A special Thank You to everyone who helped make the 2024 York County Fair a success! I get to serve with nearly 60 volunteers who serve in Ag Hall each year. Most have served nearly 20 years or more! It’s fun for me to see the buildings and grounds come alive with projects. It’s also fun to observe people catching up with each other and to catch up with people myself. Perhaps my favorite part of fair is seeing the youth awarded for their projects and proudly wearing their medals around the fairgrounds. I’ve been blessed my entire career to work with wonderful people at county fairs and in counties where all the entities work together for the good of the youth, families, and community. Thank You to all the Ag Society, 4-H Council, Extension Board and staff, volunteers, families, sponsors, vendors, police/security who make the York County Fair a success each year! Wishing everyone exhibiting at Seward County Aug. 8-11 all the best as well!

Drone Conference: Nebraska Extension is hosting two drone conferences on Wednesday, Aug. 14 and Thursday, Aug. 15 at West Central Research, Extension and Education Center in North Platte, Nebraska. On Aug. 14^th, the Drones in Agriculture Conference will feature Jonathan Rupprecht, Esq. of Rupprecht Law, P.A. Rupprecht is a lawyer, commercial pilot and flight instructor who combines these experiences to help businesses and individuals navigate the complex system of laws for unmanned aircraft systems.

On Aug. 15^th, The Nebraska Spray Drone Conference will feature Dr. Steve Li, associate professor and extension specialist of weed science at Auburn University. His research team works on evaluating the application efficiency of spray drones and understanding how to optimize flight and spray parameters to mitigate spray drift.

In addition to these speakers, the conferences will feature presenters from Federal Aviation Administration, Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Nebraska Extension, Pix4D Agriculture, Lifted Vision, Aurora Cooperative, Agri Spray Drones, and Volitant Technologies. Spray drone demonstrations will be provided by Agri Spray Drones and Volitant Technologies. Please refer to the registration page for more information on speakers and conference agendas.

The conference registration fee is $150 per conference, or $250 when registering for both. An educational discount is available to students and educators through an application process available on the registration page. For more information and to RSVP, please go to: https://go.unl.edu/ihd5.

Extension Educator, Dirk Charlson, is also hosting a Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep Course on August 16^th from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for more information and to register for that, please register at: https://cvent.me/x1AQD2.  Please contact Dr. Dirk Charlson for more information on this course and/or the drone conference at Email: dirk.charlson@unl.edu or Cell: 402-460-0742 (Text or Call).

Forage Field Day Webinar will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Tues. Aug. 6^th. Topics include: Alfalfa revenue insurance program; Sustainable ag and forage management; Summer annual for forage and soil health; Digestible forages in dairy rotations; Optimizing forage availability with cover crop grazing; Making a “safe” harvest plan; and Alfalfa diseases and pests. More information and online registration is required at: https://go.unl.edu/ad2y.

Reminder on Aug. 8 of UNL’s South Central Ag Lab Field Day near Harvard and also the Soil Health Event at the 4-H Building in York.