Members of local law enforcement, emergency service agencies and others participate in a public awareness and safety training exercise at the Koch Fertilizer anhydrous ammonia storage facility west of Aurora on Tuesday, June 10. Leading the session at top right is Facility Manager Tony Roth.

David Vetter (right), CEO of Grain Place Foods, leads visitors on a tour of the farm near Marquette during a previous field day. Morning farm tours will be also be a part of this year’s field day on July 12, but lunch and the afternoon session will be moved to The Leadership Center in Aurora for a presentation by Ray Archuleta, known nationally as “the Soil Guy,” and a screening of the film “Dreaming of a Vetter Life.”

A thunderstorm prepares to drop rain on Brandon Hunnicutt’s soybean field near Giltner, some of which has been planted with CropVoice seeds. The special hybrid plant will give off a signal that can be detected by a satellite when a fungus such as white mold infects the plant and before an infection could be seen with the naked eye.

Total farm receipts in Nebraska are projected to increase $731 million, to $33.37 billion, as higher cash receipts from livestock and crop insurance indemnities offset the decline in cash receipts from crops.

Francis McDonald stands in front of one of many cattle pens at the feed lot he and his brother, John, operate with the help of their sons near Phillips. Although they’re paying more for feeder calves these days because of the shortage caused by recent droughts in cow country, they’re also enjoying higher prices for their finished product due in part to the current popularity of beef.

The latest Nebraska map from U.S. Drought Monitor shows that conditions in the state range from abnormally dry to extreme drought, with the dryest conditions in the northwestern and northeastern regions of the state.

Gov. Jim Pillen (second from left) holds a proclamation naming May as ‘Beef Month’ in Nebraska. He was joined at the proclamation signing ceremony at the Single Barrel restaurant in Lincoln by (from left) Nebraska Beef Council board chairwoman Rosemary Anderson, Nebraska Cattlemen president Dick Pierce and Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton.

Hamilton County Extension Lead Educator Mariah Newmyer was named by Nebraska Extension last fall as the Lead Educator of the Year for 2024.

Morgan Bonifas displays the Nursery Operations Agricultural Proficiency Award she was presented at the Nebraska State FFA Convention earlier this month. She received the award for her high school summer job at Wild Roots Greenhouse in Central City.

A graph provided by Upper Big Blue NRD