News

Refining surge protector in crops could boost yields Wednesday, June 7, 2023

A summer’s worth of missed opportunities to harvest light can cost cornfields, and those who farm them, a sizable portion of the potential harvests they yield in the fall. New findings from Nebraska’s Kasia Glowacka and colleagues could help change that. Shutterstock / Kasia Glowacka / Scott Schrage

Awash in a rowed sea of its brethren, a corn leaf relegated to the lowest rung of its stem spends much of a June afternoon doused in shade cast by the higher-ups.

Full story at Nebraska Today

Viticulture field day is June 26 Tuesday, June 6, 2023

The University of Nebraska Viticulture Program and the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association will host a field day June 26 at Capitol View Winery & Vineyards, 2361 Wittstruck Road, Roca, Nebraska.

Read Viticulture field day is June 26

Agronomy and Horticulture students benefit from early lab work, internships, clubs Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Club activities provide enriching experiences, Agronomy and Horticulture students say. Here, senior plant and landscape systems majors Briezy Kroeger, left, and Elaina Madison prepare plants for the Horticulture Club’s spring bedding plant sale in the East Campus greenhouse. Lana Koepke Johnson | Agronomy and Horticulture

Providing well-designed experiential learning early in a student’s undergraduate career can have great benefit, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture has found. A key example is introducing freshmen to scientific lab work.

Full story at IANR News

Nebraska bean breeder collaborates on bean project in Zambia Tuesday, June 6, 2023

University of Zambia Bethel Njobvu, lab technician, left, and student Kuwabo Kuwabo set up some Mattson Cookers. Photo by Carlos Urrea

In April, Carlos Urrea, University of Nebraska–Lincoln associate professor and dry bean breeding specialist, traveled to Lusaka, Zambia, to help install Mattson Cookers and visit field experiments. The “Genetic Improvement of Dry Beans for Bruchid Resistance for Southern Africa” project is funded by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research.

Full story at Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Wheat variety trial field tours across Nebraska in June Tuesday, June 6, 2023

One of the wheat field tour stops in 2022 at the UNL High Plains Ag Lab. Chabella Guzman | Panhandle Research and Extension Center

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crop Performance Testing program will sponsor wheat variety trial field tours in six locations across Nebraska, from Perkins to Banner County, starting June 12 - 15.

Full story at IANR News

Core curriculum, academic customization boost Agronomy and Horticulture students Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Agronomy and Horticulture students note that they receive well-rounded classroom instruction that carries over well into experiential learning in the field. Here, students study East Campus vegetable plantings. Lana Koepke Johnson | Agronomy and Horticulture

A robust core curriculum, enhanced by flexible customization of academic emphasis areas, is producing positive results at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. The approach is enabling strong interest in one of UNL’s oldest areas of study, agronomy, while helping the department meet the range of student academic needs.

Full story at IANR News

Cover Crop Initiative Project has first Field Day in western Nebraska Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Graduate students Grace Emperatriz Pacheco Jiron (left), Bridget McKinley, and Vesh R. Thapa, UNL postdoctoral research associate, gather forage samples at PREEC cover crop plots. Chabella Guzman | Panhandle Research Education and Extension Center

The Cover Crop Initiative Project held its first field day in early May at the Panhandle Research Education and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. This project represents a four-year collaborative agreement between the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Nebraska Natural Resources Conservation Service to foster understanding and promotion of cover crop use in Nebraska.

The Initiative has established cover crop variety trials in multiple locations across the state, including five Nebraska research stations with distinct agroecology.

Read Cover Crop Initiative Project has first Field Day in western Nebraska

East Campus Discovery Days and Farmers Market kicks off 2023 season June 10 Tuesday, June 6, 2023

A 2022 East Campus Discovery Days and Farmers Market attendee learns to lasso at the UNL Rodeo Club exhibit. The annual event, held on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus for three Saturdays each summer, offers locally grown and produced foods and crafts, educational activities from UNL departments, food trucks and live music. Jordan Opp | University Communication and Marketing

East Campus Discovery Days and Farmers Market is returning to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on three Saturdays this summer. This year’s events are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 10, July 8 and Aug. 12 on the university’s East Campus, 33rd and Holdrege streets.

Full story at Nebraska Today

Bathke receives research awards Friday, May 26, 2023

Katie Bathke graduated May 20 with a Bachelor of Science degree in plant biology with a minor in precision agriculture and completed the requirements of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Honors Program.

To graduate from the Honors Program, students must maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average, complete a culminating senior project or research thesis, and fulfill other curricular requirements.

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English transforms outdoor spaces in long-term care community Friday, May 26, 2023

After thirty years working in information technology doing everything from flipping switches on the data center floor to software programming to enterprise project management, Jane English was ready for a career change.

So she went back to school and graduated Friday, May 19, with a master’s degree in horticulture with an emphasis in gerontology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

English, who grew up in Papillion, Nebraska, into a family of farmers and plant and tree lovers, earned a computer science degree with a minor in business in 1986 from Nebraska.

Read English transforms outdoor spaces in long-term care community