Nebraska LEAD Class 42 Fellows celebrate their graduation after completing the two-year leadership development program. With their completion, the Nebraska LEAD Program now boasts more than 1,200 alumni dedicated to strengthening Nebraska’s agricultural industry and rural communities. One of the members of Class 42 is Matt Oswald of Aurora (back row center).

The new corn cleaning plant built by CVA along Highway 34 in Hampton is nearly complete and will soon be up to full capacity, cleaning up to 1,500 bushels of corn per hour.

This corn leaf shows the effects of a tar spot fungal infection. The disease first appeared in corn fields in states east of here in 2015 and had spread to Nebraska by 2021. (Photo credit Tamra Jackson-Ziems)

New U.S. tariffs on goods from China, Mexico and Canada are expected to erode the export competitiveness of Nebraska’s ag sector and decrease its access to export markets due to trading partners’ retaliation, according to a new Yeutter Institute analysis. (Photo credit, Craig Chandler/University Communication and Marketing)

Spending cuts recommended by the new DOGE most likely will affect some federal ag programs, but it still is unclear what role DOGE will play in the coming farm bill discussions.

Timpte Trailers President and CEO Tim Carpenter, right, talks to members of the Hamilton County Corn Growers who attended a factory tour Thursday at the company’s David City plant where dry bulk semitrailers are built.

Ag economist Brian Burke of John Stewart and Associates told a crowd at the Aurora Cooperative annual meeting last Wednesday that he is expecting much volatility in commodities markets this year, with much of that upheaval being due to the change in presidential administrations and the policy changes that will accompany that.

Estate and trust attorney Andrew Loudon of Lincoln tells the crowd at the Aurora Cooperative annual meeting that most of what he has learned about mistakes made in estate planning has come from helping clean up the messes left behind by those who failed to properly plan for the disposition of their assets after death.

Hamilton County Noxious Weed and Highway Supt. Jeremy Brandt sprays weeds in a road ditch near a county bridge. He is responsible for knocking out noxious weeds and invasive species along the county’s 1,000 miles of roads and enforcing weed control on private lands.

Along with the major federal funding package passed by Congress just before Christmas, major ag economic and disaster relief funds were included in the package.