Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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The year 2023 marks a milestone at Northeast Community College. On Fri., May 12, the college will hold its 50th commencement ceremony to celebrate the success of its graduates. Three commencement ceremonies will be held in the Cox Activities Center on the Norfolk campus at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 3 p.m. At 9 a.m., nursing graduates will receive their nurse pins and participate in commencement. The ceremony at 12 p.m., will award credentials to graduates in applied technology and health and public...
Concerns about sewer rates and the cost of the Clearwater lagoon project were expressed during the April 10 village meeting held at the Clearwater fire hall. Trustees tabled the purchase of geographic information system equipment to use for locating water and sewer lines. According to former village trustee Jay Snider, the hand-held equipment, currently requested by village maintenance man Troy Behnke, was to have been included in grant funding the village received. “It was part of when we l...
Antelope and Holt counties are two of the 55 Nebraska counties designated as primary natural disaster areas, due to a recent drought. United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack notified Gov. Jim Pillen of the designation, March 31. Based on the U.S. Drought Monitor data, counties included in the designation either suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season for eight or more consecutive weeks or fell into extreme or exceptional drought categories....
Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency, along with several partners in conservation, will be conducting informational meetings for agricultural producers and private landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened a CRP General signup in February and it runs through April 7. CRP is a cornerstone voluntary conservation program offered by USDA. General CRP helps producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plan species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil...
This week saw the Legislature resume floor debate and consider several gubernatorial appointments and reappointments. The following people were confirmed this week: Jim Macy as director of the department of environment and energy, John Bolduc as the superintendent of the state patrol, John Hilgert as director of the department of veterans affairs, Jason Jackson as director of the department of administrative services and Sherry Vinton as director of the department of agriculture. Additionally, I...
A survey of participants in the Midwest shows the Conservation Stewardship Program is making strides in providing financial and technical assistance for producers to maintain agricultural production on their land and simultaneously address resource concerns with conservation practices. Results of the survey, conducted in spring 2022, are part of a new report, recently released by the Center for Rural Affairs. “Producing a Sustainable Future: Producers’ Feedback on the Nation’s Leading Conservation Program,” authored by Kelsey Willardson, policy...
From the food they eat, to the clothes they wear, agriculture impacts everyone. To highlight and celebrate agriculture’s many contributions, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a student poster contest. NDA’s annual poster contest is in its 20th year and is open to all Nebraska students in first through sixth grades. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Nebraska Agriculture.” “NDA’s poster contest highlights Nebraska’s number one industry and reminds all Nebraskans that agriculture is a big part of all of our lives,” said NDA dire...
From the food they eat, to the clothes they wear, agriculture impacts everyone. To highlight and celebrate agriculture’s many contributions, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a student poster contest. NDA’s annual poster contest is in its 20th year and is open to all Nebraska students in first through sixth grades. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Nebraska Agriculture.” “NDA’s poster contest highlights Nebraska’s number one industry and reminds all Nebraskans that agriculture is a big part of all of our lives,” said NDA dire...
As Justin Taubenheim combined soybeans in a Buffalo County field on an October afternoon, he thought about why he does it. "I'm not farming to get rich,” he said. “I'm farming to maintain a legacy, a way of life. Faith, family and farming, in that order. The farm is kinda like the icing on the cake." Taubenheim, 31, sports fewer gray hairs than your normal Nebraska farmer. The average age of a principal Nebraska farm or ranch operator: 56.4 years old, according to census figures. The rising worry: There won’t be a next generation to carry...
Under the warm lights of the Casa Bovina dining room, a round of Certified Piedmontese rib cap glows red, like a rare jewel. A selection of house-cured charcuterie made from Nebraska-raised Mangalitsa pork is served artfully arranged on a slab of reclaimed wood. Beef Wellington - a dish chef Zach Midgett, who came to Lincoln from Napa Valley's famed French Laundry, says he's still perfecting - arrives beautifully plated, with a piece of fork-tender Piedmontese meat at its center, surrounded by...
I know I've mentioned this in previous columns, but popcorn is one of my favorite snack foods. I bet it's one of yours as well. And our love of popcorn is just one of the reasons there is a lot to celebrate in the New Year including National Popcorn Day (Jan. 19) and the Chinese New Year (Jan, 22). It's hard to believe a snack food that tastes so good can actually be good for you, but it's true. Popcorn is a whole grain that is 100% unprocessed with no additional additives, hidden ingredients...
U.S. Department of Agriculture Nebraska Farm Service Agency Executive Director John Berge is reminding the state's producers who suffered livestock losses due to the recent adverse weather, they may be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program. "The Livestock Indemnity Program provides producers with a safety net to help them with the financial impact of livestock losses due to extreme or abnormal weather," said Berge. "December has been marked by blizzards and extreme cold and high winds,...
Pretend for a moment that Nebraska somehow halted all use of nitrogen fertilizer – not a single speck more on our lawns, golf courses and corn fields. What would happen? Nothing fast. That's because, experts say, generations of corn growing, feedlot runoff and oft-unwitting nitrogen overuse has left a legacy of nitrate, creeping slowly downward toward our water supply. "It's there, it's moving towards the groundwater, and there's not a thing we can do about it," said Don Batie, a farmer near L...
A study released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates between 2018 and 2020, close to 120,000 households in Nebraska faced food insecurity, which the agency defines as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active and healthy life. Leaders in some states, including Nebraska, have taken note. In 2021, the Nebraska Legislature expanded the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to hundreds of additional families by increasing the gross...
This week, Governor Pete Ricketts is leading a trade mission to Japan to promote Nebraska's quality ag products and to pitch Nebraska as a top destination for international investment. The governor and trade delegation will meet with government officials, promote Nebraska beef, pork, ethanol and other ag products and encourage Japanese businesses to invest in Nebraska. Delegates on the mission include representatives from ag businesses, state commodity organizations, Nebraska Farm Bureau, the De...
ausing to reflect on the heroic service of the servicemembers in our nation’s history is an important American tradition. Extending recognition for the immeasurable impact our veterans have made through selfless devotion and love for the United States is why we pause each Veterans Day. We can never fully repay those who have put their lives on the line for freedom in America and around the world, but we can work to ensure those who have served and sacrificed have access to the care and b...
The Nebraska Rural Response Hotline, together with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture Beginning Farm Tax Credit and Negotiations Program, the Farm & Ranch Project of Legal Aid of Nebraska and the Nebraska Farmers Union Foundaiton are sponsoring a free three- to four-hour workshop for farm and ranch families. The workshop will cover basic estate planning, the use of business entities in farm- and ranch-succession financial and management issues in succession planning and transfer and death taxes, including recent changes for the Nebraska...
The deadline for Nebraska producers to submit initial paperwork for the Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program is Nov. 18. CSP and EQIP are working lands programs that allow farmers and ranchers to address natural resource priorities while maintaining agricultural production. They are administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and provide financial and technical assistance for producers interested in implementing conservation practices. “In contrast to a o...
Fifty years ago, women’s volleyball wasn’t even a varsity sport at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Fast forward a half century and Nebraska volleyball is must-see entertainment. Matches at the Devaney Center are standing room only. The Huskers again led the nation in home attendance last year with crowds averaging over 8,200 per match. And their national championship match against Wisconsin in December broke collegiate volleyball records for both in-person attendance (18,755) and TV vie...
Nebraska is a land of pioneers. Our state was settled by hardy homesteaders who ventured across windswept prairies in search of opportunity. While we often celebrate the grit and determination of these early Nebraskans, they deserve equal credit for their ingenuity. Their inventiveness helped transform the Great Plains into some of the most productive agricultural land in the world. This spirit of innovation remains a driving force behind our state's global leadership in agriculture. Nebraskans...
For two years, processors and producers across rural Nebraska have fought hard to get a program to improve and expand Nebraska's meat processing capabilities approved and established. Their work, along with that of the Nebraska Legislature and staff at Nebraska Department of Agriculture, has paid off as grant applications for the Independent Processor Assistance Program are now being accepted. This development is not only good news to processors who've spent the last two years doing everything...
With the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law last November—a $1.3 trillion investment in our nation’s infrastructure—major funding is now available to rural communities. These funds can be used to rebuild roads and bridges, invest in high-speed internet access and clean drinking water, and upgrade electric power infrastructure. However, just because these funds are available does not necessarily mean they are accessible. Rural communities often find it difficult to navigate fundi...
More than 200 high school juniors and seniors, sharing an interest in agriculture, will gather in Lincoln this July to develop leadership skills, explore career opportunities and learn more about the state’s number one industry. Lizett Marino, of Orchard, and Madison Melcher and Tucker Stagemeyer, of Page, have been selected as participants. In its 51st year, the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute is the longest-running program of its kind in the nation. Sponsored in part by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, NAYI will be held July 1...
While traveling the Third District in recent weeks, I have been encouraged by the expertise and creativity our communities possess and sobered by the challenges we face. We have much to be thankful for, but there is also no shortage to the adversity we must overcome. After closely monitoring the recent severe wildfires across southern Nebraska, I joined Governor Ricketts, Nebraska National Guard Adjutant General Daryl Bohac and other local officials earlier this week to survey the devastation...
Since its inception in 1972, Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts have been planting conservation trees and shrubs for windbreaks, erosion control, wildlife habitat and other conservation purposes. This spring, the NRD Conservation Tree Program plants its 100 millionth tree – that’s approximately 50 trees for each Nebraskan. “Nebraska has a proud history of planting trees, and putting the 100 millionth tree in the ground reflects Nebraskans’ willingness to invest in the future,” said Dr. Orval Gigstad, Nebraska Association of Resources D...
