Nebraska Extension - Gage County

Announcements

• Office Closed - Monday, September 6th

Upcoming Events

• Tall Tree Tastings- Fall Lawn Care
• Yard and Garden Live
• Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa & Wheat Expo

Horticulture - Nicole Stoner

• Oak Branch Die Back

Food, Nutrition & Health - Tara Dunker

• 2021 Beatrice Garden Produce Rescue

4-H & Youth Development - Jacie Milius

• 2021 Nebraska State Fair 4-H Results

Water and Integrated Cropping Systems - Nathan Mueller

• Crop Scouting in Late August & Pocket Field Guide
• Southeast NE Alfalfa & Wheat Expo
  

How do you put your lawn to bed for the winter? What about your perennials? Cut back in the Fall or Spring? Need help? Let Nicole guide you through the Fall and your yard will thrive this Spring! Thursday, September 23 at 6 pm at Tall Tree Tastings - no cost!

Nicole Stoner will be doing 2 fall episodes for her Yard and Garden Live that will take place on September 10 & 17. Yard and Garden Live is a radio show broadcasted on KUTT 99.5 FM on Friday mornings from 10-11:30 AM. If you have any questions related to your yard or garden be sure to listen and call in with those questions.

Join us for the inaugural Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa & Wheat Expo on Thursday, Sept. 2 in Crete. Pre-registration requested at https://croptechcafe.org/alfalfawheatexpo/ or by calling 402-821-2151. Learn more about the expo at https://croptechcafe.org/alfalfawheatexpo/

Learn about edible plants, houseplants, landscapes, trees and insects! To register go to https://communityenvironment.unl.edu/grobigred

I have been getting a lot of calls lately about oak tree issues. The ends of the branches are turning brown, in most cases they are currently staying on the tree. Twig girdler and twig pruners are showing up in our oak trees again. Most of the time they work inside the branches, basically pruning the tree during the late summer, but the damage typically isn’t seen until late summer to fall when the branches fall out of the tree due to wind.

We are excited to share that Beatrice growers have donated over 3200 lbs of produce to our Garden Produce Rescue! During the month of August, we have been able to share produce with Salvation Army, Mosaic in Beatrice, Beatrice Senior Center, Beatrice Community Food Pantry, Beatrice Mary Family YMCA, Gage County Veterans Service Office, BLAST at Paddock Lane, and 10 in-home childcare providers.

We are still taking donations at a few locations in Beatrice such as the Extension Office, Library, and YMCA. Thank you to our growers and participating organizations for all of your donations this growing season!

Want to follow along for more updates of our Garden Produce Rescue? Join the 2021 Beatrice Garden Produce Rescue Facebook page.

The 2021 Nebraska State Fair featured over 3500 4-H exhibitors and nearly 9000 exhibits. Congratulations to all Gage County 4-H exhibitors. Proud of you for representing Gage County youth with pride, dignity, character, and kindness.

Photography:

Silas Benson: Photography selected for UNL Animal Science Department Exhibition

Lily Sobotka: Photography selected for UNL East Campus Exhibition

Presentations

Garrett Smidt: Top Illustrated Presentation

Livestock

Emily Rempel: Champion Registered Doe

Grace Bigley: Reserve Champion Fancy Division

Cooper Lovitt- Reserve Champion Crossbred Market Gilt, Champion Division II Market Gilt, Reserve Champion Division III Market Gilt

Additional results will be available in the October newsletter.

Crop scouting in late August often will not result in immediate management decisions. However, taking notes on what you observe now can provide valuable information moving in to harvest and confirm or reprioritize agronomic goals for next year. There are many things to take note of and questions to ask. What diseases are the most prevalent? Do you see any areas of the field exhibiting poor growth or yield potential? Do I want to conduct a pre-harvest yield estimate? I have a few suggestions for your late season scouting and I want to make sure you have the newest Nebraska Corn and Soybean Pocket Field Guide with you.

Southeast Nebraska farmers can sharpen their management strategies for the third and fourth most grown crops in the region at the inaugural 2021 Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa and Wheat Expo. Hosts and local Water & Integrating Cropping Systems Extension Educators, Nathan Mueller, Gary Lesoing, and Melissa Bartels said more diverse crop rotations are both underutilized and undervalued. Integrating alfalfa and winter wheat into the crop rotation can provide a critical tool to mitigate extreme weather, improve soil health, increase corn and soybean yields, combat troublesome pests, increase flexibility in manure management plans, and more.

Email: Gage-County@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/gage/
Location: 1115 West Scott Street, Beatrice, NE, USA
Phone: 402-223-1384
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLExtensionGageCo/
Twitter: @GageCoExtension