Ag News for America
The Nebraska Leadership Education/Action Development (LEAD) program began in 1981. Since that time, more than 900 Nebraska agriculturalists have gone through this ag leadership program.
At Husker Harvest Days, we talked to LEAD director Terry Hejny about the program and what has made it so successful.
Thanks in part to this summer’s extreme drought, companies who manufacture and market subsurface drip irrigation systems saw a significant increase in traffic in their booths at this year’s Husker Harvest Days farm show.
One of those companies is Toro. In the Toro tent, we had a chance to visit with two Nebraska farmers who are using drip irrigation on their farms—Don Anthony of Lexington and Gary Greving of Chapman.
AUDIOI: Don Anthony (6:04 MP3)
AUDIO: Gary Greving (6:17 MP3)
We also talked to Don Masten with Toro dealer Ag Valley Water Resources of Edison, Nebraska, a division of Ag Valley Coop. Masten says interest in drip irrigation in his area has been growing because of water restrictions that have been imposed on Republican Valley irrigators in recent years.
Don Anthony
Gary Greving
Kubota Tractor Corporation is celebrating its 40th year as an American company.
At the Kubota display at Husker Harvest Days, we visited with sr. product manager Paul Williams about the company and the products it has to offer to American farmers.
AUDIO: Paul Williams (3:07 MP3)
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of Nebraska’s unique, locally-governed natural resources districts (NRDs).
We stopped by the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts’ (NARD) building at Husker Harvest Day and visited with NARD chairman Joe Anderjaska of Hayes Center about changes he has seen at the state level and in his own area as well.
AUDIO: Joe Anderjaska (6:46 MP3)
While in the NARD building, we also had the opportunity to visit with Ron Bishop, general manager of the Central Platte Natural Resources District (CPNRD). Bishop gave us an update on the new plan to convert the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s surface water irrigation system over to a groundwater recharge system.
Joe Anderjaska
Ron Bishop
The ADS Bulk Seed Buggy seed tender is manufactured by Ag Dryer Services at Elm Creek, Nebraska.
At Husker Harvest Days, we asked sales representative Bob Koehler to explain what makes the ADS Bulk Seed Buggy different from other seed tenders on the market.
To meet the changing needs of today’s irrigator, Lindsay Irrigation has made some more improvements to its award-winning FieldNET remote control, Internet-based center pivot control system.
At Husker Harvest Days, we asked Lindsay’s new technology product manager Reece Andrews to tell us what’s new with FieldNET.
AUDIO: Reece Andrews (2:16 MP3)
Clark Lehr (l) and John Stinner with Brownfield’s Ken Anderson
At Husker Harvest Days, Brownfield had the opportunity to visit with two top officials of the Nebraska Bankers Association (NBA)—chairman Clark Lehr, president and CEO of First Nebraska Bank of Columbus, and vice-chairman John Stinner, president and CEO of Valley Bank and Trust of Gering.
The bankers talked about the ag economy, lending activity and issues facing the banking sector.
AUDIO: Clark Lehr and John Stinner (4:00 MP3)
George Beattie
We also talked to NBA president George Beattie about his group’s efforts to attract more young people to the banking industry and their continued support of the ag lending major at the University of Nebraska.
AUDIO: George Beattie (2:56 MP3)
Hoegemeyer Hybrids continued its 75th Anniversary celebration at Husker Harvest Days.
But as Hoegemeyer general manager Stephan Becerra told us, the company is also looking ahead and is always focused on bringing the latest in seed genetics and technology to its customers.
AUDIO: Stephan Becerra (1:21 MP3)
According to its web site, the purpose of the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) is “to assist farmers seeking to make responsible changes to their farms to remain economically viable and environmentally and socially responsible, and to share with Nebraskans a truthful representation of farm life and the connection between it and Nebraska’s economic and social well-being.”
Over the past couple of years, A-FAN has concentrated more on the second half of that “purpose” statement by informing Nebraskans about the importance of agriculture to the state and explaining the extra steps that livestock producers take to care for their animals.
Now, according to organizational director Willow Holoubek, A-FAN is ready to resume its efforts in the area of livestock development. Here’s our interview recorded with Holoubek at Husker Harvest Days.
AUDIO: Willow Holoubek (3:14 MP3)
Justin Troudt and Mike Petersen with the Orthman 1tRIPr
At the Orthman display at Husker Harvest Days, we visited with precision tillage agronomist Mike Petersen and vice-president for global sales Justin Troudt.
Orthman has been at the forefront of strip-tillage since the late 1990s, and both Petersen and Troudt say it was exciting to see what a difference strip-till made for many farmers in 2012. By helping the corn plant establish a better root system, it was better able to withstand the drought, resulting in yield gains of 20 to 50 bushels in some cases.
AUDIO: Mike Petersen (3:47 MP3)
AUDIO: Justin Troudt (2:46 MP3)
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