Fridays in February are conversations held each Friday in February from 10 a.m.-Noon at the 4-H Building in York. Farmers and ag industry professionals share their experiences around various topics. I ask a few people to lead the conversation and the discussion ensues from there. These are very informal and they’ve spurred increasing changes to producer operations. Topics this year are focused on economics. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVP is preferred to 402-362-5508 to ensure enough handouts for the discussions.

Fri. Feb. 6: Beginning Steps using Regen Ag Practices for Soil Health. With the $700M designated for soil health practices, this conversation will focus on practical steps to begin one’s soil health journey. Hear from farmers about the challenges, successes, and their recommendations regarding beginning one’s soil health journey.

Fri. Feb. 13: Understanding Nutrient Balance. For years, the focus has been on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in ag, but too much of these nutrients create imbalances with other nutrients in the soil and plants. There’s an increasing number of ag professionals sharing how too much N contributes to increased disease and insects in the system due to plants lacking in availability of other critical nutrients. Hear from a few farmers and ag industry professionals about what nutrient balance looks like to them and how they go about it in fields.

Fri. Feb. 20: Producer Updates: Crops, Cows, Compost. This session is an update of last year’s conversations. Hear from the producers who made changes in their operations as a result of the conversations and the economics of these changes in their system. Some changes include: adding alternative crops in rotation, converting crop ground to annual forages for grazing, and using compost extracts on fields.

Fri. Feb. 27: Strengthening Nebraska’s Ag Economy. These conversations will share research-proven ways to reduce input costs without impacting yields. Information will be shared by producers and Extension educators who studied these topics via on-farm research. Come learn ways to reduce input costs on your farm this year and try some of these ideas for yourself!

Chemigation Training for the York area will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5^th at 1 p.m. in the 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds in York. There are also chemigation trainings on Feb. 19^th at 1 p.m. in Davenport at the Community Center, Feb. 19^th at 1:30 p.m. at the Extension Office in Grand Island.

On-Farm Research Updates will be held Feb. 17^th in York at the Holthus Convention Center, Feb. 18^th at ENREEC near Mead, and Feb. 24 at the Extension Office in Kearney. The program at each location begins at 9 a.m. with registration at 8:30 a.m. Hear from the producers who conducted the research to learn what they tried and the results they found. No charge, but please RSVP at: https://on-farm-research.unl.edu/.

Central Nebraska Soil Health Conference will be held on Feb. 18^th at the Lochland Country Club in Hastings. The conference will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with registration beginning at 8 a.m. Local growers will share information on converting crop ground for grazing, regenerative ag practices in raising soybean, and a producer panel. The keynote will share on biochar in ag. No fee, registration is requested for lunch count:  https://go.unl.edu/kx80.