“Spring fertilization rates necessary to optimize yield may be lower than what is needed following normal corn crops,” Casteel said. “Wheat planted in the fall has an advantage in that it will accumulate some nitrogen prior to dormancy.

South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and other area conservation organizations involved in the Prairie Coteau Habitat Partnership will be offering a series of free workshops geared at training and educating NRCS staff and landowners on the basics of fire planning and fire plan writing.

Think consumers know all they need to know about meat cuts? Think again. Extensive research conducted by the National Pork Board (NPB) and the Beef Checkoff Program indicates that today’s consumers are as confused as ever when it comes to purchasing fresh meat.

Agricultural ministers meeting in Brussels last week agreed that criminal activity stretching across the European continent is the underlying problem behind the horsemeat scandal. In response, they’ve called for still more DNA testing of the continent’s meat and meat products.

“Now is the time when lice populations are going to become a noticeable problem,” Ron Lemenager said. “We’ve got cold weather and heavy winter hair coats on cattle, and that’s the perfect scenario for lice populations to increase and become evident.”.

Sand County Foundation, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., and Peabody Energy were proud to announce the finalists for the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award in Colorado on Monday, Feb.

“We’ve seen more frost activity, and that’s been really beneficial in terms of accomplishing some deeper soil loosening,” Tony Vyn said. “The fact is that we’re having more rain, and if that continues this spring, there’s a greater danger of compaction when doing spring tillage prematurely in fields that are too wet for those operations.

Many regions’ pastures and rangelands are seeing dry soils as well as disappointing forecasts with little moisture predicted. These dry field conditions have led to weak plants in pastures, according to Bruce Anderson, UNL Extension forage specialist..

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited South Dakota State University (SDSU) last week to announce more than $75 million in grants for research, education and extension activities to ensure greater food security in the U.S. and around the world.

The concept of a state beef checkoff in Nebraska will be the headline for a series of nine meetings to be held this year across the state by the Nebraska Cattlemen (NC).