CropWatch Survey

What topics in CropWatch are most helpful to your farm or agribusiness? What topics would you like to see more information on? Take our reader survey by Dec. 19 and you could win a Crop Production Clinic registration or five 2015 Weed Guides.  Go to Survey

Dec. 12-17, 2014

Farm Management

• Congress Extends Ag Tax Provisions to Dec. 31, 2014; Now Awaiting President's Signature. What could this mean for your farm? How do Section 179 and Bonus depreciations differ?
• 2015 Crop Budgets Now Available. Updated and expanded for 2015, 69 budgets for 14 crop options are presented in both PDF and Excel formats. Use the spreadsheets to customize budgets for your conditions, testing how alternative practices would affect total production costs. Budgets for 2014 are also available for further comparison.
• Learn How to Customize 2015 Excel Crop Budgets in this YouTube video by Roger Wilson, Nebraska Extension farm management specialist.

Climate

• Nebraska Ag Climate Update for December. After a fall of record lows, record highs, and extremely wet soils now moving to abnormally dry soils, what lies ahead for Nebraska? Check out the fall record and forecast maps.

Market Journal

• View segments on the market response to the December crop report, farm bill choices, 2014 Soybean Day, crop sensing technology for soybeans, and the forecast for the next week.

Crop Report

• Dry Edible Bean Production up 38% from 2013. Dry edible bean production in Nebraska is forecast at 3.8 million cwt for 2014, up 38% from last year. Nebraska ranks first in the nation in great northern bean production and third in overall dry edible bean area planted, area harvested, and overall production.

Ag News Links

• UNL Water for Food Seminar to Explore Sensing for Crop-Water Productivity. Wim G.M. Bastiaanssen, professor of global water accounting for UNESCO-IHE and professor of civil engineering and geosciences at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, will discuss using remote sensing data to analyze important water management problems and drive agricultural decision-making. The seminar will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday Dec. 15 on UNL's East Campus.

Programs & Resources

• Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Dec. 18 in Wahoo. University and industry speakers and commercial exhibits.
• UNL Crop Production Clinics Slated for January. High impact training for ag professionals and research updates for Nebraska cropping systems and pest management strategies.
• UNL-USDA FSA Farm Bill Meetings beind held across the state to provide key information for program selection.
• Free Farm Finance and Legal Aid Clinics in December. Confidential meetings with an ag law attorney or ag financial counselor.