Dicamba Updates:  For those of you who farm in both Nebraska and Kansas, or have customers that do, the following is what is needed for RUP-dicamba training.  Nebraska and Kansas have a reciprocal agreement regarding private, commercial, and non-commercial applicator training.  Those who have a KS applicator license who wish to apply RUP dicamba in Nebraska don’t need to take additional pesticide training in Nebraska.  They do need to apply for a reciprocal license in Nebraska through the NDA and pay the $25 fee (private) or $90 fee (commercial/non-commercial) for a Nebraska pesticide applicator license.  There is no additional fee for dicamba training in Nebraska.  Kansas Dept. of Ag accepts Nebraska’s dicamba training with no further requirements.  Nebraska will accept Kansas dicamba training IF you can also prove you watched the NDA Nebraska specific requirements video.  Otherwise, it’s perhaps simpler to take the RUP online dicamba training from Nebraska or attend a Nebraska face to face session.

If you missed the UNL face to face sessions for your area, you can also attend Industry trainings which are upcoming and listed on the NDA website at:  http://www.nda.nebraska.gov/pesticide/dicamba.html (please refresh your browser).  And, you may wish to attend an industry training anyway depending on the product which you plan to apply to hear more about specific buffer requirements and ask specific questions.

Also, to be clear, anyone who has attended UNL trainings will not receive certificates.  Your proof of training will be to download the excel spreadsheet at the NDA website listed above and ensure your name is on that spreadsheet.  I’ve been asking that you give NDA 7-10 days before checking it with all the paperwork coming in right now.  If you attend a training and don’t see your name, please contact the trainer whose session you attended.  It may take longer for those of you who became new pesticide applicators.

The York UNL dicamba training has been rescheduled to February 16 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. at the 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds in York.  Updated FAQs can be found at this site (https://pested.unl.edu/documents/RUP_Dicamba_FAQ_2018.pdf) as we receive questions and verify answers with NDA and EPA (please refresh your browser for the updated info.)

Converting ground to annual/perennial forage systems:  For the past few years, some of you have spoken with me about converting a pivot to an annual forage system if you owned the land and had cattle.  We’ve worked through some economics and a handful of you have tried various options.  With current corn and soybean prices, I’ve received an increasing number of questions regarding this topic from farmers and ag lenders.  A team of Extension specialists including Dr.’s Jay Parsons, Mary Drewnoski, and Daren Redfearn are seeking your input into what they’ve put together for economics of example systems this coming year.  A webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, February 13^th beginning at 6:00 p.m. CST.  To participate, you can click on the following url:  https://unl.zoom.us/j/827594794.  Audio can be through your computer speakers or you can also call in.  Full details regarding phone number options and additional information can be viewed at:  https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2018/economics-annual-and-perennial-forages-webinar.  The goal of this webinar is to explain economic examples for both annual and perennial forage systems using different classes of cattle and allow you to provide input into those numbers and ask questions.  For those of you interested in this topic and/or are already using annual forages/converted pivots to perennial grass systems, we’d greatly appreciate your input and please do consider sharing your insight!

York County Corn Grower Tour:  Gary Zoubek, Extension Educator Emeritus, has planned a great Corn Grower tour for those interested in attending on February 13^th!  Please call the York County Extension Office at (402) 362-5508 if you plan to attend.  Attendees will meet at the York County Extension Office at 8 a.m. with travel to Lincoln at 8:30 a.m.  Tours in Lincoln will include Nebraska Innovation Campus (including Nebraska Innovation Studio (the makerspace), the Food Innovation Center, and the Greenhouse Innovation Center, home of the LemnaTec High Throughput Plant Phenotyping system).  Attendees will then tour Quantified Ag that developed cattle ear tags equipped with sensors to monitor the health of the individual as well as the herd.  Lunch at Valentinos will be followed by Campus visits including learning about biobased textiles, the Ag Econ Marketing Lab/Commodity Trading Room, and the UNL Dairy Store.  The final stop will be at Neogen labs that develops, manufacturers, and markets a diverse line of products dedicated to food and animal safety before traveling back to York around 5:15 p.m.  You can view more details and the full itinerary at:  https://jenreesources.com/2018/01/29/york-co-corn-grower-tour-feb-13/.