News

Kudera makes Husker history at NACTA Crops Judging contest Monday, April 11, 2022

Nebraska's winning team includes senior agronomy majors Nathan Donoghue, Katie Steffen, Sarina Janssen and Korbin Kudera. | Jared Stander

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Crops Judging Team competed in the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Contest March 31 – April 2 in North Platte, Nebraska.

Korbin Kudera made Husker history and became the first Nebraska agronomy student to earn first-place individual overall in both the crops contest and the precision agriculture contest. He also earned high score and Individual Champion for the Agronomic Knowledge Exam and Lab Practical in the Crops Contest and for the Knowledge Exam and Lab practical in the Precision Agriculture Contest.

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Spring Affair back in person for the first time in three years Monday, April 11, 2022

Spring Affair, the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum’s annual plant sale and garden event, is fully back in-person on April 28-30 in Lincoln for the first time since April 2019.

See full story in Nebraska Today

Nebraska Range Short Course begins June 21 Monday, April 11, 2022

The Nebraska Range Short Course will be held at Chadron State College June 21–24. Sponsored by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Chadron State College, and the Nebraska Section of the Society for Range Management, the four-day course is designed to provide individuals who have a background in ranch, natural resource or wildlife management an opportunity to increase their knowledge in topics related to range management.

Taught through a series of classroom and field sessions, the course focuses on the underlying principles of range management.

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Alpha Gamma Chapter celebrates new inductees and 40th anniversary Friday, April 8, 2022

Newest Alpha Gamma Chapter inductees pose with past officers. From left are Jamie Dasenbrock, past vice president, Sage Eckard, Cole Hammett, Benjamin Knudsen, Tori Boden, Macey Wooldrik, Jacob Nichols, Jacob Hillis, Deanna Montanez Mendoza, Nathan Starr, and Elizabeth Cunningham, past president. | Photo courtesy of Luqi Li

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Alpha Gamma Chapter of Pi Alpha Xi, the National Honor Society for Horticulture, inducted new members and elected officers for next year April 2 in the Dinsdale Family Learning Commons on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln East Campus. New inductees this year are Tori Boden, Sage Eckard, Cole Hammett, Jacob Hillis, Benjamin Knudsen, Eric Kovarik, Deanna Montanez Mendoza, Jacob Nichols, Nathan Starr, Sidney Thimgan, Drew Wessel and Macey Wooldrik.

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70 years on, ‘Backyard Farmer’ remains hardy perennial in Nebraska life Thursday, March 31, 2022

“Backyard Farmer,” the longest-running locally produced TV program in the country, celebrates its 70th anniversary this spring. Pictured here during the show’s 1967 season are (from left) Wayne Whitney, extension horticulture specialist; John Wheihing, extension plant pathologist; Dwayne Trenkle (standing), co-host; John Furrer, extension turf and weed specialist; George Round (standing), founder and host; Bob Roselle, extension entomologist; and Cyril Bish, extension educator.

Each spring, the annual return of “Backyard Farmer” to the airwaves is as eagerly anticipated as the return of Sandhill cranes to Central Platte waters. The show has been a shared Nebraska experience for generations, featuring practical lawn and gardening advice leavened by lighthearted fun. This year, it celebrates its 70th anniversary.

See full story in Nebraska Today

The Biggest Grower competition returns in May Wednesday, March 30, 2022

The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and Nebraska Extension to again offer a student gardening competition this summer. | Shutterstock

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and Nebraska Extension will host a high school student gardening competition again this summer. Participants will plant, grow, cultivate, harvest and distribute their fresh specialty crops and compete alongside other Nebraska students to find out who is The Biggest Grower.

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A Tribute to M. Rosalind Morris, first women professor of agronomy at Nebraska Wednesday, March 30, 2022

M. Rosalind Morris | Photo courtesy of UNL Archives & Special Collections

M. Rosalind Morris, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agronomy and Horticulture emeritus professor of plant cytogenetics, died March 26, 2022, just a few weeks shy of her 102nd birthday.

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Nebraska faculty lead one-of-a-kind national cover crop course Thursday, March 24, 2022

Sarina Janssen, a senior agronomy major (from left), and Benjamin Janssen, a junior plant biology major, with course instructor Andrea Basche, identify plants grown for the Cover Crop Challenge activity in Agronomy 425/825 Cover Crops in Agroecosystems. Students selected their own cover crop mixes. Photo by Lana Koepke Johnson | Agronomy and Horticulture

With a lot of time, planning, collaboration with other institutions and a $10 million USDA-NIFA CAP grant, Nebraska faculty in agronomy and horticulture offer a cover crop course like none other in the country. The Agronomy 425/825 Cover Crops in Agroecosystems inaugural class which began Aug. 30, had 100 students total nationwide with 50 enrolled through the University of Nebraska–Lincoln — 33 online and 17 in person.

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CASNR announces Change Maker student scholarship recipients Thursday, March 24, 2022

CASNR Change Maker Competition for students

Congrats to Lily Brummel, who will be a plant and landscape systems major with a horticulture option this fall in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources! Brummel is one of eight incoming CASNR students who were awarded a full-tuition scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year on Feb. 18. Brummel is from Plano, Illinois.

See full story in IANR News

Experience Agronomy Day is March 26 Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Nebraska FFA members participate in Experience Agronomy Day 2020.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Agronomy Club is hosting their annual Experience Agronomy Day for high school students and Nebraska FFA chapters March 26 virtually.

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