Nebraska Extension - Gage County

The Gage County Extension Office will be closed June 20th for Juneteenth.

For the 2nd year in a row, UNL Extension in Gage County is partnering with local businesses & organizations throughout the growing season to keep garden produce out of the landfill & help fight hunger among our Beatrice neighbors.

Ready to spread hap-PEA-ness? Here's how you can be involved!

1. Plant, tend & harvest your home garden. We're rooting for its success this growing season!

2. Bring your whole, washed garden extras to one of our community drop locations from June through September any time that drop location is open for business.

Current participating drop locations:

-Beatrice Public Library

-Beatrice Farmers' Market (Thursday evenings)

-Beatrice Mary Family YMCA

-Gage County Extension Office (on the fairgrounds)

-Beatrice Community Hospital System (this drop location is available to BCH employees only)

-Exmark (this drop location is available to Exmark employees only)

That's it! Once your garden extras are dropped off, UNL Extension will pick them up, weigh them & deliver them to organizations serving individuals who may not have regular access to fresh produce, such as: pantries, feeding services, childcare programs, senior centers, etc.

Check back regularly for updates, photos & our final community impact report. Thanks for making a difference when it comes to decreasing food waste & increasing food access in our community!

Nebraska Land Link provides opportunities to connect land seekers with retiring landowners.

Land access is one of the biggest challenges facing aspiring and beginning farmers. For some landowners, they simply do not have the next generation available to take over their operation.

When you apply to Nebraska Land Link, either as a land seeker or a landowner, Nebraska Extension personnel will work to match your application with the most compatible counterpart. Using the answers you submit and offer in a potential interview, Nebraska Land Link matches are based on the shared values, interests and skills of both parties, so that a mutually beneficial and satisfying partnership can be forged over the course of the transition plan.

Before and throughout the process, we work to provide important educational information regarding transfers, communication, negotiations, goal setting and more. And we are here to answer any questions you might have.

Nebraska Land Link is a project of Nebraska Extension's Farm and Ranch Succession and Transition program and Nebraska Women in Agriculture.

Friday's, 10-11:30am - Yard & Garden Live starts April 1 on KUTT 99.5 FM & southeast.newschannelnebraska.com/ol-red

Your favorite thing to do on Fridays returns... ask Nicole and her guests all of your horticulture questions!! Call in number: 402-729-3383.

Missed a live episode? Listen to Nicole's podcast! You can now listen to it anywhere- on the website, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast. Just search Yard and Garden with Nicole! https://yardandgarden.buzzsprout.com/

When discussing lawn and landscape care, the timing is critical with most everything we do outside. Too early and you can harm your plants or have pesticides worn off by the time the pest is active, and too late and you could miss the window.

This is the Q&A for the Yard and Garden show for May 13, 2022. Yard and Garden Live is a call-in radio show I do on KUTT 99.5 FM from 10-11:30 am and it will run through July 29, 2022. It can also be found on kutt995.com for online listening. If you missed a show or just want to read through the questions, I have written them all in my blog and will continue to do so throughout the season.

This is the Q&A for the Yard and Garden show for May 20, 2022. Yard and Garden Live is a call-in radio show I do on KUTT 99.5 FM from 10-11:30 am and it will run through July 29, 2022. It can also be found on kutt995.com for online listening. If you missed a show or just want to read through the questions, I have written them all in my blog and will continue to do so throughout the season.

Enrollment is open for 2022 Gage County 4-H. All 4-H youth (ages 8-18), Clover Kids (ages 5-7), and leaders are required to enroll online every year. This year, Nebraska 4-H has switched to 4-H Online 2.0. You will now be using the new website v2.4honline.com. Current families and members, you will be able to use the same log in information that you have used in previous years. All of your information should have transferred over from the 1.0 version.

Enrollment deadline is June 15. We encourage all members to enroll using a computer and not your mobile device. This site is not mobile friendly and can cause some issues when it comes time to pay your dues online. Enrollment instructions for new members can be found at the Extension Office or online at gage.unl.edu. Call Jacie or Sarah at 402-223-1384 with any enrollment questions.

$12 dues must be paid online at conclusion of enrollment process. **No enrollment fee for Clover Kids.

The 4-H/FFA Fairbook is now available! Pick up a hard copy at the Extension Office.

One of the best ways to stay healthy throughout the year is to practice proper food safety, and grilling season is no different. Luckily, a summer free from foodborne illness can be accomplished in four easy steps: clean, separate, cook and chill. According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, here’s how you’ll want to apply these four simple steps to your grilling routine.

"Moo”-ve over May. It’s June, which means it’s time for National Dairy Month. Need some reasons to celebrate this year? With the extra focus on supporting small businesses in this time of economic uncertainty, one fun fact about dairy is that, nationally, nearly 97 percent of farms are family-owned. The Cornhusker State is no different, with the Department of Agriculture reporting virtually all of Nebraska’s dairy farms are family owned and operated.

Many factors affect early corn growth and development. A common question is “how many Growing Degree Days (GDD) does it take for my corn to emerge?” Since corn emergence is directly related to soil temperature and soil moisture, the days to emergence vary especially when one compares early planting dates to later planting dates.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), also called head scab, is a fungal disease that infects wheat during flowering, which typically occurs between mid-May to early June in this area. This year, early maturity varieties and earlier planted winter wheat fields started heading on May 15 and likely will be flowering by May 21.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) winter wheat variety tour for the eastern most portion of south-central Nebraska is scheduled for Thursday, June 9, 2022 north of Fairbury. The tour provides an opportunity for farmers and others to learn more about new winter wheat varieties and other topics relevant to wheat production. There are 35 released or experimental wheat varieties from seven companies in the 2022 trial near Fairbury. The event, sponsored by UNL, Farm Credit Services, and Knobel Seed, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in a replicated, winter wheat variety trial hosted by Mark and Jan Knobel.

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