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!