock affected by the wildfires, and whether they should plant additional forages. Some producers who have not committed to buying corn seed or fertilizer also asked about planting annual forages for grazing. They asked how to connect with ranchers in need and how custom grazing payments would work while they still need to cover cash rent or property taxes on the land.
Director Vinton, Nebraska Department of Agriculture, shared that custom grazing and cattle care would need to be paid by the producer/rancher with the livestock. She suggested that any producers who have cover crops they desire to have custom grazed or other forage resources to place them on PastureMatch: https://www.pasturematch.com/. If you’re seriously interested about grazing your covers or planting annual forages for custom grazing, particularly for those impacted by wildfire and drought, please get the resources listed on PastureMatch.
Wildfire Recovery Meeting: While I realize many in our portion of the state haven’t been impacted directly by the wildfires, many of us have friends/family who have been impacted. Please share the following with them. Nebraska Extension and two federal partner agencies will hold informational meetings on wildfire recovery April 8-10 to help farmers and ranchers learn about available resources and address local needs. The meetings will all be held from 3:30-6 p.m. (local time) on April 8 at the Arthur Veterans Memorial Hall; April 9 at the Brady Community Center; and April 10 at the Oshkosh City Auditorium. The program will include information on wildfire disaster relief programs and technical assistance, grazing and cropping options, recovery resources, mental health support and next steps. A meal will be served at 6 p.m. at all locations by Hot Meals USA to encourage group conversation and idea sharing. The meetings will include presentations by Nebraska Extension professionals and representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). All are welcome! Nebraska Extension has wildfire recovery information online at https://disaster.unl.edu/. Nebraska FSA wildfire resources are linked at fsa.usda.gov/ne in the Spotlights section.
Pre-Watering: So grateful for the rain we received last week and praying we continue to receive rain! A concern I’ve had going into the planting season is a seedbed with even moisture. Every field has different planting conditions and growers will need to check each field. Reflecting on 2025, I should have recommended pre-watering for those who could irrigate prior to planting. Why? The entire growing season is set up with planting – the soil conditions need to be fit for the best outcome. Soil conditions include proper planting depth into even moisture and temperature which will allow for quick, even germination. For both irrigated and non-irrigated fields in 2025, there were too many seeds planted into varying degrees of soil moisture last spring. We put the crop into the ground quickly in this part of the State due to the warm and dry soils. We then thought watering the crop up would be the best solution. I truly feel we would’ve had better success with evener stands if we would’ve put seed into more uniform soil conditions. The unevenness of stands plagued us all year showing up extra painfully as a component of yield loss at harvest. I’m also thinking about the potential for nitrogen burn on corn roots. Typically this can be a problem when less than 2” of moisture are received since nitrogen application of 180 lb N/ac or more. It won’t take a lot of water; the goal is to reach the moist soil layer beneath. For example, if a field has dry soil at 5″, consider irrigation or determine if rainfall events have allowed for moisture in the seed zone down to 5″. We have more chances for rain this week. I’m just saying to watch the soil moisture in your individual fields and consider pre-watering if we don’t receive additional rain before planting this year.
So grateful for Jesus as fully God and fully man living a perfect life, dying for me and all of us to pay for our sin, and defeating death by rising again! He is our only Living Hope!!! Easter Blessings to you all and your families!
Drought and Nitrogen Use Efficiency
Drought: As of Thursday’s drought monitor release, 99.6% of Nebraska is abnormally dry/in drought. This same week in 2023 was also at 99.6% and similar to 2025 at 98.2%.
What’s also interesting is that currently 77.1% of the entire U.S. is abnormally dry/in drought. That’s actually the highest for last week on record for the U.S. I could find. The other closest years for entire U.S. drought were 72% in 2022; 67% in 2025; and 65% in 2002, 2013, and 2021. We all know it’s dry and we’ll keep praying for much-needed rain.
Cover Crop Termination Timing: I’ve received a number of questions about cover crop termination timing. Several have also contacted me asking about the potential of utilizing these covers for custom grazing cattle impacted by wildfire areas instead of terminating the covers. There’s a number of questions around this and ideas on how to compensate for the grazing/cattle care. To be clear, my goal in sharing this is to help with the questions I’m receiving and to help with a real situation Nebraskans are facing right now. I think the unknowns are how many producers are willing to offer this type of service and how many cattle impacted by wildfires need custom acres to graze. Because producers have asked me who to talk with to obtain answers, I’d suggest contacting the NDA director’s office and possibly commodity groups such as Nebraska Cattlemen’s or Nebraska Farm Bureau to share your thoughts and see if there’s possibility for a decision around this soon.
For farmers with non-irrigated ground, if you’re not planning on using the cover crops for forage, watch soil moisture for your specific fields. While I promote planting crops green into cover crops, the soil moisture situation is dire in the seed zone and terminating pre-plant may be the wisest option. For growers with irrigated ground, again, watch your soil moisture for your specific fields. If choosing to terminate pre-plant, one option is to use clethodim (follow label regarding the wait period of 7-10 days prior to planting corn). Clethodim provides a slower kill and doesn’t cause the covers to “melt down” as rapidly as roundup does. If you choose to plant green, have pivots ready to go in the event you need to provide water into the seed zone after planting into the growing cover.
2026 Nebraska Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Program: With funding provided by the Nebraska Corn Board and in partnership with the Natural Resources Districts (NRDs), the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment (DWEE) is administering the Nebraska Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Program. The purpose of this program is to encourage Nebraska corn producers to improve NUE in their corn fields. Participants are incentivized to achieve a NUE of 1.0 or under, for the 2026 crop as described below. Improving NUE can deliver meaningful economic and environmental benefits without sacrificing productivity.
Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) measures how effectively a crop converts available nitrogen (N) into harvested grain yield, quantifying the relationship between N inputs and crop output. NUE accounts for total available N by including credits such as soil, water, legumes, and manure (lbs./acre) divided by grain yield (bu/acre).
For the 2026 cropping season, applications are due May 15th, 2026, pending funding status, and will be subject to NRD approval. NRD will review and prioritize the applications based on available funding. Methods for application prioritization will be established by each NRD with applicants notified no later than August 15th, 2026, whether their application has been approved or denied. Full details at: https://dnr.nebraska.gov/nebraska-nitrogen-use-efficiency-nue-program.
JenResources 3-22-26
Happy Spring! And in saying that, it’s concerning seeing blooms on our apricot tree already and a tick from the pasture. It all seems so soon and we’re very dry. With that said, I would encourage on warm days without wind to water evergreen trees. We normally don’t recommend to water lawns in March but with as dry as the soil is, it may be helpful to water them once a week. Pushing a screwdriver into the ground will help measure the depth of soil moisture.
Wildfire Support: We were asked to share that Hot Meals USA needs help serving meals to hundreds of first responders and survivors of the Morrill and Cottonwood wildfires. They are also looking for drivers to deliver meals to Ogallala and donations for meals. Website: https://hotmealsusa.org
- Volunteer signup (please scroll down to the later dates listed): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084DAEAA29A0FF2-62991726-feeding?useFullSite=true#/
The following article: https://go.unl.edu/fw06 shares a number of resources with direct links for those who want to donate hay or need hay, for monetary donations, and also for resources through the Rural Response Hotline (800) 464-0258. Nebraska Cattlemen https://www.nebraskacattlemen.org/disaster-relief-fund and Nebraska Farm Bureau https://www.nefb.org/disaster also have disaster relief funds. Extension Educator TL Meyer shares the following “livestock recovery and documentation after the wildfire”: https://go.unl.edu/6yiv.
National Soil Scientist Dr. Liz Haney to Lead Soil Health Masterclass in Kansas on March 26 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Worden Cornerstone Church near Baldwin City. This event is open to farmers, agronomists, crop consultants, conservation professionals and anyone interested in soil health and regenerative agriculture. Hosted by the Kansas Soil Health Alliance, this in-depth workshop will focus on biological soil testing approaches that evaluate soil as a living system rather than relying solely on conventional chemical extraction methods. Unlike traditional soil tests, these approaches measure microbial activity and plant-available nutrient pools that soil organisms are actively cycling. The result is a clearer understanding of how much fertility the soil is already providing. With fertilizer prices continuing to fluctuate and margins tightening, understanding soil function is becoming increasingly important for producers looking to improve efficiency while maintaining productivity. Lunch is included with registration. Please register here: https://bit.ly/Soil-Masterclass
Soil Health & Garden Workshop will be held on April 2nd from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Project Grow Garden Space near 12th St. and Rd N in York. Lunch is included and there’s no charge, but registration is required to the Upper Big Blue NRD at 402-362-6601. On a first come, first serve basis they are doing in-person soil testing for the first 20 attendees. They will be testing for pH and heavy metals. Any soil samples submitted beyond the first 20 will only receive pH testing. Instructions on soil collection will be sent to registered attendees. This free community event is designed to educate and engage participants in understanding the importance of healthy soil for productive gardens and sustainable landscapes. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just getting started, you’ll gain practical knowledge and hands-on experience. Topics include: Understanding soil health fundamentals — including pH, structure, and fertility; Live demonstrations of soil testing techniques; rain simulator demonstration showing how different soil types respond to rainfall; Sustainable gardening practices you can apply at home or in community spaces; and Opportunities for community engagement and knowledge sharing.
Nitrogen Management in 2026
With the increasing nitrogen prices, there’s a great opportunity to take the Nitrogen Challenge by trying sensing-based technology on your farm this growing season to help with nitrogen management. How does it work?
- Apply a pre-plant base rate to your field between 50-100 lb N/ac.
- Apply any additional nitrogen the plant needs in season using a sensing based technology like Sentinel Ag.
For the pre-plant base rate, I know only 50-100 lb N/ac is a hard adjustment for many, but in order to use the sensing technology, you really need to have a base rate no more than 120 lb N/ac.
Then somewhere on half of your field, apply a strip of 30 lb N/ac less than your base rate and a strip right next to it of 60 lb N/ac greater than your base rate. Repeat these two strips on the other half of the field. For example, if your base rate is 100 lb N/ac, the low base rate would be 70 lb N/ac and right next to it would be a high strip of 160 lb N/ac. Make sure there’s a high/low paired strip on each side of your field.
The next step is using a sensing technology like Sentinel Ag to monitor when your plants need any additional nitrogen in season. How do you get started? You can go to: https://www.sentinelag.tech/contact to contact Sentinel Ag and connect with a customer service provider.
From there it’s a matter of getting your field(s) into the system and imagery will be received each day during the growing season when cloud cover isn’t a hindrance. Our on-farm research growers since 2022 have saved on average 52 lb N/ac. We’ve had growers locally use Sentinel Ag who never applied additional nitrogen in the growing season. That usually only happens when there’s already high residual nitrate in the soil. However, it’s a great way to utilize that already existing nitrate and to avoid it leaching to the groundwater.
I also stress this as a nitrogen management tool beyond just reducing the amount of nitrogen applied. The satellite imagery has shown when terminated cover crops released their nutrients to the growing crop. We’ve also seen situations where growers added a 60 lb N/ac in-season rate at the correct timing during rapid growth phase and increase yields by 20 bu/ac. Those are things that we as agronomists can’t predict as we can’t predict mineralization for each field nor can we see the light spectrums that the sensors on the satellites can see that detect stress. It’s a beautiful thing how technology is allowing decades of research to become very practical and usable for growers!
So, for those frustrated by nitrogen prices, this is a great year to try in-season nitrogen management for yourself! And, for anyone using Sentinel Ag this year, we’re beginning peer mentoring groups. What does this mean? It can be scary and hard to try new technologies. Growers who have been using Sentinel Ag have volunteered to serve as peer mentors to other interested growers. We plan to help with understanding the imagery, fertigation, and just walk alongside each other to help with confidence in decisions and what we’re seeing. There’s much power in peer learning! If you’re interested in being a part of the Sentinel Ag Peer Mentoring Groups, please contact me at jrees2@unl.edu. We hope to get started by the end of March/beginning of April.
Richard Ferguson has retired after 40 years of service as a UNL Extension Soils Specialist and he will be greatly missed! His retirement celebration will be this Friday, March 20th from 2-4 p.m. at the Goodding Learning Center at UNL’s East campus. There’s also an online book for well-wishes at: https://go.unl.edu/ferguson-retire.
March 2026 Events
Ag Recognition Banquet: Kiwanis Club of Seward invites you to Celebrate Agriculture by attending the 58th Annual Ag Recognition Banquet! It will be held on Monday, March 23 at the Seward County Fairgrounds Ag Pavilion. 5:30 p.m. is the social with prime rib meal at 6:30 p.m. and program/awards at 7 p.m. Being recognized this year for Outstanding Farm Family is Havlat Farms and recognized for the Agribusiness Award is Baack Ag Services. Past award winners who wish to attend should contact Nick Bauer at 402-429-6119 or nick.bauer@fcsamerica.com. Tickets can be purchased and table sponsors can request tables at the following website: https://sewardkiwanis.org/events/ag-recognition-banquet.
Getting Started Farm & Ranch Transition Planning will be held on March 11th from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Bremer Center in Aurora. There is no charge and includes a free lunch. RSVP is request to 402-694-6174. Transition and estate planning is one of the most important topics we face in agriculture!
“Learning the Why Behind the Work” are webinars held each Monday in March at noon CST. The webinars are geared for women who help with chores, decisions, or cattle care but didn’t grow up in agriculture. All are welcome though. Each webinar has been recorded in case you missed one. For remaining webinars: March 9 is on breeding basics; Mar. 16 is on nutrition and body condition scoring; and Mar. 23 is on navigating resources. There is no cost but please go to https://go.unl.edu/hy85 to register and receive the zoom links.
Master Irrigator Nitrogen discussions will be held at a variety of locations this month including March 11th in Norfolk, March 13th in North Platte, and March 18th in Beatrice. More info. at: https://go.unl.edu/master_irrigator.
Manure Management on Crop Ground in Aurora March 17th: Turning manure nutrients into improved crop yields while protecting water and soil quality will be the focus. The day-long sessions, held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, provide DWEE Land Application Training certification. Participants must attend the full program, which includes lunch, to earn certification. Sessions will cover regulatory updates and strategies for using manure effectively on cropland. While certification is available, anyone may attend, including crop farmers and smaller livestock operators seeking practical guidance for their operations.
Hands-on activities will help participants evaluate which fields are best suited for manure application. Each session will present a scenario in which attendees assess potential fields and determine whether manure use would be beneficial or if certain limitations make the site less desirable. Participants will then rank fields by priority based on factors such as nutrient value, transportation cost, soil health, water quality, neighbor proximity, and odor concerns. Regulations and record-keeping requirements for manure storage and application will also be covered. Registration is available at https://water.unl.edu/lat. The cost is $100 per operation requiring certification—typically larger livestock facilities—or $25 per person for attendees not seeking certification, including smaller livestock producers, crop farmers, NRCS staff, and landlords.
Crop-Livestock Integration Case Study
Happy March! We had a great Friday February conversation again. I think the power in that conversation was watching how ideas from previous years of conversations came to fruition with actual data including stocking rates and economics from several growers. The following is a case study where a grower who enjoys cattle wanted to find a way to raise his herd in the Utica, NE area where corn/soy/seed corn is plenty and pasture is limited. He thought outside the box, challenged the status quo and split a pivot into four quarters in 2024.
On one quarter he planted corn, the next quarter was a year of annual forages for strip grazing, the next was cereal rye for seed followed by winter stockpiled annual forages, and the final was soybeans. The pivot corners consist of pasture and one farmstead. The crops on each quarter are rotated clockwise each year. For example, the quarter that was strip-grazed annual forages in 2024 was planted to corn in 2025. Volunteer rye and vetch were grazed before corn was planted in that area and the cows were moved onto oats/peas he planted into the annual forage quarter. As they were dying out, he followed the cows with planting an annual forage summer mix that contained multi-species but was heavier on millets so he didn’t have to worry about removing cows during light frosts (he was avoiding the potential of prussic acid poisoning by using the millets instead of sorghum species). Now the cows are on the winter stockpiled forage that was also a muti-species mix but heavier on the sorghum species side. For a stocking rate, he figures 1 pair per acre (around 33 pairs if he stayed on this quarter system). This would also be a great system for stockers.
Splitting a pivot into quarters wouldn’t perhaps be the easiest set-up for most. His goals were to keep his cows on this one pivot for the entire year and to see what his stocking rate could be as he grew his herd. He also wanted to determine the economics and soil health of this system by the end of four years to see if he could scale it to other pivots on his farm. The beauty of this is that the system could be adapted to each producers’ goals and needs. Pivots could be split in half or converted entirely to suit the individual’s goals.
This grower also wanted to see how much nitrogen…and other nutrients over time…the annual forage grazing contributed to the succeeding corn crop. We’ve heard a potential of 100 lb/ac of nitrogen could be credited, so that was considered in addition to the residual soil nitrate and nitrate in irrigation water. He set up a side-dress on-farm research study where he applied starter fertilizer but no other nitrogen until V2-V3 corn. He had 4 reps including rates of 0, 25, 37.5, 50, and 62.5 lb N/ac applied. The goal was to apply these same rates to the same strips the next time he side-dressed. He then used Sentinel Ag to sense the timing of when he would need additional nitrogen. However at side-dress time, the Sentinel Ag imagery said he only needed nitrogen on the 0 lb and two of the 25 lb/ac strips. So, the grower decided to let it go and see what happened. His yields? While they were down like many in the area, he raised 217 bu/ac on 50 lb N/ac and 178 bu/ac on 0 lb N/ac! For the annual grazing with cow-calf pairs, his economics came to a profit of $683/ac (that was using $300/ac rent cost). Think about his corn and grazing economics for your own system. It’s exciting to me to see a case study like this where crops and livestock are integrated so well to show the benefits of diversity not only for the land and reduced inputs but economically!
And, it’s another example of how Sentinel Ag’s satellite imagery can be used to help with nitrogen management. With March pre-plant nitrogen applications, consider the nitrogen challenge: only apply 50-100 lb N/ac pre-plant and use Sentinel Ag to determine the remaining needs this growing season. Please contact me if you’re interested in more information.
Crop Ground to Annual Forage Grazing
Converting Crop Ground to Annual Forage Grazing: A handful of producers have been doing this in the area with more considering it for 2026. Why? With the high input costs and low commodity prices, producers are searching for alternatives. The economics of grazing covers is good compared to planting corn and soybeans. Pencil it out for your operation. Input costs for grazing annual forages include cover crop seed and seeding, land costs, potentially one herbicide application between rye and planting a summer cover crop, water and fence infrastructure, and irrigation for establishing covers on irrigated ground. Here’s a potential rotation to make this work: rye planted in the fall or oats planted in March. Strip graze the rye or oats in April-May. Plant a summer annual cover crop mix in June/early July. Strip-graze the summer mix in late July-October. Some people will move livestock off the crop ground between light frosts until a hard freeze if sorghum species are in the summer mix (to avoid any prussic acid poisoning). Then livestock can continue grazing any remaining forage after frost with minimal loss in quality. If cool season cereals like rye/wheat/oats were added to the summer mix, they will come on in the fall and add additional quality to the forage into the winter. Or, a cool season cereal can be planted in the fall after the summer annual forages are grazed off. There’s multiple options for doing this!
Those cash renting ground were often able to pay for the cash rent of irrigated or non-irrigated crop ground in 1 to 2 grazings. How to figure costs? UNL farm real estate reports share an average cost of $68/cow-calf pair/month to graze on pasture in Eastern and Central NE. Annual forages would have a higher quality, so that should be taken into consideration for the value received. If you would graze cattle for someone else, such as grazing custom cattle, you can expect to receive anywhere between $1.50-$2.50/1000 lbs of cow (standard animal unit)/day depending on one’s location. This is also the value you’re creating if you’re using your own cattle to graze the covers. If you own cattle and want to retain your calves and add weight after weaning, consider putting the calves on the forages for the highest value return and gains. Pencil it out for your operation. We converted half our crop acres this year to forages for custom grazing cows. And, the benefits are beyond a single year of economics. I’ve seen how strip-grazing plants with animals can improve ground through improving pH, improving water infiltration through better soil aggregation, increased soil microbial communities, and nutrient release. A risk for consideration is lack of rainfall on non-irrigated ground to establish covers and maintain growth. Producers will also share specific examples with their economics on this Friday’s Feb. 27th conversation from 10-noon at the 4-H Building in York.
Farmers Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program: This program provides $11 billion in one-time bridge payments to row crop producers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs. The FBA enrollment period opens Feb. 23 and closes April 17, 2026. There will not be mailed prefilled applications anymore. Producers are encouraged to use/create a login.gov on farmers.gov to apply or they can still apply in person in the office. More info: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-events/news/02-20-2026/usda-announces-enrollment-period-farmer-bridge-payments?utm_campaign=022026fbaenrollment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
Master Irrigator Program: Nebraska Extension invites farmers, agricultural professionals and conservation partners to participate in a local 2026 Nebraska Master Irrigator “Shop Talk” discussion. These will be two‑day, discussion‑based programs focused on tackling today’s most pressing irrigation and nitrogen management challenges. The first day of each location will focus on irrigation and the second day will focus on nitrogen. Registration and info at: https://go.unl.edu/master_irrigator. Walk-ins are welcome. Closest sessions include: Grand Island Extension Office on Feb. 25 & Mar. 2; Extension Office in Beatrice on Feb. 27 & Mar. 18.
JenResources 