UNL Extension Webster County
August 2022 Edition
Happy August!
Sincerely,
Beef
Early Pregnancy Diagnosis
Nebraska Extension Beef Educator
The long, hot days of summer are a stark contrast from the cold nights of calving season. However, now is the time to start preparing for the arrival of the 2023 calf crop. August is a prime month for ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis of your cow herd.
Operations that utilize reproductive technologies, such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer, have the advantage of knowing breeding dates. This information can be used to schedule early pregnancy diagnosis with your veterinarian. The following example follows dates for artificially inseminated heifers exposed to a clean-up bull for 60 days.
Heifers AI date: May 15
Bull exposure: May 20 – July 15
Ultrasound date: August 15
Calving dates: February 21 – April 23
Ultrasound can be used to detect pregnancy after 30 days gestation. During the ultrasound, heifers can be identified according to which cycle they were bred. AI bred heifers will be approximately 90 days gestation whereas bull bred heifers will be between 30-65 days gestation. Separating the cow herd by calving dates allows producers to create feeding groups with similar nutritional requirements. It also decreases calf health risks by segregating calves by age. This technique, known as the Sandhills Calving Method, decreases the pathogen load exposure on newborn calves. If retention is not the plan, bred heifers’ marketability increases with a known calving date and potential fetal sexing.
Another benefit of early pregnancy diagnosis is identification of open heifers. Open animals can be moved from valuable feed sources and sold in a historically higher August-September cull market.
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.
Follow this link to register: https://grassland.unl.edu/nebraska-grazing-conference...
What to Expect from Alternitaves to Corn Silage
Drought has limited pasture availability and forced many producers into feeding total mixed rations (TMR) to cows. Including silage in a TMR can reduce ration cost, improve the energy content of the diet, and add moisture, which can serve as a ration conditioner. However, high commodity prices have encouraged many grain farmers to plant corn for grain rather than silage. Silage can also be made from small grains such as rye, wheat, oats, triticale, or barley, or from summer annual forages such as forage sorghum, sorghum-sudan or pearl millet. While these silages can usually be produced cheaper than corn silage and can certainly improve diet quality when included in poor quality hay based rations, producers should be aware that all silages are not the same quality.
The quality of all silages, including corn silage, is largely impacted by plant maturity, dry matter content of the forage at harvest, and the amount of oxygen removed through packing and covering. Therefore, regardless of the type of silage fed, samples should be sent to a commercial laboratory for nutrient content analysis. However, there are some generalizations that producers should be aware of when comparing types of silage.
Read more of this article below!
Article Credit:
Karla H. Wilke, UNL Cow/Calf Systems and Stocker Management
Mary Drewnoski, Nebraska Extension Beef Systems Specialist
Photo Credit: Brad Schick
Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory Open House
The 23rd annual University of Nebraska–Lincoln Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory (GSL) Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. This year’s Open House will be a hybrid format with our traditional in-person event held at GSL along with being live streamed online webinar.
The morning session starts off with Dr. Elliot Dennis, UNL Livestock Extension Marketing Specialist, with an update of current livestock markets. Don Day, climatologist, will discuss long-range weather forecast. Dr. Dirac Twidwell, UNL Associate Professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, will discuss Eastern redcedar invasion and opportunities to control the invasion. Dr. Laura Goodman, Oklahoma State University Range Extension Specialist, will follow up with discussing post-fire (prescribed and wildland fire) grazing and forage management. To wrap up the morning session, Dr. Galen Erickson, UNL Beef Feedlot Extension Specialist, discuss livestock production’s environmental footprint and on-going research at UNL focused on carbon balance in beef production systems.
In the afternoon, Dr. Jim MacDonald, UNL Ruminant Nutritionist and Beef Systems Professor, will discuss UNL’s yearling production systems research and will moderate a Q/A panel with local producers on their yearling systems. In addition, the afternoon session will be wrapped up by range and beef research updates provided by research faculty from West Central Research and Extension Center and Panhandle Research and Extension Center.
To register for the in-person or online webinar and view the scheduled agenda, visit (https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/westcentral/2022-gsl-open-house-registration/). The cost to attend is free. If planning to attend in person, please register by Wednesday, August 17th for a meal count.
For more information or questions, contact Travis Mulliniks (308-696-6707, travis.mulliniks@unl.edu).
Crops & Water Systems
Extension plans workshop on inheriting farmland and modern management, farming practices.
Lincoln, Nebraska — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability will present a workshop in Grand Island for those who have inherited or received farmland and want to learn more about the best strategies for managing and owning this asset.
“So You’ve Inherited a Farm … Now What?” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 17 at Hall County Extension, College Park, 3180 W. Highway 34.
Extension educators Allan Vyhnalek and Jim Jansen will present on topics related to what it means to own farmland today. Those include evaluating whether to keep or sell the farm, managing a farm, lease provisions, legal considerations and managing communication and expectations among family members. Creating or adjusting estate plans will also be covered.
“We hear all the time from people who have lost their parents, and now are managing a farm for the first time in their lives,” Vyhnalek said. “Maybe they grew up there but haven’t been around for a while and they want to understand modern farming and management concepts, which this workshop will address.”
The program is free to attend, and lunch will be provided by Peoples Company out of Omaha. Pre-registration is requested by Aug. 15 by calling Nebraska Extension in Hall County at 308- 385-5088.
More information is available on the Center for Agricultural Profitability’s website,
Community Environment/Horticulture
Bagworms
First it was the Japanese beetles. Then it was the high temperatures. What’s next?? Bagworms. That’s right, bagworms. Many landscapes have already been infested by crafty creatures who are the masters of disguise. The evergreen bagworm is sneaking around feeding on a wide variety of plant material right under our noses. To get a handle on controlling these little critters, we need to know a little bit about their life cycle and feeding preferences. Find out what evergreen bagworms are and if there is anything that you can do yet this year.
Correct identification is key to know how to control these pests. Fall webworms or tent caterpillars are an occasional pest. They are sometimes called ‘bagworms,’ but using the correct name will help clear up confusion. Tent caterpillars appear as white, webbed nests on the ends of branches in deciduous trees.
Evergreen bagworms are a whole different story from webworms. Bagworms will feed on a wide variety of trees and shrubs, but they mainly prefer evergreens. Some of their favorites include junipers, cedars, and spruce. The reason that they are called bagworms is because they spin their own individual cases or bags around them for protection. As the bagworm grows, so does the bag that contains them. They will also add leaf fragments to the outside of the bag for camouflage. The bags look like baseball bat-shaped, wiggly ornaments hanging on the trees.
Knowing about their life cycle can help you select the correct control method. The evergreen bagworm usually hatches out around here the beginning or middle of June. At that point in time, they look like tiny inchworms. These tiny caterpillars have a silk strand behind them that acts as a parachute, moving them wherever the wind takes them. When they land on a suitable host, they begin to feed and make their bag homes around them. The caterpillars continue to feed until the middle of August. At that point in time, they begin to pupate until the middle of September. The adult male clearwing moth looks more like a fly than a moth. The adult males leave their bags in search of the females. Once mated, the female evergreen bagworm lays her eggs inside of her bag, then drops to the ground. Each female can lay between 500-1,000 eggs. The eggs overwinter in the bags until spring when they start the process all over again.
The earliest sign of bagworm injury on evergreens is brown stressed needles. If the infestation is severe, the tree they are feeding on will have a brown tint to it. Heavy infestations of mature bagworms are capable of completely defoliating a tree or shrub. This can cause stress to the plant or even kill it if damage is great enough. This is especially true if they have infested an evergreen which is unable to re-grow new foliage until next year. If you have bagworms on any deciduous plant, ones that lose their leaves every year, they are able to re-grow foliage the following year.
There are several options for controlling bagworms. Insecticidal sprays require thorough coverage to penetrate the plant canopy. The products are applied to the foliage and must be eaten by the insect. Once the bagworms have stopped feeding for the year to pupate, there isn’t a product that can penetrate the bag to control the larvae. The spray must completely cover the plant, almost to the point the product is dripping off of it. If the bagworms have made their home on a windbreak, the applicator has to be sure to have enough pressure to get product between the two rows of the windbreak. If this area is missed, the hiding bagworms will move and re-infest the rest of the plant. Hand removal is also an option for controlling bagworms. After removing the bags, place them in a bucket of soapy water.
There are several options available for insecticidal control of bagworms. Some of the reduced-risk options include Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), spinosad, or azadirachtin (neem oil) are effective on young larvae and may need to be applied repeatedly. Additional insecticidal options include permethrin (Eight), bifenthrin (Talstar), cyfluthrin (Tempo), chlorantraniliprole, carbaryl (Sevin), dimethoate, esfenvalerate, fluvalinate (Mavrik), lambda-cyhalothrin, acephate (Isotox IV), and tebufenozide (Confirm). Depending on the product and size of the insect, secondary applications may be needed especially this late in the season.
Be on the lookout now for bagworms and be prepared to control them before they make a meal out of your plants.
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.
Gardening
Without a doubt we saw in increase in the interest in gardening and landscaping the past few years. In the past, you had to find an expert or look in a reliable book to find answers to your gardening questions. Today’s resources much different. Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and the internet all have gardening information that is easily shared among friends and followers alike. Sometimes these ideas are tried and true while others are more “too good to be true.” I might not be the first to say it, but you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.
When searching online, it can be difficult to figure out the source of the information. Sometimes the information comes handed down or it comes from unreliable information observed by one or a handful of individuals. Other times the information comes from groups or individuals with an agenda for or against a certain thing. Whenever you see something online, be sure to do a little research before you add the practice to your own garden.
Through my job with Nebraska Extension, I educate people using science-based information that comes from research. This ensures the information that I give out has been researched by numerous people and has been found to be consistent in a number of settings and conditions.
Land-grant Universities are good sources of information. To make sure you get science-based gardening information, you can find University Extension resources online. The easiest way to find University information while you are searching online is to add the command “site:.edu” or “AND extension” to your search.
There are certain topics making their rounds again this year. Have read the posts about how to tell a male pepper from a female pepper, or male watermelon from female watermelon? If so, don’t believe them. Peppers have what we call a complete flower, meaning it has both the male and female flower parts, which turn into peppers. The number of lobes on the bottom of the pepper don’t signify the gender of the pepper, only the number of lobes that cultivar or specific pepper produced. Cucumbers and watermelon, and most Cucurbits, have separate male and female flowers. The male flowers only provide the male flower parts, the stamen, and the pollen. The female flowers provide the pistol and ovary, which turns into the baby cucumber or watermelon. There isn’t a male and female fruit. So, there also isn’t a way to tell the gender of the fruit based on the shape of the melon. The shape of the watermelon itself is more related to the growing conditions and the cultivar grown, not the gender of the fruit. There are no male or female pepper or watermelon fruits. There are only peppers, cucumbers, and watermelon.
Another topic comes to plant ID. There is another topic making its rounds about the giant hogweed. This plant is huge and the sap from it can cause skin irritation and even cause it to blister. While that is enough to get your attention, it is always a good idea to find out where the information is coming from. Most of the reports of this plant are on the east and west coast of the United States, not Nebraska or anywhere else in the Midwest. While it is good to know where this invasive species is located, there isn’t any need to get concerned about it at this point in time.
A little research upfront can save you from worrying about a weed that isn’t here or spending all your time trying to pick out female vegetables the next time you are at the store.
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.
Cucumbers & Squash
Cucumbers suddenly wilting can be caused by bacterial wilt. The wilt is spread by the cucumber beetle. One way to know if it is bacterial wilt or not is to put the end of a wilted vine into water. If its bacteria, the water will become cloudy. Nothing can be done once infested. We like to suggest using resistant cultivars if clients continuously have a problems.
https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2023.pdf
https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/douglas-sarpy/pdfs/ce/resources/ce-abl-cucumber-beetles.pdf
Squash suddenly wilting could be caused by squash vine borer
The adult moths lay their eggs on the stem of the plants. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the stem. Right now clients might be noticing wilting plants and upon further inspection they will find the stem where it enters the ground will be soft and covered with sawdust like frass, insect poop (see the photo below). Once in the stem there isn’t much that can be done to ‘cure’ the infestation. You can try to split the stem to find the larvae, some people use a piece of wire and run it up the stem of the plant to skewer the larvae. In some cases you can mound soil around the stem and have it root, but I don’t think that is the case with summer squash (works better with vining squash). The PDF below will give you some preventative strategies for next year.
https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/douglas-sarpy/pdfs/ce/resources/ce-abl-squash-vine-borer.pdf
Rural Prosperity
A Message from Jason
Last month I wrote about Marketing Hometown America. All of that work that a community has put into an MHA program can be wasted if the community isn’t welcoming. Being a welcoming community is based on individual actions in your community. How well do the people in your community connect with new people? How easy is it for someone new to the community to make connections?
Let’s try this mostly true scenario. A person moves into your town, but actually, they’re not new. They grew up in your town and graduated high school there. They left for college, began their career, and now have moved back to town with their spouse and are looking into having children. They begin work and start making connections in their community and they start being involved. But several people in the community remember some of the childish things they did in high school, and still treat them like they’re a high school delinquent. Is this welcoming?
What about this scenario? A new person comes to town, let’s call him Bob. Bob buys a house, has a family, and a nice job. He begins to introduce himself around town, but then rumors start flying around town about him. Did you know that Bob grew up in RIVALTOWN and he was a quarterback on the team back in 1999 that beat us and knocked us out of the championship? Bob notices that people are no longer friendly and outgoing, and he no longer gets invited to any activities. After several years, Bob leaves town to begin a business in another community.
That scenario was made up, but this one isn’t. Imagine you have lived in a community for 40 years. You have worked in a very public position, and you know everyone in town. As you near retirement age you look around at your friends. You notice that everyone you consider a friend in town…didn’t grow up in that community. Your entire lineup of friends are ‘non-natives’. How did that happen? There are a lot of natives in your community…even in your church, yet none of them, even after 40 years are your friend. Then you start asking your friends who their friends are and you find out that your circle of friends also only have ‘non-native’ friends. If the only people in the community who are welcoming are the ones who didn’t grow up there…is your community really welcoming?
Imagine a community where every activity revolves around the local high school. Sports activities, musical competitions, academic showcases fill up the calendar every night. All summer long there are sports camps and class reunions. The school dominates the calendar so much that there is some type of food fundraiser 3 nights a week. Even the local restaurant closes during these events because there is no use being open, because everyone is at the school. Now imagine a newcomer in this town. They have no connection to the high school; they don’t even know where everyone goes on Friday nights. All they know is that town shuts down. During the summer they see all the cars at the school along with the Class of ’78 signs. But your newcomer has no connection to the high school…or the reunions. How are they supposed to be involved? Do they have to become a fan of the high school? What happens when that high school is merged with the neighboring town in the future? Are we only welcoming to people like us? With people with the same history or background as us? Or are we welcoming to everyone?
Reach out to someone that has moved to your town in the past 2-3 years. It was a crazy time to move and making connections is difficult under any circumstances but moving during the pandemic was especially hard. Just be friendly, don’t try to recruit them to be a volunteer or to join a club…just be a friend.
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
Cottage Food Producer
ServSafe Training
There is a ServSafe® Manager food safety class coming up in Grand Island on September 28th. More information: https://go.unl.edu/foodsafetyhall
Cucumbers Make Great Pickles
Acidifying Tomatoes in Canning
Tomatoes
Thawing Fish
The Learning Child
Watermelon Paver
Mind Full or Mindfull
The Importance of Sleep
The importance of sleep and the impact of sleep on children and youth’s development.
$15 for a 2-hour on-demand class. Register at https://fitandhealthykids.unl.edu/on-demand
4-H
2022 Webster County Fair Complete
Webster County 4-H Newsletter
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: 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/
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
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/
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