UNL Extension Webster County
July 2022 Newsletter
Happy July!
Sincerely,
UNL Extension in Webster County Calendar of Events
BEEF
BeefWatch Newsletter
Check out the July release of the BeefWatch newsletter by clicking the button below!
Nebraska Grazing Conference
The 2022 Nebraska Grazing Conference will be held August 9 and 10 at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney, NE with a program bridging grazing lands conservation and management.
Check out more information by clicking the button below.
*Photo-Troy Waltz
Crops & Water Systems
Soybean Management Field Day
A Soybean Management Field Day will be held at the Gerald Toepfer Farm, SE of Blue Hill, on August 9th. Soybean production topics including pest, irrigation and fertility management will be highlighted. A discussion of the use of an Agricultural Budget Calculator will also be featured. Please watch for further information.
Grass, Weed, and Insect ID Contest
Learning to identify grasses, weeds and insects can be helpful for anyone who is interested in farming, pasture management or biology. Grass and Weed identification practice sessions will be held at Ochsner’s Farm NE of Roseland on July 26th, 28th and August 9that 6:30 pm. The sessions include walking through edges of crop fields and pastures looking for and learning how to remember specific plants. A contest will be held on August 9th. Insect specimens will be reviewed at the Adams County Extension office on August 2nd and 3rd at 6:30 pm. A contest will be held on August 4th. Please contact the Adams County Extension office for more information.
Community Environment/Horticulture
Japanese Beetles
They’re baaaaccck!! That’s right, the Japanese beetles are back. What exactly is a Japanese beetle and why should we be concerned? Knowing a little bit about these tiny terrors will help keep your landscape from becoming their next meal.
This beetle is related to other common pests we see. The Japanese beetle is related to the May/June beetle & masked chafer. All have the immature form of a grub that can cause damage to turf and to the roots of landscape plants. The adult form of this insect is a little prettier than its cousins. While the May/June beetle and masked chafer are both brown, the Japanese beetle is a colorful combination of iridescent green head and thorax and coppery colored wings. Japanese beetles, as their name implies, are not from Nebraska. They are native to Japan and were stowaways in a shipment that made its way to North America. With no natural enemies, diseases, or competition, the Japanese beetle was able to establish itself in the states.
The Japanese beetle is more than just a pretty face, he has a dark side. Unlike his cousins, who only the grub form causes damage, the Japanese beetle adults can also cause damage. As an adult, it feeds on over 300 different kinds of plants including roses, linden trees, soybeans, grapes, and more. The adult has sharp chewing mouthparts and it uses them to eat leaves, flowers, and fruit. Leaf tissues will be skeletonized, only the vascular portions of the leaf are left behind in a doily-like pattern. Flowers will appear finely shredded as if blasted with sand and fruits will be chewed into and hollowed out. As immature grubs these insects are turf pests, causing damage in lawns as well as sports fields and golf courses. They feed on turf roots and make turf brown and roll up like a carpet.
The adult Japanese beetles are fairly predictable. They emerge and begin to feed on plants in June and July. During daylight hours, adults often feed in clusters on host plants. The adult activity is most intense for about a 4-6 week period. During this time the adult females are laying eggs in the soil that will turn into turf damaging grubs. The grubs are actively feeding during the summer months and usually reach full size by August or September. They overwinter as grubs and will feed again in the spring before they emerge as adults to start the cycle over again.
Control for these little buggers can be tricky. If you only have a few, you can pluck the beetles from plants and put them in soapy water to kill them or place a fine mesh net over plants like roses. Two organic sprays, Neem and Pyola, can protect plants but usually not beyond 3-7 days. Chemically, adults can be controlled with pyrethroid products like Tempo and Bayer Advanced Lawn & Garden Multi-Insect Killer (cyfluthrin) or Ortho Bug B Gone (bifenthrin). Sevin (carbaryl) is another option. These all provide about 2 weeks of protection for foliage and flowers after a thorough treatment. Since some of these insecticides can also affect pollinators try to spray only in the evening and after beetles are gone from flowers. Be sure to follow label instructions explicitly to avoid harming pollinators. Pass on the Japanese beetle traps that are found at the big box stores. They do an excellent job trapping the beetles you may have, but they also attract beetles from all over the neighborhood. When the grubs become a problem, insecticides, applied at the right time of year, can be very helpful in controlling them. GrubEx (chlorantraniliprole) applied in mid-June to mid-July can eliminate populations of young white grubs.
With a little scouting now, you can be ready for the Japanese beetle invasion. Keep your eyes peeled and your roses covered and everything will pass with time.
Elizabeth Exstrom is the Horticulture Extension Educator with Nebraska Extension in Hall County. For more information contact Elizabeth at elizabeth.exstrom@unl.edu, her blog at http://huskerhort.com/Nutsedge
Ahhh… summer. The start of summer is more than just about barbeque and popsicles, its also an important date to keep in mind if you are controlling yellow nutsedge.
Yellow nutsedge is a grass-like weed that is common in turf. It gets its name from the yellowish-green color of its foliage. Yellow nutsedge is a perennial weed that has a triangular stem and its flowers are little spikelet. The leaf blades always seem to grow faster than the surrounding grass, sticking up above the turf only a day or two after mowing. The root system is shallow and fibrous, often producing small nut-like tubers that serve as food storage organs. These small tubers will sprout and form new plants. The plants also spread by rhizomes, or root-like underground stems, which enables it to move rapidly throughout a lawn or landscape.
Controlling yellow nutsedge can be difficult. Regardless of the method, it is most effective if you try to control this weed before June 21 (the official start of summer). After June 21, or the longest day of the year, nutsedge tubers are now mature and will sprout and result in new plants and adding to your nutsedge problem.
There are several control measures to consider. Pulling the weed is effective, but you have to remain vigilant remove plants regularly. In areas of heavy yellow nutsedge infestation, chemical control may be needed. Common grass and broadleaf herbicides will not control yellow nutsedge. Specialized herbicides for controlling sedges must be used. There are a couple herbicide currently available for yellow nutsedge control including products that contain halosulfuron, like Sedgehammer, and sulfentrazone, like Sedge Ender. Two or more application of herbicide will normally be needed to provide control.
Nutsedge located in a flowerbed might need a different approach. Not all products can be safely used around flowers, so read the label on the sedge specific products. Another option in a flower bed or among other ornamentals is to spot treat with a glyphosate-containing product like Roundup. Carefully spray or use a paint brush to dab glyphosate on the nutsedge without getting it on your ornamentals will provide control.
When using any herbicide, carefully read and follow the label directions. When applying herbicides, avoid mowing about three days before treatment to be sure there is plenty of leaf surface area to adsorb the herbicide. Also, to ensure adequate herbicide absorption, do not water the lawn for at least 24 hours after you apply the herbicide.
Applications should be initiated as soon as you spot young, actively growing nutsedge plants. This is when it is most sensitive to herbicidal control and before nutlets have formed on the roots of new plants. Once this weed matures or nutlets have formed, control is more difficult regardless of the treatment schedule.
With a little work now you can control the yellow nutsedge and still have enough time to enjoy that popsicle.
Elizabeth Exstrom is the Horticulture Extension Educator with Nebraska Extension in Hall County. For more information contact Elizabeth at elizabeth.exstrom@unl.edu, her blog at http://huskerhort.com/, or HuskerHort on Facebook and Twitter.
Rural Prosperity
A Message from Jason
I recently traveled to Bozeman, MT to learn about a couple of Extension programs. In this column, I’ll share about one of those programs, Marketing Hometown America (MHA). Marketing Hometown America is a program that was developed through Nebraska Extension in partnership with several other state Extension Programs. Our training in Montana included trainers from Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa. Others taking the training were from Michigan, and Montana. The MHA program has just recently been updated, in fact, the guides that we were given in the training had just been printed the week before and are still in a draft format.
The MHA program is an 8-step process that is community led. Step one is to have the MHA coaches meet with the sponsoring organization. Step two is to recruit local conversation hosts. Step three is for the MHA coaches to train the conversation hosts. Step 4 is the public launch of the MHA program to get people to sign up for future community conversations. Step five is the community conversations led by the local conversation hosts. After those four sessions of community conversations, step six brings the MHA coaches back to the community to help the steering committee and conversations hosts to prepare for the Action Forum. Step seven is the Action Forum where the entire community is invited to hear the community conversation group recommendations. Step 8 is where the action starts and the community takes over, MHA coaches assist the Steering Committee to help each action team to move forward and begin to implement the ideas that were brought forward during the community conversations.
Marketing Hometown America helps rural communities who want to double down on their efforts to recruit and retain new community members. MHA is a spin on the traditional four P’s of marketing, which area Promotion, Place, Product, and Price. For MHA, the four P’s are People, Product (your community), Promotion and Position, and Perform. People are covered during the first and second community conversations, Product is covered during the second and third community conversation, Position and Promotion are covered in the third and fourth conversation. Perform is covered after the Action Forum. Each community conversation is already mapped out for the conversation host, and all participants have a guidebook that tells them the questions to be asked and the conversation flow. It makes it very easy for anyone to be a conversation host.
All of these conversations lead to idea generation and as we bring the conversation groups back together, the community is able to reach a consensus on where they would like to spend their time and resources as they split into action teams. Then while the community is working on implementation, the MHA coaches will come on a regular basis to bring the community back together to report on the progress. As communities work towards implementation it is amazing to see what they have accomplished by working together, and how they have gone on to make large changes in their community after the MHA program is finished. Small positive steps in a community can energize your community and bring them together to make a large impact now and in the future.
If your community could benefit from any of the Rural Prosperity Nebraska ideas that I’ve discussed in this column, please reach out to me. I’d love to speak to your community about these topics. You can reach me at jason.tuller@unl.edu or at the Thayer County office at 402-768-7212.
Jason Tuller is an Extension Educator for the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He works in the Rural Prosperity Nebraska program and covers ten-county area including Kearney, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Saline, Franklin, Webster, Nuckolls, Thayer, and Jefferson Counties.
Food, Nutrition and Health
Grilling Out
Safe Meat Handling
Cantaloupe
The Learning Child
Blocks
Pool Noodle Airplane
Music
My Family
4-H
Webster County 4-H Newsletter
Other
Regional Experts
Megan Burda
Engagement Zone 10 Coordinator
Megan is a Nebraska Extension Educator with a passion for fashion! She holds a Master of Arts degree in Textile and Apparel Design from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a specialization in entrepreneurship. Megan serves as an Engagement Zone Coordinator in Zone 10 with a focus on staff development, stakeholder connections, and UNL engagement. She is a maker, entrepreneur, Husker sports fan and baking enthusiast.
Photo and Bio from UNL Extension
Email: megan.burda@unl.edu
Phone: 402.759.3712
Lynn DeVries
Early Childhood Extension Educator
Lynn is an Extension Educator on The Learning Child Team, University of Nebraska Extension in South Central Nebraska. Lynn has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Nebraska Kearney in Vocational Family and Consumer Science Education, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University Nebraska. Lynn works with families, child care providers, teen parents and schools to promote developmentally appropriate practices and enhance parent involvement throughout the child’s education. Lynn has 11 years of experience teaching Family and Consumer Science in the public schools, and 10 years of experience coordinating programming and curriculum with the Head Start programs.
Email: lynn.devries@unl.edu
Website: https://child.unl.edu/
Location: 2975 South Baltimore Avenue, Hastings, NE, USA
Phone: 402.461.7209
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLExtensionthelearningchild/
Elizabeth Exstrom
Horticulture Extension Educator
I am Community Environment Extension Educator with a horticulture focus who works in the Nebraska Extension office in Hall County. I provide horticulture related programs for youth and adults, act as the Central Nebraska Master Gardener Coordinator, and answer horticulture-based related client questions. I am a Nebraska Arborist Association Certified Arborist and a member of the International Society of Arboriculture and Nebraska Nursery and Landscape Association. You might recognize me because I am regular panel member on NET's Backyard Farmer program and even filled in as host a few times. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Horticulture with a landscape design emphasis and my Master’s Degree in Public Horticulture from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.
Photo and Bio from UNL ExtensionEmail: elizabeth.exstrom@unl.edu
Website: https://huskerhort.com/
Location: College Park, U.S. 34, Grand Island, NE, USA
Phone: 308.385.5088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.m.killinger/
Ron Seymour
Crops & Water Systems Educator
Ron Seymour is a cropping systems Extension Educator with emphasis on corn and soybean production. Ron also works extensively in crop pest management with specific expertise in insect issues. Ron has an interest in developing areas that border field crops as habitat that promote populations of beneficial arthropods.
Email: rseymour1@unl.edu
Location: 2975 South Baltimore Avenue, Hastings, NE, USA
Phone: 402.461.7209
Jason Tuller
Rural Prosperity Nebraska Extension Educator
Jason has been working in the economic development field in rural Nebraska for more than a decade. He has worked as a small business consultant and as a rural economic developer. His goal now is to help grow stronger communities in Southeast Nebraska and throughout the stat
Photo and Bio from UNL ExtensionEmail: jtuller2@unl.edu
Website: https://ruralprosperityne.unl.edu/
Location: 825 South Main Street, Nelson, NE, USA
Phone: 402.768.7212
Cami Wells
Food, Nutrition, and Health Extension Educator
I am a Nutrition, Food and Health Educator and Registered Dietitian located in Hall County. Part of my time is allocated to the Nutrition Education Program (NEP) that provides nutrition education to limited-resource families in central Nebraska. I teach a variety of food safety and nutrition programs to adults and youth as well as serve on the media/marketing team that develops content for our food.unl.edu website. I graduated from University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science and Dietetics and earned a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Health Sciences from Northern Illinois University.
Email: cami.wells@unl.edu
Location: College Park At Grand Island, West U.S. Hwy 34, Grand Island, NE, USA
Phone: 308.385.5088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLExtensionFoodAndFitness
Meet Our Team in Webster County
Dr. Lindsay Waechter-Mead
Beef Systems Educator, DVM
Lindsay Waechter-Mead is the new Beef Systems Educator in Webster County and serves surrounding counties in this region. She is excited to bring her interests surrounding cow/calf health and preventative medicine to the Beef Team. Her current work involves looking at environmental effects on neonatal calf immunity and colostral transfer. She is also passionate about rural agriculture and what the veterinary profession can do to positively influence rural communities to ensure that generations can continue to enjoy the life that she loves.
Email: lindsay.waechter-mead@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 402-746.3417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCBeefExtensionUNL
Beth Janning
4-H Youth Development Extension Educator in Adams/Webster Counties
Beth Janning is a 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator. She provides programming in school enrichment, after-school, and traditional 4-H Programs. Her topic areas include but not limited to animal science, science, engineering and volunteer development.
Email: elizabeth.janning@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 402.746.3417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE
Alexa Pedersen
Office Manager
Email: alexa.pedersen@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 402.746.3417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE
Katie Bolte
4-H Programming Assistant
Email: katie.bolte@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 402.746.3417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE
Cody Buescher
4-H Intern
Email: cbuescher2@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 402.746.3417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE