Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Cold stress increases a cow’s energy requirement and can pull down her body condition. Thin cows can result in weak calves being born in the spring and/or poor breed up. Winter storms have already swept across the Plains, giving indications this could be a long, cold winter for cows already thin due to summer drought stress.

The threshold at which cattle have to start using energy to maintain their body temperature is called the lower critical temperature (LCT). Cows in good condition (BCS 5.0; 1-9 scale) that have a heavy winter coat that is dry do not need to use energy to maintain body temperature until the wind chill index is below 19°F. Providing wind protection can decrease energy needs by removing wind as a factor. If cows have protection from wind, then the ambient temperature can be used to determine energy needs. So, providing wind protection in the winter can be huge for reducing supplementation needs due to cold in the winter.

To figure out how much more energy a cow needs, you would take the cow’s LCT minus the wind chill index (if no windbreak is provided) or ambient temperature (if wind break is provided) and that would tell you the percent increase in energy requirement. There is a 1% increase in energy needs for every 1° below the LCT. For instance, if ambient temperature is 21°F and wind speed is 10, the wind chill index (WCI) is 11°F. For a BCS 5 cow with a dry winter coat with a LCT of 19°F, then 19 LCT- 11 WCI = 8% increase in energy needs. You can look up the energy needs of various classes of cattle here. A 1200 lb dry cow in late gestation has an energy requirement of 13 lb total digestible nutrients (TDN) and the cold described above increased this need by an additional 8% which is equal to 1 lb of TDN for a total of 14 lb/d.

Article by:

Mary Drewnoski, Nebraska Extension Beef Systems Specialist

Karla H. Wilke, UNL Cow/Calf Systems and Stocker Management

Photo:Troy Waltz

Want to read more of this article? Check it out here: https://beef.unl.edu/beefwatch/2022/helping-cows-cope-cold-stress?fbclid=IwAR3xnqK80TMNx_BCtwr8UfUo6nOWShG6ZyE3NiPYWsPF5WdDx_be44eyJXQ

Do you enjoy plants and gardening? Are you looking to learn more and hone your skills but don’t know where to go? The Extension Master Gardener program will educate you on many aspects of horticulture, allow you to test your knowledge and skills, all while serving your local community.

The Nebraska Extension Master Gardener program is a horticulture related volunteer training program based in many counties throughout the state. It has been part of Nebraska Extension since 1976. Master Gardener volunteers are trained by Nebraska Extension faculty and staff. In return, they contribute time as volunteers working with their local Extension offices and communities to provide horticulture-related information and volunteer service. Participants are required to complete 40 hours of training and 40 hours of volunteer service during the initial year of their involvement in the program. Master Gardener volunteers retain their certification through annual training and volunteering.

Educational topics cover a wide range of horticultural issues. Topics that have been covered in previous training sessions include: native plants for water conservation, an in-depth look at fertilizers, turfgrass and related insects, beneficial pollinating insects and vegetable garden pests, tree and shrub pruning, pesticide safety and non-chemical pest control techniques, soils, and small fruits and tree fruit basics. The content of the topics is geared towards the home gardener, but those employed in the green industry are also welcome. No prior horticulture knowledge or training required.

Volunteer hours can be completed through various activities. These activities could include: planting and maintaining demonstration gardens, collecting data on research projects, helping with county and state fair activities, speaking to community groups, leading garden tours, collecting plant samples, answering phone questions, teaching youth programs, or whatever sparks your interest and utilizes your talents.

The Central Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Program is active in many communities across the region. If you are interested in becoming an Extension Master Gardener contact Elizabeth Exstrom at the Nebraska Extension in Hall County Office, 308-385-5088, prior to January 10th, 2023. The Central Nebraska Master Gardener Program will be offering classes in several different ways, in- person at the Hall County Extension office located in Grand Island, over zoom in the evenings, and through an online platform.

More information, updated schedules, an application, and a brochure can be found at http://hall.unl.edu. If you have questions about the program, contact Elizabeth Exstrom at eexstrom2@unl.edu or 308-385-5088.

I’ve written and read many year in review columns in my career. It’s the end of the year so it is time for another one. This column started out in just a couple of papers at the first of the year and now it is in several more, so you might not have seen every column this year.

Purposely, this column touches a lot of different areas in community development, so the topics have been wide ranging. Rural Prosperity Nebraska categorizes community development into 6 focus areas. Regional Food Systems, Placemaking, Leadership, People Attraction, Community Engagement, and Community Economic Development. So, in my columns I try to hit on each of those areas. The only one I haven’t hit on this year is Regional Food Systems.

Placemaking columns touched on housing and community cleanup. Housing is a continuing issue in rural Nebraska. Many houses have fallen into disrepair and the size of households in Nebraska is dropping from over 3 per house several decades ago to just over 2, now. That means we need more houses to hold the same number of people. Although it is now cold outside it is a good time for communities to clean up, especially if there are areas of your community with a lot of brush. I was on a walk the other day and noticed that since the leaves have fallen, you can see deeper into brushy areas, so trash is easier to see and easier to get to.

Leadership was covered a couple of times in this space. One column was devoted to building local leaders. Other columns didn’t necessarily talk about leadership, but they gave leadership ideas or actions. The column about broadband and broadband action teams provided information for local leaders to access funds for increasing broadband capabilities…this funding is still ongoing, and it isn’t too late to start working on it.

People attraction was featured in my first column this year and was talked about in several columns. The First Impressions Online (formerly called Web First Impressions) program is 90% done and can be rolled out to communities any time. The 10% left should be finished by the time this column goes to press. This program should help communities to see what tourists and newcomers see when they search that community on the internet. That helps make an impression before people visit your community, but programs like Red Carpet Service and Marketing Hometown America help to make the best impression on people when they visit your community.

Community engagement was heavily covered in these columns, especially the last few months. Community engagement is some of the most important work that RPN and Extension can do, but it is difficult to find the time. We need to be building relationships with our communities and learning what their issues are and help them to solve those issues. It is difficult to help solve problems if we aren’t out there listening to what those problems are.

Community Economic Development has made its way into several columns as well. Our annual Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities Conference (CEC) helps communities learn from and interact together. Going back to my last column of 2021, I wrote about the importance of business transition to a community.

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.

A gentleman had been traveling during a time when the electricity was off for several days in many homes in his community. When he returned home, his electricity was working and everything in his freezer was frozen solid.

He proceeded to eat some food from the freezer and got sick. What happened?

In this case, his electricity had been off for about a week, and then came back on. Everything in his freezer had thawed and been at unsafe temperatures for several days. As the food froze again when the electricity returned, he was unaware there were any food safety problems.

Here's a simple way to help detect this problem. Store an ice cube or two in a sealed plastic bag or small container in the freezer; a sealed bag/container is important so the ice cube doesn't evaporate and disappear. If the ice cube has melted down from its original shape, you'll know the power was off for an extended period of time.

Want more of this article? Check it out here: https://food.unl.edu/article/how-tell-if-your-freezer-power-was-when-you-were-away?fbclid=IwAR0RpjiaNH6OH8BcWZflMC7gIChj4y9GZ9kH-ZdALiS6nw3H-CvXRG4Pcx4

Article by:

Originally written by Alice Henneman. Reviewed and updated by Cindy Brison in 2020.