UNL Extension - Webster County
September 2021 Edition
Nebraska Extension in Webster County Newsletter
Happy September!
Welcome to the Webster County Extension Newsletter! This newsletter contains information regarding upcoming programming in all areas of Nebraska Extension. This will be separate from the Webster County 4-H Newsletter to provide information to clientele interested in extension programming outside of 4-H. We hope this is convenient way to keep everyone in the loop on upcoming opportunities in Nebraska Extension. We hope you enjoy this newsletter!
Have a great soybean harvest and silage cutting!
Sincerely,
Beef
Webster County Extension is Hiring!
Taile Gate Talks - Fall Calving Heat Stress
Beef and Brad Newsletter
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Crop & Water Systems
Biography: David Wedin has been a faculty member in UNL’s School of Natural Resources and a cooperating faculty with the Center for Grassland Studies since 1998. With roots in Iowa and Minnesota, he has worked with grassland conservation and management since his time at St. Olaf College in the 1970’s. In addition to teaching a capstone course for the CGS Grassland Systems undergraduate major, Dave oversees research, teaching, and management at UNL’s Nine-Mile Prairie and Dalbey Prairie.
Presentation: We live in a period of unprecedented environmental change. Whether your goal is preserving and restoring remnants of our prairie heritage, or managing grassland sustainably for the services they provide, changing climate and altered carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles will present new opportunities and challenges to Nebraska’s grasslands in the 21st Century. This presentation looks at the opportunities and challenges, and sets the stage for those larger discussions.
Podcast Interview: To listen to an interview with Dr. Wedin related to his presentation, go to https://grassland.unl.edu/cgs-podcast-nebraskas-grasslands-and-global-change-dave-wedin
Fall Seminar Series: Seminars will take place on Mondays during the fall semester from 3:00 to 4:00pm CT in 150 Keim Hall and will be streamed live to the public via Zoom. Seminar lectures are also recorded and available for viewing for those who were unable to attend a particular session. Visit the webpage below to watch past lectures (lectures will be uploaded within two days of the original presentation) and to listen to a CGS Podcast episode featuring each speaker. Students may register to take the series for academic credit. For more information on this option, please contact the Center for Grassland Studies at 402-472-4101.
To learn more about the Center for Grassland Studies’ Fall Seminar Series or how you participate in-person or livestream, go to https://grassland.unl.edu/grassland-systems/fall-seminars-leu-lectures
Horticulture
Fall Fruit
You know the saying; the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Even though apple and other fall fruit harvest is nearing its end, that doesn’t mean that the work is over. Fall sanitation is just one key part of fruit management. A little extra work now could ensure a successful growing season next year.
Make sure your fruit trees are ready for the winter to come. Start by making sure that your tree goes into winter with an adequate amount of moisture. The recommendation for trees is to have about 1 inch of supplemental water per week. This is about enough water to get the top 8 inches of the soil moist. Fruit trees do not require much fertilization, especially in the fall. In the fall we want trees to go dormant, not produce more growth, which is why we avoid fertilizing trees in the fall.
Fruit trees can benefit from good fall sanitation. Healthy fallen fruits or leaves can be collected and placed in the compost pile. Removal of rotting dropped fruit as well as diseased fruit and leaves will help decrease the potential for pathogens to infect next year’s crop. Fruit mummies, dried fruits that remained on the branch, and diseased fruits and leaves should be picked up and thrown away, not put into the compost pile or worked into the soil. Branches that were infected with fire blight and other bacterial or fungal cankers should be removed and disposed of as well. Write down the diseases you had this season so you can plan preventative actions for next growing season.
Protect your fruit trees now for pesky critters. Mow the grass under the tree and as close to the trunk as you can get without causing damage. This will remove good overwintering sites for rodents. Also, be on the lookout for rodent paths or holes where they burrow. Before the ground freezes, consider protecting the tree’s trunk as well. A well-constructed rabbit fence will help to protect smaller trees from becoming a bunny’s next meal. Be sure that the fence is not only 15-18 inches tall, but it also should be buried in the ground 6 inches to keep the rascals from trying to dig under.
Strawberries could also benefit from a little care before winter. Thinning plants, providing adequate moisture throughout the fall, and mulching in late fall are all important fall care practices. Thin strawberry plants in mid-October and aim for a spacing of five to seven plants per square foot to help allow optimum fruit production the following year. Remove small and weak plants as well as any new runners or daughter plants that have not rooted down yet.
Mulching strawberry plants is another good practice to use. Winter mulch will help prevent or reduce winter damage to the crowns and flower buds of the plants. Wait to mulch strawberries until late November or early December, after the soil has frozen at a depth of 1/2 inch or the air temperatures have dropped into the 20’s. Mulch applied too early in the fall can delay hardening off, which can lead to the plants being more susceptible to winter injury and possibly crown rot. Mulches that work well for strawberries can include wood chips, pine straw, newspapers, coarse sawdust, clean straw or hay, or any loose mulch that will not compact heavily. Leave the mulch on the plants until the new growth begins, usually in mid-April.
There are a few steps you can take to decrease the spread of pathogens. Machinery and tools should be disinfected on a regular basis and when they come into contact with infected plant material. Steam, hot water under pressure, or a 10 percent bleach solution can be used to disinfect. Before and after pruning out diseased branches, disinfect pruners and loppers to keep from spreading diseases.
With a little work now, you can ensure that your fruit trees will be the apple of your eye come next growing season.
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.
Food, Nutrition, and Health
Eating outdoors is great—but don’t cross contaminate. Keep the foods you are going to cook separate from ready to eat foods. Find other food safety tips at: https://go.unl.edu/safe-grilling #UNLFoodSafety
The Learning Child
Wishing all a safe, happy, and healthy back to school time.
Photo from Sesame Street
Brenda Saxe will be present hands-on sessions covering the following three topics:
It's Messy and They Are Learning!
Let’s Try This! Science and Young Children
Read It Again (and again … and again …): Choosing Books for Children
To learn more and to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/.../elc-albion-early-childhood...
4-H
Webster County 4-H Newsletter
The Webster County Extension Office & courthouse will be closed Monday, September 6th in observance of Labor Day.
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
Location: 1340 G Street, Geneva, NE, USA
Phone: 4027593712
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.
Photo and Bio from UNL Extension
Email: ldevries6@unl.edu
Website: https://child.unl.edu/
Location: 2975 South Baltimore Avenue, Hastings, NE, USA
Phone: 4024617209
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLExtensionthelearningchild/
Elizabeth Exstrom
Horticulture Extension Educator
*Currently Out on Maternity Leave
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 Extension
Email: elizabeth.exstrom@unl.edu
Website: https://huskerhort.com/
Location: 3180 U.S. 34, Grand Island, NE 68801, USA
Phone: 308-385-5088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.m.killinger/
Ron Seymour
Crops & Water Systems Extension 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.
Photo and Bio from UNL Extension
Email: rseymour1@unl.edu
Location: 2975 South Baltimore Avenue, Hastings, NE, USA
Phone: 4024617209
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 Extension
Email: jtuller2@unl.edu
Location: 225 North 4th Street, Hebron, NE, USA
Phone: 4027687212
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.
Photo and Bio from UNL Extension
Email: cwells2@unl.edu
Location: U.S. 34, Grand Island, NE 68801, USA
Phone: 3083855088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLExtensionFoodAndFitness
Meet Our Team in Webster County!
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.
Photo and Bio from UNL Extension
Email: elizabeth.janning@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 4027463417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE
Alexa Pedersen
Email: alexa.pedersen@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 4027463417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE
Katie Bolte
Email: katie.bolte@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/webster/
Location: 621 North Cedar Street, Red Cloud, NE, USA
Phone: 4027463417
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebsterCoExtNE