UNL Taps

TAPS Banquet to Celebrate 2019 Competitions

November 5, 2019
With a record-setting wet growing season and some unique differences in management decisions by competitors, this year’s Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) awards banquet is sure to be interesting.

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While mold sclerotia in a soybean stem

Crop Disease Reports from the UNL Diagnostic Clinic

September 13, 2019
Diseases of corn, soybean, sorghum and alfalfa diagnosed by the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic in the last two weeks.

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USDA Forecasts Record Nebraska Corn Harvest

September 12, 2019
Based on September 1 conditions, Nebraska's 2019 corn crop is forecast at a record 1.79 billion bushels, up slightly from last year's production. Soybean production is forecast at 287 million bushels, down 14% from last year. See forecasts for sorghum, surgar beets and dry beans too.

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Through a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln research team is developing ways to maximize sorghum potentials across the United States.
Figure 1. Through a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln research team is developing ways to maximize sorghum potentials across the United States.

Nebraska Team Merges Machine Learning, Plant Genetics to Maximize Sorghum Potential

August 22, 2019
Sorghum is emerging as a star player in the biofuels industry. With its water use efficiency, resistance to heat, and low cost of seed, it could outpace corn, with a little boost from improved genetics. To aid that, a UNL team was recently awarded a $2.7 million grant to work on a rapid, efficient method for characterizing its gene functions.

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Corn growing on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus. A new Nebraska study has quantified the benefits of irrigation among nine U.S. crops by analyzing yields from 1950 to 2015. (Photo by Craig Chandler/University Communication)
Figure 1. Corn growing on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s East Campus. A new Nebraska study has quantified the benefits of irrigation among nine U.S. crops by analyzing yields from 1950 to 2015. (Photo by Craig Chandler/University Communication)

Gap Growing Between Irrigated, Rainfed Crop Yields

August 13, 2019
A 65-year comparative analysis between U.S. yields of irrigated and rainfed crops has sounded a message to farmers, land managers and policymakers: Mind the gap. Researchers analyzed annual yields of nine crops on a county-by-county basis from 1950 to 2015.

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A mature wheat field in eastern Nebraska.
Figure 1. A wheat field about ready to harvest and, in the background, a corn field in eastern Nebraska. (Photo by Paul Jasa)

Crop Condition Improves Slightly; Progress Still Behind

July 22, 2019
Crop condition improved slightly for corn and soybean, while crop progress continued to lag previous years in all categories for the week ending July 21. Wheat harvest was 33% complete, well behind the five-year average of 76%.

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Pivot field at the West Central Research and Extension Center, site of one of the three divisions in this year's UNL-TAPS competition. (Photo by Krystle Rhoades)
Figure 1. Pivot field at the West Central Research and Extension Center, site of one of the three divisions in this year's UNL-TAPS competition. (Photo by Krystle Rhoades)

UNL-TAPS Field Tour this Thursday, June 27

June 19, 2019
View the variable rate irrigation system and the subsurface drip irrigation system used for this year's UNL-TAPS competition at the TAPS Field Tour on Thursday, June 27. There will be plenty of time to talk with contest participants and staff about this year's contest.

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USDA: Nebraska Corn, Soybean Planting Nearly Done

June 18, 2019
With 98% of the corn crop and 91% of the soybean crop planted as of Sunday, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska planting efforts moved down the home stretch.

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