Thank you to all who helped make the 2025 York County Fair a success! I didn’t get out to the fields this past week so sharing reminders on some upcoming field days.

Aug. 5 Grazing Cover Crops Field Day of area farmer Alex Daake will be held from 4-6 p.m. at 4136 Superior Rd. near Utica, NE. Alex split a pivot into 4 quarters where he rotates corn, soybeans, rye for seed, and grazed cover crops. The focus will be primarily on what he’s doing for grazing covers and the economics of this system where pasture is limited for cattle production. Alex also has an on-farm research nitrogen study on the corn portion of this pivot where he’s looking at reducing nitrogen inputs due to the grazed cover crops. He’s monitoring the nitrogen strips with Sentinel Fertigation. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to RSVP to jrees2@unl.edu. Walk-ins are also welcome and cookies/water will be provided by Nebraska On-Farm Research.

Aug. 7 South Central Ag Lab Field Day will be held 8:45 a.m.-3:10 p.m. (Registration at 8:30 a.m.) Attendees can tailor their schedule by selecting from various presentations and interactive demonstrations (Irrigation, Diseases, Insects, Weeds (including robotic weeders), Nutrients). There is no charge and CCA credits will be provided. Please RSVP at: go.unl.edu/scalfieldday.

Dan Snow is the keynote speaker and will discuss nitrate challenges in groundwater. This talk will cover findings from a study with the Upper Big Blue NRD and UNL focusing on nitrate and agrichemical levels in the vadose zone across 12 water quality management zones. Lunch talks also feature a farmer panel discussion, providing an opportunity for attendees to engage and interact at the local level.

The SCAL Research Farm is located at 851 Hwy. 6 near Harvard, NE. Directions: 13 miles east of Hastings on Hwy. 6 or 4.5 miles west of the intersection of Hwy. 14 and Hwy. 6 north of Clay Center. Field day GPS coordinates: 40.575256, -98.137824.  More info please call (402)762-3536.

Soybean Management Field Days will be held Aug. 12-15. Topics will vary by location and the first three days are twilight tours from 6-8 p.m. There is no charge but registration is requested two days in advance at: https://enreec.unl.edu/soydays/.

• Tuesday, Aug. 12 – Ravenna, NE. Lonnie and Scott Bohn farm 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. – Registration)
• Wednesday, Aug. 13 – Concord, NE. UNL Haskell Ag Lab 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. – Registration)
• Thursday, August 14 – Weeping Water, NE, Rick Meyer farm 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. – Registration)
• Friday, August 15 – Mead, NE, UNL Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension & Education Center – (10:00 a.m. – Registration)

Aug. 25 Regenerative Ag Field Day will feature area farmer Jordan Uldrich. The field day will be from 10 a.m.-Noon, ½ mile east of 1606 County Road J, Geneva, NE. Lunch will be provided following the field day. Jordan has interseeded cover crops into his corn to aid with soil health and weed management. He will also discuss the economics of alternative farming practices. For more information, please call Andrew at 402-590-7096.