Category Archives: JenREES Columns
JenREES 2-23-20
Demystifying Poultry Manure-optimizing agronomic value and minimizing environmental risks will be held Feb. 26th from 1-4 p.m. at the Hruska Memorial Library in David City. The Nebraska Extension Animal Manure Management Team wants to help crop producers and rural citizens understand why, how, when and where manure can add value to a cropping system. They also want to answer your questions about how chickens are raised, what’s in poultry manure, what practices can optimize manure value while minimizing environmental risks and any other questions you have. No cost. Pre-registrations welcome by contacting Butler Co. Extension at (402) 367‐7410.
Irrigated Cover Crop Conference will be held Feb. 27 at the Fairgrounds in Central City starting with donuts at 9:00 a.m. Topics include: Implementing Cover Crops to Increase Resilience & Returns in Cropping Systems, Benefits of Cover Crops for Weed Control, Crop Water Use Considerations, Does growing shorter season corn/beans, impact cover crop biomass?, Overview of Cover Crop Strategies in the Central Platte, Seeding Methods for Cover Crops, Grazing High Quality Cover Crops, Don’t Waste Your Cover Crop, and Methods to get Higher Grazing Efficiencies from Cover Crops. Cost is $10. For more info., please contact Steve Melvin at (308) 946-3843.
On-Farm Research Brainstorming Meeting Mar. 2: The purpose of this meeting is to allow area growers interested in on-farm research to discuss their project ideas for 2020. I’ve found this meeting lends additional support for growers allowing them to bounce ideas off each other and has led to several growers trying the same studies. Any growers interested in learning more about on-farm research studies or interested in trying studies on your farms are welcome to join us Mar. 2nd from 9 a.m.-Noon at the 4-H Building in York. Please RSVP to jrees2@unl.edu.
Annie’s Inspired Mental Health, Stress Management and Ag Leadership class is designed to help farm and ranch women recognize stress, provide tips to care for one’s mental health and learn how to be a great Ag leader. Please join us for this class taught by Brandy VanDeWalle, Fillmore Co. Extension Educator, on Monday, Mar. 2nd 6 – 8 pm at the Seward Civic Center, 616 Bradford St., Seward, NE. Cost is $5 and RSVP is required for meal (402) 367-7410.
Windbreak Workshop March 3 in Seward: Thinking about rejuvenating that old broken down windbreak? Perhaps you want to start a new windbreak? Maybe you’re looking for information on what ails your windbreak and how to treat it? This FREE workshop will address all these questions (and more). Please join us Mar. 3rd from 9 a.m.-Noon (Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.) at the Seward County Extension Office. Bring your questions and learn from experts on topics including: Renovating that old windbreak; New windbreak establishment; Local NRD tree planting program, and Windbreak health issues. Please RSVP to Seward Co. Extension at: (402) 643-2981.
Southeast Nebraska Soil Health Conference Mar. 3: Soil health, cover crops, and grazing annual cover crops will be among the topics at this Conference Mar. 3rd at the Community Center in Hickman. Registration and viewing commercial displays begins at 8 a.m., with program at 9 a.m. The keynote speaker, Dr. Dwayne Beck, is the manager of the SDSU Dakota Lakes research farm. Additional speakers include: Dr. Ray Ward speaking on nutrient cycling to build organic matter; Paul Jasa and Gary Lesoing will share on systems approach to soil health; Mary Drewnoski will talk about cow-calf grazing of cover crops. Tyler Burkey, Milford; Blake Huls, Cortland; Rodney Wiese, Wilber and Steve Mills, Greenwood will share information they have learned on ways to increase soil health. Sponsors include Nebraska Corn Board, Lancaster County Farm Bureau, and SARE. Please pre-register at: https://lancaster.unl.edu/ag. CCA credits are available.
Grain Bin Safety Week kicked off Feb. 16. In 2018, there were 30 documented grain entrapment cases-half resulting in a fatality. It’s so important for farm families to understand the dangers of entering grain bins! Free Showings of SILO film (https://www.silothefilm.com/) will be March 10th in Aurora at the 12th Street Cinema. Sponsored by Hamilton Co. Corn Growers, showing times are at 6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Call or text Mike Bergen (402) 631-9324 or Mitch Oswald (402) 624-1056 to reserve your seat! Inspired by true events, SILO follows a harrowing day in an American farm town when a teenager is entrapped in a 50-foot-tall grain bin.
JenREES 2-16-20
This week begins Nebraska Extension’s On-Farm Research Update meetings. Over 100 studies were conducted in 2019! Each meeting runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (registration at 8:30 a.m.). Meal is included and there’s no cost thanks to our partnerships with Nebraska Corn, Soybean, and Dry Bean Boards and Growers’ Associations. Please pre-register at: onfarm@unl.edu or 402-624-8030. Meetings are: Feb. 18 at Holiday Inn Express in Beatrice, Feb. 19 near Mead at ENREC, Feb. 20 in Norfolk at the Extension Office, Feb. 26 in Kearney at the Extension Office, and Feb. 28 in York at the Holthus Convention Center. At the meetings, you will receive a book of all the 2019 studies and hear from the farmers who conducted the studies if they are present at that specific location. What’s powerful about that to me is that you get to hear from your peers and the discussion and questions are greater. At all locations except for York, all the studies in the book will be shared. New this year to only the York location, only the cover crop on-farm research studies will be shared followed by outside speakers sharing about cover crop/soil health topics. That meeting also qualifies for UBBNRD nitrogen credits.
On-Farm research in Nebraska has occurred the past three decades. Growers partner with Extension and sometimes other government agencies and ag industry to test questions on their own farms using their own equipment benefiting many with the information. We often don’t have funding to do these studies. Thus, I’m extra grateful for our cooperating growers to research products and production practices that may not happen otherwise!
Sometimes, it’s best to hear from the farmers themselves regarding why they conduct on-farm research. The following YouTube video highlights area farmers David and Doug Cast of Beaver Crossing and Ken Herz of Lawrence:
Ron Makovicka helping me take soil samples for his study.
Three York County farmers were also featured in a CropWatch article sharing their on-farm research experiences. Ron Makovicka and Jerry Stahr have conducted on-farm research since the beginning while Jay Goertzen was a first year participant. “Anytime you can get information, it’s very valuable. You can always learn something,” Stahr said. Goerzten shared, “There’s good support provided to help set up a research plot, help you with the follow through, and collecting data in-season.” All shared there was value in trying studies on your own farm with Makovicka emphasizing, “Go for it!”
This year, Makovicka and Stahr worked with me to compare areas with and without the nitrification inhibitor (N-Serve®) with their spring anhydrous ammonia applications. Nitrification inhibitors may reduce the rate at which ammonium is converted to nitrate thus helping reduce N losses through denitrification and leaching. Stahr applied 160 lbs N as anhydrous on April 8, 2019 in no-till, silt-loam soil. Makovicka applied 180 lbs N as anhydrous on April 10, 2019 in ridge-till, silt-loam soil. These locations were around 4 miles apart and the previous crop in both was soybean. At both study locations, no yield difference occurred between the check and inhibitor treatments. Soil samples were taken 2” off the anhydrous band down to three feet for both ammonium and nitrate concentrations at V7 growth stage. The results showed the nitrification inhibitor was working to slow the conversion of ammonium to nitrate in Makovicka’s field but not Stahr’s. We don’t have a good explanation for this. However, the results are consistent with other University studies conducted in silt loam soils.
Those are two examples of on-farm research studies. If you’re interested in trying a study for 2020, please contact your local Extension Educator. We work with you to set up your study in a scientifically valid way to work with your equipment. There’s also an opportunity to obtain up to $300 reimbursement for water-quality related studies through the UBBNRD (there is a short application form for that through the NRD). Please also save Mar. 2 from 9-Noon for an on-farm research ‘brainstorming’ meeting at the 4-H Building in York. I’ll share more on that and other study results next week.
JenREES 2-2-20
Been getting questions on the farm bill. It’s really important that growers make appointments now at your local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to complete your ARC/PLC election and enrollment forms. Deadline to enroll is Monday, March 16 for the 2019 crop year. The election can be changed up to March 16. Growers who don’t get enrolled by then will be ineligible to receive ARC or PLC payments for the 2019 crop year.
If you use a decision support tool, I’m not recommending to use the Illinois tool as it takes into consideration the life of the farm bill. This is a two-year decision, thus, the potential payment numbers tend to be skewed and makes ARC-CO look more favorable than what it most likely will be. The Texas A&M tool considers a two-year decision and that’s the tool Randy Pryor and I recommend. On my blog, there’s step-by-step screen shots to help if you wish to use the tool. You can find it and previous blog posts at jenreesources.com. In the right-hand column under “categories” select “farm bill”.
Using the tool to work through farm situations from different counties, PLC keeps beating ARC-Co for corn. There’s a separation between the price it could take to trigger ARC-Co (previously around $3.18 for many counties) vs. PLC ($3.70) for corn. I’ve also played with the historical irrigation percentage (HIP). Everytime I’ve changed the HIP % for corn (0, 25, 50, 75, 100), it doesn’t switch the potential payment decision from PLC to ARC-Co. However, when I look at soybean, it’s tended to favor PLC for a higher irrigated percentage and ARC-Co for farms with little to no irrigation. This does vary by county, so soybean can go either way. If you’re really undecided, check this for yourself. You’re only making this decision for 2 years and there may not be a soybean payment for either election. Ultimately elections are your decision and the tools and info hopefully help as we can’t predict what prices will do.
Pesticide, Dicamba, Chemigation Trainings: I’ve also received questions regarding pesticide, dicamba, and chemigation trainings. If you haven’t received a postcard from NDA to pay the $25 bill within 14-17 days after training, please call the Extension Office in the county where you took the training; they can follow-up with NDA. The postcard will have a link to pay the $25 fee online. For those who don’t like paying online, you can also send a $25 check to NDA and include the postcard. For those who attended my training when I ran out of materials, I now have more so you are welcome to stop at the York Co. Extension Office and get the study guide and weed guide.
If you attend a face-to-face dicamba training through Extension or Ag Industry, please bring your pesticide applicator card as a pesticide applicator number is needed for registration. If you are a new applicator this year, you will write “pending” on the registration form. There is no charge for dicamba training, and the same training can be completed online at: https://pested.unl.edu/dicamba. Watching it at home as a group doesn’t work well because only one applicator number is entered to watch the training; there’s no way to add additional ones. Each person would have to be on his/her own device watching the training. Allow one week for your name to be added to NDA’s dicamba certified applicators on their site at: https://nda.nebraska.gov/pesticide/dicamba.html. Download the excel spreadsheet under ‘dicamba applicator training’ and make sure your name is listed. Then print the spreadsheet and keep it for your records.
For those recertifying for chemigation, you are allowed to watch the modules and take the test at home this year at: https://water.unl.edu/article/agricultural-irrigation/chemigation. This is only for recertifications. Initial certifications can watch the modules from home but still need to take the test at an Extension office. Anyone seeking initial or recertification is also welcome to attend face to face training.
JenREES 1-26-20
Corn Quality Concerns: The two main questions I’ve received: “Are you hearing others mentioning low/variable test weights on corn?” and “Are you hearing of loads being rejected (to ethanol plants) due to mycotoxins?” While I’m unsure how widespread this is, I have been receiving these questions. A reminder to check your grain quality if you haven’t already been hauling or checking it.
Test Weight is a volumetric measurement (weight of corn grain per unit of volume), and as such, doesn’t directly correlate with yield. Standard corn test weight is 56 lbs/bu (1 bushel is 1.24 cubic feet). The size, shape, slipperiness of surface, and density of the kernel impacts test weight. Hybrids can show differences in test weight. Test weight is different than kernel weight, and thus not directly correlated with yield. Test weight gets at how tightly packed the starch is within the kernel. Reducing kernel moisture can allow for increased test weight if the starch loses water allowing for it to be packed more tightly within that kernel. Dry kernels that slide past each other may pack better allowing for increased test weight.
Lower test weights can result with disease, insect, and environmental stresses that impact photosynthesis and the movement of nutrients to the kernel during grain fill. These can include foliar and stalk diseases, drought stress, lack of nutrients, freeze prior to physiological maturity, late planting, and below normal temps during grain fill. Rewetting of kernels in the ear can impact test weight as kernels can swell and not shrink back to the same shape as previously. We know that moisture events happened after physiological maturity causing some sprouting of kernels in some ears prior to harvest. We did have high foliar disease pressure this year and reduced stalk quality. Compromised integrity of the kernel due to insect, disease, and mechanical damage can also impact test weight. I didn’t see the amount of kernel damage as I did in 2018. But there are certain hybrids that are high yielding and widely planted that I tend to see starburst patterns on kernels (due to Fusarium) and shortened husks exposing ear tips to more insect damage/ear molds. There are also hybrids that had a large amount of top dieback, husk tissue that turned brown early, or refuge in a bag plants that died early in fields. All of these may be factors potentially impacting test weight as well. Thinking about photosynthesis, we had reduced solar radiation during grain fill. I can’t help but think that could also impact it but didn’t easily find research that correlates solar radiation to test weight. There’s research correlating solar radiation to yield and kernel weight, though.
Regarding vomitoxin levels, the starburst patterns on kernels, insect damage leading to
ear molds, wet corn not properly dried or cooled in bins can all impact greater Fusarium growth and the potential for vomitoxin to be produced. If vomitoxin (also called DON) is an issue, concentrations can triple in the ethanol process of producing the distiller’s grains. Hogs and poultry are more sensitive than cattle, so the end user may be a factor in addition to the vomitoxin levels. I don’t know the levels being rejected so I can’t speak more to this.
York County Corn Grower Tour: Corn growers and spouses are welcome to join us February 3 for a tour of ag industries in the Lincoln area. We will meet at the York Co. Extension Office at 7 a.m. and will carpool leaving at 7:15. Our first stop will be RealmFive which focuses on wireless connectivity for ag operations. We will then tour Smart Chicken in Waverly which offers retail- and foodservice-packaged organic chickens and antibiotic-free chickens from Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Lunch at Lazlos is next followed by learning about the UNL hops program and research using corn gluten meal and soybean meal. Possibly another stop on way home. Please RSVP to me at jrees2@unl.edu if you’re interested in attending by Feb. 2nd. Hope to have a good group who can join us! Flyer at jenreesources.com.
JenREES 1-19-20
This week was asked to share on these additional Jan./Feb. meeting opportunities. Also, Please Save Feb. 3 for the York County Corn Growers Tour! I’m working on the tour details-will share next week.
A few times a month, I receive questions about hops or hemp. For those interested in hops, the Nebraska Brewer’s Conference will be Jan. 27-28 at the Younes Convention Center in Kearney. You can learn more details here: www.growbrewnebraska.com.
Merrick Co. Ag Day is Jan. 28 at the Fairgrounds in Central City. Topics include weed control in prevent plant acres, farm bill, pivot wheel track management, understanding the hydrogeology of wells in Central Nebraska, groundwater protection/water quality sampling and testing, and domestic/farm level water treatment equipment. There is no charge and please RSVP for meal to 308-946-3843.
72nd Annual York-Hamilton Cattlemen’s Banquet will be Jan. 28 at the Holthus Convention Center in York beginning with social at 6:30 p.m. and prime rib meal at 7 p.m. Entertainment will be Jay Hendren, a farmer from Ohio. Hendren uses his experiences in farming to tickle the funny bones of audience members of all walks of life. Hendren has entertained groups across the country from banquets and conventions to comedy clubs. Tickets are $25 per person. Sponsorships are also available that include two banquet tickets and recognition at the banquet for $150. Cattlemen’s Banquet tickets can be purchased from any of the York-Hamilton County Cattlemen’s Directors including Brian Blase of Hordville; Brock Ekhoff and Terry Ross of Aurora; Jeff Underwood of Exeter; Allen Klute and Mark Klute of Hampton; David McDonald of Phillips, Jeff Meradith, Kim Regier and Josh Chrisman of York; Kim Siebert of Henderson, plus the UNL Extension Offices in York County and Hamilton Counties.
Lambing and Kidding School Jan. 25: The closest location to this area will be in Broken Bow at the Fairgrounds. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Topics include: Keeping ewes healthy through disease control and treatment (Dr. Brian Vander Ley DVM, Great Plains Educational Center); Economical feeding programs for the doe (Dr. Steve Hart, Goat Extension Specialist OK); Economical feeding programs for the ewe (Dr. Ivan Rush, sheep producer, Scottsbluff); Treating chilled newborns, tubing lambs/kids/Q&A session (local veterinarians). The program is followed by a hands-on tour to Beth & Hannah Smith’s Farm 44306 Road 786 Broken Bow. More info and pre-register at: ne.sheep.goat@gmail.com or 308-386-8378.
2020 Sorghum Symposium will be held at the NE College of Technical Ag in Curtis on Jan. 30th. I don’t have details regarding the time, but program highlights include: weather (Al Dutcher); sorghum production and management (Dr. Brent Bean, Agronomist); D.C./Farm Bill Update (Jerad Reimers, Office of Congressman Smith); grain sorghum variety performance in 15” and 30” rows (Strahinja Stepanovic, UNL); sorghum TAPS program panel; how to win an argument without arguing via social media (Nate Blum). The annual meeting will follow the program and several vendors will be present. There’s no charge but please RSVP for meal count to sorghum.board@nebraska.gov or 402-471-4276.
Annie’s Inspired: Feb. 3rd from 6-8 p.m. is the next Annie’s Inspired Workshop for women involved with agriculture. It will be held at the Library in David City. Glennis McClure will cover Farm/Ranch budgets and financials. These workshops include a light supper, plenty of networking time and hands-on learning. Cost is $5 to cover supper. Please RSVP to 402-367-7410 or 402-362-5508 if you’re interested in attending!
JenREES 1-12-20
Great to see and meet so many at the York Ag Expo last week! And, to the 156 of you who attended pesticide training, thank you again for your kindness and grace with the packed room and overflow to the hallway. Sharing this week on February upcoming ag programs and adding the flyers to https://jenreesources.com.
Jan. 28th is the Farmers and Ranchers Cow-Calf College at the US Meat Animal Research Center near Clay Center. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. with program beginning at 9:55 a.m. Topics include: Forage Sampling, Understanding Annual Cow Costs, Questions to Ask Your Vet before Calving Season, Blockchains: Connecting Consumers with their Food (IMI Global), and Alternative Meats and Alternative Statistics: What the data says. There is no charge and meal is provided. It’s best to pre-register to save time and you can do so at https://go.unl.edu/frcollegereg. You can also RSVP at (402) 759-3712.
Feb. 4 is the Hamilton County Ag Day at the fairgrounds in Aurora (Reg. at 9 a.m. with program beginning at 9:30 a.m.). Attendance at this event qualifies for UBBNRD nitrogen management training. Many have asked about nitrogen research and this event is geared towards providing that. Topics include: In-season nitrogen application, management to reduce nitrate leaching, fertigation equipment & procedures for in-season management, crop nutrients from manure, cover crops and nitrogen management, optimum irrigation application, on-farm research for evaluating N management, land rental considerations for 2020, in addition to updates from Nebraska Corn and USDA. There is no charge.
Feb. 13 is the Nebraska Cover Crop Conference near Mead with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. and program from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. This year’s focus is on interseeding cover crops into corn/soybean. Loran Steinlage from Iowa will share what he’s doing with 60” row spacings and keeping something growing in his fields 365 days of the year. Noah Seim from Merrick County (30” rows for a few years) and Jay Goertzen from York County (36” rows for 1 year) both have interseeding projects with Nebraska on-farm research and will share their experiences. Additional Topics/Speakers include: Finding the right fit with cover crops (Abbey Wick from NDSU), Selling cover crop seed in Nebraska (Steve Knox with Nebraska Crop Improvement), Accelerating soil health adoption by quantifying economic and environmental outcomes (Brian Brandt, Ohio), Review of cover crop demonstrations in the Central Platte NRD (Dean Krull), Cover crops by helicopter: FAQ (Brent Wulf, Hexagon Helicopters, Inc.), and Soil Health (Aaron Hird, NRCS). There is no charge for this event including meal and it’s a large event. Registration is required by Feb. 7. More info. and register at: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/enre/nebraska-cover-crop-conference/ or 402-624-8030.
Nebraska On-Farm Research Updates: Believing in the value of on-farm research, these are among my favorite meetings each year! These meetings give you an opportunity to hear from your peers regarding research they’re trying in cooperation with Nebraska Extension. We often wouldn’t have research on topics many of you ask me about if it wasn’t for our on-farm research cooperators, so I’m grateful to them! Dates include: Feb. 18 at Holiday Inn Express in Beatrice, Feb. 19 near Mead at ENREC, Feb. 20 in Norfolk at the Extension Office, Feb. 26 in Kearney at the Extension Office, and Feb. 28 in York at the Holthus Convention Center. The Feb. 28 meeting in York will be unique focusing only on cover crop and soil health research and that meeting also qualifies for UBBNRD nitrogen management training. Each meeting runs from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (registration at 8:30 a.m.). Meal is included and there’s no cost thanks to our partnerships with Nebraska Corn, Soybean, and Dry Bean Boards and Growers’ Associations. Please pre-register at least 2 days in advance for meal planning purposes to: onfarm@unl.edu or 402-624-8030.
JenREES 1-5-20
Winter programming is upon us and there’s plenty of opportunities to attend meetings somewhere nearly every day! Below is more information regarding some January opportunities from Extension. Also, thank you to those who provided feedback to my end of the year survey! It really is short, so if you haven’t provided feedback, please consider doing so at https://slido.com and enter the code 4EXT. It really helps me as we have to justify the ways that we serve our constituents in our annual reports. Thank you!
Crop Production Clinics (CPC) provide an opportunity for commercial, non-commercial, and private pesticide applicator recertification. CCA credits can also be obtained. Besides the ‘traditional’ track of insect, disease, and weed science information, topics at the York location (Holthus Convention Center) on Jan. 14 also include: farm bill info, financial considerations for 2020, extreme weather impacts on ag, cover crops and forage management, manure and other soil amendments, pivot performance, and sprinkler packages. Registration at: https://agronomy.unl.edu/cpc.
Nebraska Crop Management Clinic (NCMC) at the Younes Convention Center in Kearney Jan. 22-23 expands the offerings of the CPC into a 2-day conference with additional outside speakers. Commercial, non-commercial, and private recertification training are options in addition to obtaining up to 14 CCA credits (over 2 days) and chemigation training. Registration at: https://agronomy.unl.edu/ncmc.
Good Farmer, Great Manager: I’m really excited to bring this program to the area! This program isn’t about teaching specific tools like Quicken, Quickbooks, or others. It’s about better understanding the true financial position of the farm. Keeping good records make it possible to track an operation’s true financial position. Inaccurate records can lead to misguided management decisions. Tina Barrett, Executive Director of the Nebraska Farm Business Inc., will teach this class on Jan. 23 (1-5 p.m.) and 24 (8 a.m.-Noon) at the 4-H Building in York. It is required to attend both days, cost is $50, and the class is limited to 25 participants. Topics include understanding what are good tax records, getting good tax records, moving to management records, and financial statements and ratios. You can register at: https://wia.unl.edu/GFGM. You can also hear Tina share more about this class at: https://youtu.be/LaVZRPzG1HM.
Weed Science School will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead, starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 3.45 p.m. on January 29th. “Dr. Bryan Young, professor of weed science at the Purdue University is an invited speaker to present his research experience for dicamba off-target movement in soybean,” said Amit Jhala, extension weed management specialist and program coordinator. Tim Creger, pesticide/fertilizer program manager with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, will be discussing NDA’s experience investigating dicamba complaints the last three years, including what evidence they look for, types of violations, and the regulatory action taken in response to violations. Additional topics include: Overview of Weed Control and Herbicide-Resistant Weeds in Nebraska (Amit Jhala); Herbicide Discovery in an Era of Industry Acquisition and Merger (David Simpson, senior product development manager, Corteva); Corn Ear Formation Issues (Jenny Rees); Soybean Response to 2,4-D or Dicamba (Stevan Knezevic); Weed Identification (Ethann Barnes and Parminder Chahal Agronomy research assistant and associate); Managing Waterhemp (Chris Proctor, weed science extension educator); Nozzles, Nozzles, Nozzles: Selection and How to Use (Bob Klein, Extension western Nebraska crops specialist). There is no cost to attend; register at https://agronomy.unl.edu/weedscienceschool. Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) Continuing Education Units will be available.
JenREES 12-29-19
Often the phrase “there’s always next year” is heard when hard times hit individuals. This speaks to the optimism many have! 2019 has been challenging for many, perhaps also cumulative from previous years. There’s no promise of life being easy on this earth; it’s broken as is everything in it. Challenges, adversity provide potential to build something rich and lasting-things like one’s faith, relationships, and character. As we enter this new year, may we seek to live life with purpose, focus on the important things, and dig deep/come alongside others in the midst of difficulty. Wishing everyone a blessed 2020!
Extension Survey: Being funded by tax payer dollars, Extension employees need to justify the work we do in reports. Whether you only interact with me by reading this column or have asked me horticulture or ag related questions, I’m asking for your feedback. Please go to: slido.com, join with code 4EXT and fill out a quick, anonymous, 7 question survey for me! Thank you!
Winter Programs: Those in agriculture in this part of the State should have received (or will soon receive) a mailing from your local Extension Office that shares our winter program brochure, a pesticide letter, and additional program flyers. Following is what’s happening the week of January 6th.
Landlord/Tenant Lease Workshops: These 3-hour workshops will cover: ag finance and the real estate market; current trends in ag finance across Nebraska; negotiation skills for effectively managing land leases; and more. No charge. Jan. 7, 1:30 p.m., Extension Office in Seward (402-643-2981); Jan. 8, 9 a.m., 4-H Building in York (402-362-5508); and Jan. 15, 1 p.m., Fairgrounds in Clay Center (402-762-3644).
York Ag Expo: Come out to the York Ag Expo at the Holthus Convention Center January 9th and 10th! The Expo features a number of vendors and free ag appreciation lunches both days catered by Kerry’s. On January 9th, I’m providing private pesticide applicator training at 9:30 a.m. and on January 10th, chemigation training is provided at 9:00 a.m. You can find more information at: https://yorkchamber.org/event/ag-expo/. RUP Dicamba training is not offered at the Expo. You can complete that at other face to face trainings or online at: https://pested.unl.edu/dicamba after Jan. 1.
Private Pesticide Training: Training dates/locations are available at: go.unl.edu/2020pat. Cost for face to face training is $40. Options for initial license include attending a face to face training or taking the online course (cost $75) at pested.unl.edu. Options for renewal include: attending a face to face training, taking the online course, or attending a Crop Production Clinic (Beatrice Jan. 10, York Jan. 14, cost $80) or the Nebraska Crop Management Conference in Kearney (Jan. 22-23) agronomy.unl.edu/cpc.
Chemigation Training: To apply chemicals/fertilizer through irrigation systems, chemigation certification is needed. View dates/locations for initial and recertification training at: go.unl.edu/2020chemigation. Those recertifying may also complete the training and test online without testing with Extension: https://water.unl.edu/article/agricultural-irrigation/chemigation. Wait till after Jan. 1, 2020.
Annie’s Inspired Workshops: These provide women involved with agriculture an opportunity to network and learn together while having fun! All workshops have a hands-on component and will be held from 6-8 p.m. beginning with a light meal. Cost is $5 per person per session. Join us for Beef 101 at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Osceola, Jan. 6th! Please RSVP: (402) 367-7410 or (402) 362-5508.
Good Farmer, Great Manager is taught by Tina Barrett, Executive Director of Nebraska Farm Business, Inc. The difference between a good farmer and a great manager often comes down to knowing the true financial position of a farm. This class will be held in York from 1-5 p.m. Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, from 8-Noon at the 4-H Bldg at Fairgrounds in York. The course fee is $50 per participant; limited to 25 people. Learn more and register at: https://wia.unl.edu/GFGM. Tina shares more at: https://youtu.be/LaVZRPzG1HM.
JenREES 12-22-19
Thanks to Randy Pryor, Extension Educator Emeritus, for reviewing this article. Also, appreciate the growers who shared data and Farm Service Agency (FSA) personnel from several counties who answered my questions. Here’s more farm bill information.
PLC Yield: A few weeks ago, I mentioned you can obtain a sheet from your local FSA Office which shows PLC yields and necessary yield in order to increase PLC yield. If you don’t have that sheet, you can use your 156EZ form. Take your PLC yield and divide by 0.81 to get the yield necessary to increase your PLC yield. For example, a PLC corn yield of 190/0.81= 234.57 bu/ac. Your 2013-2017 RMA actual yields would need to show you’ve achieved at least 234.57 bu/ac in order to increase your PLC yield.
Seed Corn Yields: For seed corn yields, if the farm has commercial corn in addition to seed corn in rotation, the commercial corn yield will be applied to the seed corn. If no commercial corn is grown in rotation on the farm, use the Plant Base Yield (PBY) not to exceed 120% of the county irrigated corn yield. For example, in 2013, York County Irrigated Corn Yield was 235.92 bu/ac. Multiply this by 120% = 283.10 bu/ac. Compare this to the PBY for the same year and use the lower of the two numbers.
Historical Irrigated Percentage (HIP) is taken into account for ARC-CO payments. For those of you who are using the Texas A&M decision tool, you will see a box to input HIP. As you look at your 156EZ form, you will see an area for HIP. Counties that had to split out irrigated vs. non-irrigated acres for certain crops in the 2014 Farm Bill will have a HIP listed. Counties that didn’t have to do this will not have one listed. For those with HIP listed, it may or may not be accurate depending on if you incorporated/lost irrigated ground in the past 5 years. For purposes of the Texas A&M tool, you can use your best estimate of irrigated vs. non-irrigated percentage.
ARC-CO Calculation: Regardless if you’d like to try the Texas A&M tool or not, you can also get an idea of the price in which ARC-CO would trigger a 2019 payment by doing a simple calculation. Take your county guaranteed revenue and divide that by the county benchmark yield. For example, for irrigated corn in York County, the 2019 Guaranteed Revenue is $731.07. The 2019 Benchmark Yield (which is an Olympic average yield from 2013-2017) for irrigated corn in York County is 229.75 bu/ac. Taking $731.07/229.75= $3.18. What this means is that based on these numbers, if the York County RMA Yield comes in at 229.75 bu/ac, which is a trend adjusted yield, a payment would not be triggered for ARC-CO for irrigated corn in York County until a $3.18 corn price is achieved. This is in comparison to PLC in which the trigger is $3.70 for the corn price. Many of the counties in which I’ve done this calculation for irrigated corn have around a $3.18 trigger price for ARC-CO currently. That alone tells you a lot regarding decision making. If the trendline yield remains close to current one, it leans towards enrolling in PLC for irrigated corn, but it is a two year decision. You can also try other figures (ex. trying 235 and 220 bu/ac) if you think the trendline yields may be higher or lower than the current estimate to see other potential ARC Co price triggers.
Randy Pryor shared a spreadsheet with me from USDA that had all the yearly yields, trend yields, and revenue guarantees for each county and each crop in Nebraska to date. I’ve placed tables with these numbers on my blog at jenreesources.com for the counties in which I helped growers for the 2014 Farm Bill. You can also ask your FSA Office if they can provide this information for you.
FSA Meetings: If you missed the Farm Bill meetings and would like to better understand the differences between the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, please contact your local FSA Office. Many of them are having small meetings certain days of the week but can’t share which way you should enroll.
Texas A&M Decision Aid: Randy Pryor and I are recommending that if you use a decision aid, that you use the Texas A&M one. For those of you I worked with during the 2014 farm bill, I have your username and password if you no longer do. You can also reset it by calling their help line. I’ve assembled screen shots at https://go.unl.edu/texasam that walk you step by step through inputting data into the tool. If you have questions, please let me know. Hoping this is helpful!
*End News Column. County tables below.
Additional Farm Bill Info:
JenREES 12-15-19
The past few weeks I’ve had several questions regarding cash rents/leases. My colleague Allan Vyhnalek wrote an article addressing several of these questions, so sharing some of his thoughts. You can read his full article here: https://go.unl.edu/qxt7.
“What should I rent my ground for? (How do I calculate a fair rental rate?): Land rent can be based on several things. Rental rates of the local area, percentage return on investment, survey data showing rental rates, percent of gross income, and many others. The recommendation is to calculate the estimated rental rate based on three or four of these calculations and then decide.
- The local rental rate might be obtained from an ag loan officer at your local bank, by ag real estate professionals, or from professional farm managers.
- To calculate a percent return on investment, multiply the value of the land by the percent return that you’d like to receive. Be sure to factor in expenses such as land taxes when making this calculation.
- Land Value Surveys:
UNL land value survey: https://agecon.unl.edu/realestate/2019-farm-real-estate-report
Nebraska Ag Statistics Service (NASS) survey: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Nebraska/Publications/County_Estimates/19NEcashrents.pdf - The percent of gross income is calculated by taking the average yield of the commodity grown multiplied by the expected price for that commodity which equals the gross income per acre. The landlord would typically receive about 30% of the gross income calculation; however, the number will change based on yield and price. The percentage should represent an average across 5 or more years.
The bottom line on rental rate is that it will be what the renter agrees to pay and the landlord agrees to accept. Pricing will also be based on supply and demand of farmland rental ground in the area. There is no right or wrong definitive rental price. The final rent is simply an agreement between parties involved. Typically this constitutes a fair and equitable trade price for the use of the ground.
Is a Crop Share Lease still a valid lease? Yes, it is still a fair lease. It is probably the fairest lease that you can have. In periods of commodity price stability, the cash lease gained popularity because the landlords didn’t like to pay for their part of the expenses and most didn’t care to have to market their share of the crop. A crop share lease indicates your willingness to share the risk of farming. Crop Share leases share the risk between landlord and tenant. Cash leases put all risk of production on the tenant solely.
What is the Most Common Share Lease Used? There is no share lease that is more or less correct or appropriate for one situation or another. The distribution of the share (50/50, 60/40. Etc.) depends largely on the agreement between the land owner and the tenant. In some cases, the agreed to distribution in the lease, is 60% tenant and 40% landowner; in other cases the distribution depends on the final inputs, for example, the tenant would pay all seed and chemical, and landowner paying all land and drying. Your final distribution will depend on your expectations and the agreement with the tenant.”
Farm Real Estate Resources: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/economics/realestate
Fillable Lease Templates: https://aglease101.org/DocLib/default.aspx
Flexible Cash Lease Calculator: https://farm.unl.edu/cash-rent-flex-calc
Landlord/Tenant Cash Rent Workshops: These three-hour workshops will cover: agricultural finance and the real estate market; current trends in ag finance across Nebraska; negotiation skills for effectively managing land leases; current considerations on lease provisions; and strategic farmland succession and communications. There is no charge and please RSVP to the Extension Office in the county you wish to participate. Closest locations to this area will be: Jan. 7, 1:30 p.m., Extension Office in Seward; Jan. 8, 9 a.m., 4-H Building in York; and Jan. 15, 1 p.m., Fairgrounds in Clay Center.
JenResources 