Soil Moisture

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.

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.

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.

USDA Reports Slightly Improved Winter Wheat Crop

April 1, 2021

For the week ending March 28, 2021, winter wheat condition rated 5% very poor, 12% poor, 45% fair, 36% good and 2% excellent.

Figure 1. A view of all four treatments of a corn residue and cover crop experiment at the South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center. Top left is cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; top right is cereal with corn residue. Bottom left is no cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; bottom right is corn residue and no cover crop (control). — Figure 1. A view of all four treatments from a corn residue and cover crop experiment at the South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center. Top left is cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; top right is cereal with corn residue. Bottom left is no cereal rye with 60% corn residue removal; bottom right is corn residue and no cover crop (control).

Cover Crop and Crop Residue Management: How Does it Affect Soil Water in the Short and Long Term?

August 13, 2018

How you manage your soil today impacts its productivity tomorrow. This article focuses on how plant residue management and cover crop use affect water infiltration and plant available water.

Soil moisture sensor only partially installed due to dry ground

Determining Beginning Soil Moisture for Planning Decisions

April 12, 2018

Soil moisture sensors installed now can provide valuable information for dryland producers who want to determine existing soil moisture level and adjust cropping or planting plans accordingly. The authors installed and will be monitoring soil moisture readings at six sites in south central Nebraska.

Wheat Condition and Soil Moisture Reports

April 8, 2016

This week the National Drought Monitor rated almost 25% of Nebraska as "abnormally dry," a major change from 0% since Jan. 1. Most of the affected area was along the southern tier of Nebraska counties.