Ag-Life

Senior Evan Pankoke is wrapping up his fourth year in FFA and his first year as president of the chapter at Hampton High School. He said he plans to make a career in agriculture.

Senior Evan Pankoke is wrapping up his fourth year in FFA and his first year as president of the chapter at Hampton High School. He said he plans to make a career in agriculture.

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Pankoke: ‘FFA helped me learn to lead’

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Although he has grown up on a cattle feed lot operation north of Hampton and has been around agriculture his entire life, Evan Pankoke says when he joined the Hampton FFA chapter four years ago as a freshman, he really didn’t know what FFA was all about.
Futurist Daniel Burrus addresses the crowd at the Aurora Cooperative Annual Meeting and Summit last Wednesday in Grand Island.

Futurist Daniel Burrus addresses the crowd at the Aurora Cooperative Annual Meeting and Summit last Wednesday in Grand Island.

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Futurist: ‘We are in beyond exponential growth’

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Farmers and ranchers know perhaps better than anybody about the challenges of dealing with an uncertain world. Uncertainties about the weather, (“Will it rain or not?
North Platte farmer John Childears uses his center pivots to irrigate soybeans.

North Platte farmer John Childears uses his center pivots to irrigate soybeans.

What’s water beneath NE soil worth?

News Staff
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Flatwater Free Press reportThe land John Childears farms near North Platte is sandy, not particularly fertile, less than ideal.But the value of his land largely lies beneath his feet: the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest in the world.
Gene Schlecte and his wife, Sandy, are seen here in their home near Waco. Schlecte was honored by the York-Hamilton Cattlemen Tuesday for his many years as a York County cattle producer.

Gene Schlecte and his wife, Sandy, are seen here in their home near Waco. Schlecte was honored by the York-Hamilton Cattlemen Tuesday for his many years as a York County cattle producer.

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Schlecte honored by York-Hamilton Cattlemen

News Staff
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Gene Schlechte, a cattle feeder and corn farmer from Waco, was honored at the 75th annual York-Hamilton County Cattlemen’s Banquet on Tuesday in York. Schlechte, who is now retired and something like an alum of the organization, said that he was in the Cattlemen’s organization for 40 to 45 years.
Brothers Dean, left, and Mark Klute stand by one of the two feeding trucks they use in their Triple K Cattle Company cattle feeding operation northeast of Hampton. The company is being honored this week by the York-Hamilton County Cattlemen at their 75th annual banquet in York.

Brothers Dean, left, and Mark Klute stand by one of the two feeding trucks they use in their Triple K Cattle Company cattle feeding operation northeast of Hampton. The company is being honored this week by the York-Hamilton County Cattlemen at their 75th annual banquet in York.

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Triple K Cattle puts the family in family farming

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
As family farming operations go, they don’t come much more family than Triple K Cattle Company of Hampton. Brothers Dean and Mark Klute are now in their fifth decade of feeding cattle at their operation northeast of Hampton.
Aurora auger flighting manufacturer, Top Flite was represented at December’s Nebraska Ag Expo in Lincoln by company general manager Chris Schaffert, left, and shop manager Jack Lovejoy.

Aurora auger flighting manufacturer, Top Flite was represented at December’s Nebraska Ag Expo in Lincoln by company general manager Chris Schaffert, left, and shop manager Jack Lovejoy.

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Aurora-based Top Flite has customers worldwide

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
With thousands of farmers and ranchers coming from several surrounding states to attend the Nebraska Ag Expo in Lincoln every December, the show provides an excellent showcase for producers of ag equipment of all kinds from tractors to spray drones.
Billionaire Bill Gates, known for buying farmland across the United States, recently purchased more than 22,000 acres of Nebraska ag lands.

Billionaire Bill Gates, known for buying farmland across the United States, recently purchased more than 22,000 acres of Nebraska ag lands.

Bill Gates owns $113 million in Nebraska farmland

News Staff
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
This article is courtesy of the Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska's first independent, non-profit newsroom. A glance at federal records shows the series of Nebraska farms listed as foreign owned, though there’s no country attached and no hint that these farms with unassuming names might be related.
The Bish Enterprises booth at Nebraska Ag Expo in December displays various innovative products made from hemp. Two years ago the Giltner company created a fiber cut machine which is a multi-height sickle mower for the hemp stalk.

The Bish Enterprises booth at Nebraska Ag Expo in December displays various innovative products made from hemp. Two years ago the Giltner company created a fiber cut machine which is a multi-height sickle mower for the hemp stalk.

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Bish specializes in filling niches in ag

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Among the literally hundreds of ag product vendors displaying their wares at the Nebraska Ag Expo in Lincoln at the beginning of December was a company based in Giltner that has been making waves and headlines recently with its unique line of custom combine headers and other equipment for...
The purchase of 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota by the Fufeng Group, based in Shandong, China, has fueled concerns about foreign ownership of American land by foreign entities. The major concern with that purchase was that the land was located 12 miles from an Air Force base.

The purchase of 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota by the Fufeng Group, based in Shandong, China, has fueled concerns about foreign ownership of American land by foreign entities. The major concern with that purchase was that the land was located 12 miles from an Air Force base.

Do only Americans own American land?

News Staff
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Foreign investment in the United States, while not a new phenomenon, has recently caught the attention of the American public and members of the U.S.
Ag budgets for 2024 are a mixed bag

Ag budgets for 2024 are a mixed bag

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2024 Nebraska crop budgets a mixed bag

News Staff
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
While field operation costs are projected higher for the 2024 Nebraska crop enterprises, some material input costs are lower than were projected for 2023.