Crop Production In Nebraska

Crops in Nebraska range from the top three agricultural revenue and production crops--corn, soybeans, wheat--to the multitude of additional crops--potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, melons, apples, nuts--that help make Nebraska a leader in the agricultural sector of the United States and competitor in the movement toward fresh, local food production and consumption.

All Crops, Fruits & Vegetables

Timing is everything when picking right days to plant: Article by AgriNews Online (April 2013), Spring is here and most of you are likely thinking about planting dates. Deciding when to plant is all about weighing the pros and cons of timing.

When to Harvest Fruits & Vegetables (NebGuide): This provides information on the proper ways and times to harvest fruits and vegetables for the best quality and storage.

Nebraska Fruits & Vegetables-GAPs Overview: This program is intended to assess a participant’s efforts to minimize the risk of contamination of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and miscellaneous commodities by microbial pathogens based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables,” and generally recognized good agricultural practices.

Nebraska CropWatch: Nebraska crop production & pest management information

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service: These resources offer detailed information on production of specific horticultural crops, focusing on sustainable and organic production methods for traditional produce, and also introducing a range of alternative crops and enterprises. In these publications you can find information on strategies for more sustainable greenhouse and field production -- for everything from lettuce to trees.

Tips on preparing, storing, canning and recipes: Connects you to the "Seasonal Recipes & Preparing" page on our website, this page is broken into a chart of the four seasons to help you easily flip through and find the fruit or vegetable you are looking for.

Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: This NebGuide explains proper storage methods and conditions for fresh fruits and vegetables including harvest methods and in garden storage.

Small-Scale Cold Rooms for Perishable Commodities: Details the planning, choices, expenses, etc.

Food Safety Considerations / Guidelines: Links to the Safety and Health Considerations section.

Horticultural Crops Weights and Measures, NebGuide G1640 PDF version:  This NebGuide lists the most common units of sale used for selling vegetables and fruits through direct marketing outlets

Weights and Measures for Food: University of Nebraska-Lincoln IANR guide discussing the required weights and measures for producing food for sale.

Nebraska Farm Bureau: Nebraska Farm Bureau supports Nebraska farm and ranch families, and works for the benefit of all Nebraskans, through a wide variety of educational, service and advocacy efforts. We are a member-driven organization with thousands of farm and ranch family members, hundreds of ag-supporting members and a fast-growing number of urban family and individual members. Working together, we're growing our great state by supporting our agricultural foundation.

QuickStats: Farming and ranching statistics by program, group, commodity, year, etc. produced by the National Agricultural Statistics Service and the United States Department of Agriculture.

The National Agricultural Risk Education Library: The purpose of the workshop was to enhance the capacity of the national extension program to respond to the financial management needs of farm and ranch families. The charge is to help family’s assess their situation, identify their opportunities, and select the strategic plan that meets their goals. Participants were challenged to apply financial management concepts to help families in their state.
Institution: North Central Risk Management Education Center
Publish Date: August 2009

We Support Agriculture: We Support Agriculture (WSA) was formed to defend the responsible animal welfare practices of Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers from attacks by outside animal rights extremist groups. The founders are five highly-respected Nebraska agriculture organizations: Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Poultry Industries, Nebraska Pork Producers and the Nebraska State Dairy Association. We are also supported by the state Veterinarian Association, who is the expert in appropriate animal care.

Common Ground Nebraska: CommonGround is a national movement of farm women who want to share information about farming and the food we grow. We’re a group of Nebraska farm women working to help dispel myths and built trust in farm families again. We want to answer questions and share facts as well as our personal stories of farm life.

10 Best Mobile Agriculture Apps For 2012: Mobile apps for agriculture are spreading like wildfire and making ag professionals more efficient at their jobs.
"Ag retailers — and agriculture professionals at large — are starving for mobile agriculture apps that can help them do their jobs better. They can't get enough them." -CropLife

Protecting Barren Fields During Summer Fallow: Harvesting corn stalks helped feed livestock last fall when other options were expensive or severely limited, but would leave fallowed fields with little cover this summer. A spring planting of oats may help provide some protection until the fallowed land is planted into wheat this fall.

Nebraska Soybean Association: To Improve Competitiveness and Profitability of the Nebraska Soybean Producers

Nebraska Soybean Board: The mission of the Nebraska Soybean Board is to engage the industry on behalf of Nebraska soybean farmers to maximize utilization of Nebraska soybeans in the feed, energy, industrial and food markets.

CropWatch: Potato Education Guide: Information on all aspects of potato production includingVariety/Biotechnology, Soil Management, Insect Management, Disease Management, Weed Management, Physiological Disorders, Irrigation Management, Production, and Value-Added information.

CropWatch: Sugarbeets: Information on sugarbeets includes History of beets & History of beets in Nebraska, Sugarbeet Production, Soil Management, Weed Management, Insect Management, Disease Management, Irrigation/Water, and Nebraska Research on sugarbeets

Organic Crop Production

Nebraska Organic Crop-Related Facts

• Nebraska ranks 7th in U.S. organic grain production
• Nebraska ranks 10th in U.S.organic crop acreage

Nebraska Organic Crop Articles & Websites

 What is Organic Certification? Organic certification verifies that your farm or handling facility located anywhere in the world complies with the USDA organic regulations and allows you to sell, label, and represent your products as organic. These regulations describe the specific standards required for you to use the word “organic” or the USDA organic seal on food, feed, or fiber products. The USDA National Organic Program administers these regulations, with substantial input from its citizen advisory board and the public.

CropWatch: Organics: In Nebraska corn, barley, edible beans, millet, oats, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and other forages are grown here and marketed organically. Other organic crops such as amaranth, popcorn, blue corn, and spelt are grown under contract for a premium.

All Four UNL Organic Farms Now Certified, Research Underway (May 2009)
LINCOLN, Neb. — All four University of Nebraska-Lincoln organic farms now are certified by the Organic Crop Improvement Association International. "Now that we have the four farms certified, research will be conducted that will give producers information specific to Nebraska organic crop production," said Liz Sarno, UNL Extension educator and organic project coordinator. "Not only will this give us valuable organic crop information, but it will continue to attract new research and new farmers to organics."

Developing Small Grains Cultivars and Systems Optimally Suited for Organic Production: Wheat varieties developed for conventional production often do not perform well in organic production systems. This project examines breeding new wheat cultivars specifically for organic systems with an emphasis on disease and pest resistance, response to organic fertilizers, and end-use quality.

Corn Production

Nebraska Corn-Related Facts

Corn is an economically important crop to Nebraska resulting in $9.4 billion from 9.6 million acres harvested in 2011 according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

• Nebraska ranks 3rd in U.S. corn production.
• Nebraska ranks 1st in U.S. popcorn production.
• Nebraska ranks 1st in U.S. white corn production.

Corn-Related Articles & Websites

Nebraska Corn Board: The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board is to develop, carry out and participate in programs of research, education, market development and promotion to enhance profitability (viability) and expand the demand and value of Nebraska corn and value-added corn products.

CornsTalk: CornsTalk is a newsletter produced by the Nebraska Corn board that covers important subjects and provides regular updates on various programs of interest to corn growers and others.

CropWatch: Corn: Corn Production: Basic Agronomic Information for High Yields: Information on: Corn Planting Resources, In-Season Resources, Corn Flooding and Storm Damage, and Storage/Grain Drying/Blending/Mycotoxin Issues.

Irrigated Corn Achieves High Yields With High Energy Efficiency, Little Impact on Climate Change: More Energy Efficient Yields Than in Rainfed Systems
"Contrary to conventional wisdom, irrigated corn in Nebraska is highly efficient in the use of energy, water and fertilizer, say University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientists whose research found that increased yields more than offset the energy cost of these inputs." -UNL Research & CropWatch

Evaluating Hail Damage to Corn
"Hail affects corn yields in three ways: plant stand reduction, direct damage, and leaf defoliation. Any crop damage will reduce the plant's ability to compete with weeds, but the greatest losses are caused by defoliation, especially during the pollination growth stage." -UNL Extension

10 Best Mobile Agriculture Apps for 2012: Corn Planning Calculator. This app provides real-time useful calculations for the planting of corn from specific inputs resulting in the correct spacing of the corn being planted. Inputs such as population desired, cost per acre, seed counts and spacing in inches or metric format are achieved. (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

Dry-Edible Bean Production

Nebraska Bean-Related Facts

Nebraska dry beans come in several varities: Great Northern, Pinto, Garbonzo, Pink, Black, Navy, and Light Red Kidney. For information on each type of bean visit the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission.

• Nebraska ranks 1st in U.S. Great Northern bean production.
• Nebraska ranks 2nd in U.S. Light Red Kidney bean production.
• Nebraska ranks 2nd in U.S. Pinto bean production.

Nebraska Bean-Related Websites & Articles

Nebraska Dry Bean Commission
In 1987, the Nebraska Legislature created the Dry Bean Commission under the provisions of the Dry Bean Resources Act. The Commission’s primary function, as defined by the Legislature, is to adopt and devise a dry bean program consisting of research, education, advertising, publicity, and promotion to increase total consumption of dry beans on a state, national, and international basis.

CropWatch: Dry Beans: Production: Crop Rotation, Harvest, and Planting information for Nebraska.

Choosing the Right Tillage System for Row Crop Production
"Using the right tillage system may contribute to profit, crop yields, soil improvement, and protection of water resources. Numerous criteria, in addition to the cost of conversion, need to be considered when weighing the advantages and disadvantages of various tillage options. A decision guide is presented for systematic consideration of 19 criteria"

Fertilizer Management for Dry Edible Beans (NebGuide)
"Excellent yields of high quality dry beans can be obtained in western Nebraska. Traditional growing areas include the Panhandle and southwest Nebraska, western Wyoming and eastern Colorado. High bean yields are produced on disease-free fertile soils. Dry beans respond to fertilizer if soil tests show nutrient levels in the low to medium fertility range."

2011 New Pork and Bean recipe challenge winning recipe: Pork a-lious Tacos with Black Bean and Pineapple salsa

Crop Profile for Dry (Edible) Beans in Nebraska (August 2001)
"Bean seed does well when planted in a firm, non-compacted seedbed in the spring after soil temperatures have warmed up, (May 20 to June 10). The seeding rate should be chosen to establish 60,000 to 90,000 plants per acre under irrigation and 18,000 to 30,000 under dry land conditions. Row spacing in beans is often 30 inches, but studies indicate that narrower spacing such as 22-inch rows can increase yield but can also increase the incidence of diseases such as white mold."

Wheat Production

Wheat is an important crop in Nebraska, with farmers producing more than 74 million bushels each year. This grain has sustained family farms in the state for generations and filled consumer needs across the globe with a consistently high-quality product. It has also helped to define Nebraska as a flourishing agricultural mainstay in the United States and around the world. -Nebraska Wheat Board

Nebraska Wheat-Related Facts

• Winter wheat is one of the major field crops grown in Nebraska, along with corn and soybean
• Nebraska is typically one of the top 10 winter wheat producing states in the U.S.
• Production occurs mainly in the western half of Nebraska

Wheat-Related Articles & Associations

Nebraska Wheat Board: The Nebraska Wheat Board will work to increase both domestic and foreign consumption of wheat and wheat food products through marketing and research to help develop and maintain both domestic and export markets for the Nebraska wheat producer. The board will enhance the short- and long-term economic well-being of all Nebraska wheat producers by investing checkoff funds and participating in programs of market promotion, research, and education.

Nebraska Wheat Growers Association: The Nebraska Wheat Growers Association’s goal is to improve and stabilize the profitability of the Nebraska wheat producer. To achieve this goal, the NWGA specializes in state affairs, international policy, disaster relief programs, research, environmental policy, and domestic policy.

National Association of Wheat Growers: The National Association of Wheat Growers was founded more than 60 years ago by producers who wanted to work together for the common good of the industry. Today, NAWG works with its 21 affiliated state associations and many coalition partners on issues as diverse as federal farm policy, environmental regulation, the future commercialization of biotechnology in wheat and uniting the wheat industry around common goals.

Crop Watch: Wheat: The latest Extension information on wheat production and management practices from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wheat Growth Stages

Fall Seed Guide 2011: Crops included in this guide are winter wheat, winter barley, and triticale. This is a progress report of a variety of trials conducted by personnel of the Agronomy Department, West Central, Northeast, and  Panhandle Research and Extnension Centers and their associated agricultural laboratories.

Home Gardening

Home gardening is a great way to have fresh food when you need it and a relaxing pasttime that makes fresh food even more enjoyable. Also, if you don’t have a yard suitable for a garden, Nebraska has many community gardens located in towns and cities across the state. Most are available for anyone to take part in as long as you help out. Growing fresh foods for yourself can also expand into growing them as a product. Many local producers bring their foods and other products to local farmers' markets to sell.

Controlled Environment Agriculture: Greenhouses, Strawberries and More: Ellen Paparozzi, professor of Agronomy & Horticulture has worked to develop a new way to grow strawberries in greenhouses.

Organic Vegetable Manual Adds to Slate of Quality Production Guides from Canadian Organic Growers (pdf)
Canadian Organic Growers (COG) has earned a reputation as a producer of practical, high quality production guides for North American organic producers. Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Producers , the latest addition to their Practical Skills Handbook series, was developed with support from OFRF and is now available from COG and other resources.

Nebraska Statewide Arboretum an excellent recent publication on sustainable landscapes and attracting wildlife to your yard. You can read this online by enlarging it to full screen (first button lower left) and flipping the "pages," or you can also print it out. Great information!

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. For the first time, the map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended, and as static images for those with slower Internet access. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area. No posters of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map have been printed. But state, regional, and national images of the map can be downloaded and printed in a variety of sizes and resolutions.

Nebraska Tree Service: Avoiding the Top 10 Mistakes of Tree Planting: Eric Berg and Tim McDonnell

NeGuides: It's time to start your garden! To get you going down the right row the University of Nebraska has some NeGuides to help make your gardening experience a fun and winning time.

• A Gardener's Guide for Soil and Nutrient Management in Growing Vegetables: How to manage soil and nutrients when growing vegetables is discussed here, as is soil testing, soil, pH, organic matter, and the use of commercial fertilizers.
• Vegetable Garden Seed Storage and Germination Requirements: Leftover vegetable seeds can be used next year if stored properly. This publication covers how to select and store seed, and conduct germination tests.
• Garden Guide - UNL Extension-Lancaster County: StartingTransplants Inside
• How to Grow Vegetables & Fruits: Fresh fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of nutrition which can be grown in your garden.The ease of planting, growing and harvesting these crops, along with the health benefits they bring, make fruits and vegetables the ideal gardening project.
• When to Harvest Fruits & Vegetables: This NebGuide provides information on the proper ways and times to harvest fruits and vegetables for the best quality and storage.

Controling a Safe Environment

• Pest Profiles by University of Minnesota Extension Vegetable and fruit crop pest profiles to help control the unwanted pests in your gardens.
• UNL Extension: Pests Diseases, insects, weeds, wildlife-more information.
• Insects, Spiders, Mice & More More information regarding insects, spiders, mice, etc. from Lancaster Extension.
• Biology and Management of Aphids in Organic Cucurbit Production Systems Biology & life cycles, damage from, & management of aphids.

BackYard Farmer Information for homeowners and industry professionals from UNL’s BackYard Farmer TV program, with topics related to gardening, trees and shrubs, turf and weeds, insects, wildlife, fruits and vegetables, and plant diseases.

National Pesticide Information Center NPIC provides objective, science-based information about pesticides and pesticide-related topics to enable people to make informed decisions about pesticides and their use. NPIC is a cooperative agreement between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Links to Individual Garden Crops & Resources

 *Photo (A 1917 USDA poster depicts Uncle Sam encouraging citizens to garden. (Courtesy USDA-NRCS; Library of Congress image)

About Nebraska Community Gardens

A community garden is a shared piece of land where people who do not have their own space for growing food can have a space to plant a garden.

Community gardens improve quality of life by:

• growing nutritious food
• reducing family food expenses
• bringing families together
• encouraging social interaction among garden participants
• providing opportunities for recreation and exercise
   

Check with your local Nebraska Extension Office to learn what organizations may be offering community gardens in your Nebraska county, or contact the Extension Office in your state for other locations.

The American Community Garden website is a source of information about community gardens throughout the nation.

These links tell more about some of the community garden possibilities in Nebraska. If you know of an additional Nebraska community garden website or contact information you’d like entered here, email us the website or the location/contact information. (Image courtesy of USDA gallery)

*Images courtety of City Spouts of Omaha

Storing Your Own Products In Your Home

Tips on preparing, storing, canning and recipes: Connects you to the "Seasonal Recipes & Preparing" page on our website, this page is broken into a chart of the four seasons to help you easily flip through and find the fruit or vegetable you are looking for.

Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: This NebGuide explains proper storage methods and conditions for fresh fruits and vegetables including harvest methods and in garden storage.

Small-Scale Cold Rooms for Perishable Commodities: Details the planning, choices, expenses, etc.

Building a Root Cellar in Your Home: A root cellar is an easy and inexpensive way to store root crops, winter squash, and some other homegrown produce.

Install a Root Cellar in Your Basement by PreparedThompkings.org: Adding a small root cellar to your existing home will provide you with fresh veggies throughout the winter and spring.

Build a Basement Root Cellar by Steve Maxwell: Storing crops in a passively cooled basement root cellar is one of the most efficient ways to preserve food.

Building a Root Cellar or Pantry into Your Basement Design by Rachel Machacek: Ditch that energy-sucking (and jam-packed) second fridge and build a root cellar or cool pantry into your basement design. Learn how here.

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel: Anyone can learn to store fruits and vegetables safely and naturally with a cool, dark space (even a closet!) and the step-by-step advice in this book.

The Complete Root Cellar Book: Building Plans, Uses and 100 Recipes by Steve Maxwell: This book takes a fresh look at the art, science and romance of building and stocking a root cellar. There are detailed illustrated construction guides for making four different kinds of root cellars that are functional and attractive. These include never-before-seen models for apartment and condo dwellers and home owners without a basement.

Nebraska Trailblazers: Nebraska's First Farmers

"At least 1,000 years ago Indian women tended small fields of corn. By the 1700s corn continued to be an important food for the Oto, Pawnee and Omaha Indians. Women of the tribes also raised tobacco, beans and squash.

Soldiers stationed at Fort Atkinson in the 1820s operated a very large farm. They planted Indian corn, wheat and vegetables, raised hogs, and had a herd of 700 cattle. Some early fur traders were also farmers. An 1832 visitor to the trading post at Bellevue wrote that the fields of corn produced 100 bushels per acre. There were also potatoes and fruit trees and hogs and herds of cattle.

Many farmers began moving to Nebraska after it became a territory in 1854. The Homestead Act, which provided free land, and the coming of the railroads brought many more settlers in the 1860s and 1870s. The number of farms increased to about 125,000 in 1919 and then began to decline as farms got larger.

Corn has always been a major crop in Nebraska. Most farmers planted several different crops so that if one failed another might be profitable. This Custer County farmer in the 1880s seems to have planted nothing but corn.

Wheat is another important Nebraska crop. In the early days most was sold at the nearest mill, where it was ground into flour for local use. More recently, very large farms in the west have raised wheat that is sold world-wide. Hogs and cattle were raised on most farms. In addition to providing meat for the farm family, the sale of the animals was a major source of farm income.

Farmers experimented with many kinds of crops. Sugar beets were first tried unsuccessfully in eastern Nebraska in 1890, but later they became an important crop in the far western part of the state. Here a loader piles beets in a truck for shipment to a sugar refinery in Scottsbluff."

High Tunnels & Cold Frames:
Tools to Extend the Growing Season

From Wednesday April 20th. This workshop is part of a Specialty Crop grant the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society received in partnership with the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. "Increasing the Availability of Nebraska's Specialty Crops through High Tunnels" aims to increase the number of producers in Nebraska using these high tunnel technologies.

The objectives of this project are to: Increase awareness about high tunnels and how they can be used to extend specialty crop production in Nebraska. Increase the technical skill level among specialty crop farmers growing or starting to grow crops in high tunnels. The webinar series will kick off with UNL Assistant Professor of Practice Horticulture Greenhouse Production & Management Stacy Adams with an intro to High Tunnels including site selection and types of structures.

To view the webinar click this Link: High Tunnel Webinar Part 1

 For additional information on high tunnels and the recent High Tunnel Workshop Series visit Nebraska Cooperative Development Center

Choosing the Right High Tunnel:
Components and Design

From Wednesday May 18th. Presented by Stacy Adams, this was the 2nd in the Nebraska High Tunnel Webinar Series brought to you by the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society & UNL Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. This workshop is part of a Specialty Crop grant the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society received in partnership with the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. “Increasing the Availability of Nebraska’s Specialty Crops through High Tunnels” aims to increase the number of producers in Nebraska using these high tunnel technologies.

The objectives of this project are to: Increase awareness about high tunnels and how they can be used to extend specialty crop production in Nebraska. Increase the technical skill level among specialty crop farmers growing or starting to grow crops in high tunnels. The second in the webinar series will be once again with UNL expert Stacy Adams with an in depth look at High Tunnels in Nebraska.

To view the webinar click this Link: High Tunnel Webinar Part 2

For additional information on high tunnels and the recent High Tunnel Workshop Series visit Nebraska Cooperative Development Center

Crop Production & Gardening Videos