Soil Moisture

Temperature during last four El Ninos

Winter Weather Outlook for 2023-24

October 27, 2023
Temperatures this winter are expected to be above average statewide, and total precipitation — including snowfall — is expected to be above average in southern Nebraska and around average elsewhere.

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MICRA project team posing for photo
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln team working on the MICRA project includes (from left) Taro Mieno, agricultural economics; Daniel Schachtman, agronomy and horticulture; Saleh Taghvaeian, biological systems engineering; and Seunghee Kim, civil engineering. (Photo by Nick Kumpula, Research and Economic Development)

Nebraska Part of Interdisciplinary Team Examining Climate Resiliency Through Soil

September 28, 2023
The research team will experiment with soil amendments and biochar to measure their impact on soil water-holding capacity to find ways to improve preservation of soil moisture in farm fields.

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Pivot in field
Irrigating a late season soybean field. (Photo by Steve Melvin)

Optimize Those Last Few Irrigations

August 17, 2023
Leaving the field a little drier at the end of the season can help producers save irrigation costs, decrease leaching losses, improve soil conditions for harvest traffic, save water for future years and capture more off-season precipitation.

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Irrigation system

Scheduling the Last Few Irrigations of the Season

August 25, 2022
Factors such as the amount of water a soil can hold, the amount of water a crop will use until it reaches maturity, and the maximum allowable soil water depletion should be considered when deciding the last few irrigations of the season.

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Tractor planting

Considerations for Planting into Dry Conditions

April 12, 2024
As planting is critical for everything else that happens during the growing season, the dry conditions have led to a variety of questions this spring regarding soil conditions, planting depth, irrigation and herbicides.

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CPC temperature outlook map

CPC Increases the Odds of La Niña Development and Issues Official Fall Forecast

August 24, 2021
During the fall of a building La Niña event, the northern and central High Plains region has a tendency to be warmer and drier than normal, which will keep drought prospects elevated for 2022 barring an exceptionally wet late winter and spring.

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Pivot irrigation

Scheduling the Last Few Irrigations of the Season Deserves More of Your Management Time Than Earlier Irrigations

August 19, 2021
University of Nebraska irrigation scheduling recommendations encourage irrigators to allow crops to continue using more of the stored soil water starting in August and continuing into September when the crop matures.

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Soil samples

Can Cover Crops Offset the Negative Impacts of Corn Silage?

April 28, 2021
UNL researchers discerned varied results from a study on reducing soil compaction and wind/water erosion on fields harvested for corn silage by planting cover crops. 

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