Ag-Life

This graphic shows the area of interest for a recently completed computer model that will help local NRDs evaluate the impact of water pumping from the aquifer.

This graphic shows the area of interest for a recently completed computer model that will help local NRDs evaluate the impact of water pumping from the aquifer.

Blue River Basin Model project completed

News Staff
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Editor’s note: With the recent proposal to build an ammonia plant near Aurora that will use a large amount of water each day and the agreement last month by city and county officials to participate in a groundwater sustainability study along with the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District, the...
Tour guide Tom Ernstmeyer, right, answers a question from one of the members of his tour group as it pauses before a 700 ton press on the floor of the Case IH factory in Grand Island.

Tour guide Tom Ernstmeyer, right, answers a question from one of the members of his tour group as it pauses before a 700 ton press on the floor of the Case IH factory in Grand Island.

Hamilton County Corn Growers tour Case IH plant

Ron Burtz
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
People who live in south-central Nebraska get to see where some of their food comes from all the time. A short trip to the country will take them past corn and soybean fields, hog operations and pastures of cattle providing meat and milk products.
Robert Bernt, a farmer from Spaulding, voiced his displeasure with local officials and wind developers at a public meeting in Greeley County in June.

Robert Bernt, a farmer from Spaulding, voiced his displeasure with local officials and wind developers at a public meeting in Greeley County in June.

Debate on renewable energy often runs hot in Nebraska

News Staff
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
GREELEY, Neb. – Better to walk out than get thrown out.And with that, Robert Bernt, an organic farmer in central Nebraska, turned and left the old school gymnasium where the county zoning board was evaluating a proposed wind farm.
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.