Extension News
Published 6:42 pm Thursday, October 8, 2026
UNL Podcasts & Where to Find Them
For years, University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty, researchers and extension educators have used podcasts to share information and expertise on topics ranging from beef production and crop management to agricultural markets, water, wildlife, entrepreneurship, and natural resources.
Now, those podcasts can be found in one place.
A new agriculture and natural resources podcast collection brings podcasts from across the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources together on one website, making it easier for listeners to find programs they already follow and discover others they may not know about.
Many of the podcasts featured in the collection have built audiences over years, providing timely, research-based information to Nebraska producers, agricultural professionals, and communities. Until now, however, those programs have largely been housed within individual departments, extension programs, centers, and other units across the university.
The new online collection provides a single starting point for exploring that content.
The collection includes:
• “Backyard Farmer,” offering gardening and turf information throughout the growing season;
• “BeefWatch Podcast,” providing research-based information to help beef cattle producers improve the sustainability and profitability of their operations;
• “The Buddy Seat,” featuring conversations with farmers, industry specialists, and academic experts on current agricultural topics to help producers make informed decisions for their operations;
• “CropWatch Podcast,” providing research-based information on crop production, pest management, and related agricultural topics for farmers and agribusinesses;
• “Daugherty Water for Food Podcast,” exploring issues and ideas related to food and water security;
• “Engler Journey,” featuring conversations about entrepreneurship and the people pursuing it;
• “Extension Almanac,” featuring interviews with Nebraska Extension specialists and educators on topics ranging from livestock and crop production to nutrition, lawns and gardens;
• “Nebraska FARMcast,” providing agricultural information and analysis from the university’s Center for Agricultural Profitability; and
• “WildAg Podcast,” connecting landowners and conservation professionals through conversations about agriculture, conservation, and wildlife.
The website does not replace the existing websites or listening platforms for individual podcasts. Programs will continue to be available through the channels their audiences already use. Instead, it gives listeners one place to explore the breadth of podcast content available across Nebraska agriculture and natural resources and connect directly with individual programs.
The collection will continue to grow as new podcasts are developed, and additional existing programs are identified.
Explore the university’s agriculture and natural resources podcasts @ https”//extension.unl.edu/podcasts/.
Timing Last Alfalfa Harvest with GDD
Allowing for alfalfa to winterize before dormancy is a key factor preventing winter kill across a stand. Traditionally, my recommendation has been to time the last cutting for roughly 6 weeks before the first frost.
Growing degree days can give us another way to look at that decision, but there has been an important update to numbers I’ve shared in the past.
Previous recommendations used 500 and 200 growing degree days with a base temperature of 41 degrees. A review of the original research found those numbers came from Celsius-based growing degree days and weren’t properly converted to Fahrenheit. Using base 41 Fahrenheit, the correct thresholds are about 900 and 360 GDD.
With more than 900 GDD remaining before a killing freeze, alfalfa should have enough time to regrow and replenish root reserves. With fewer than 360 GDD remaining, there generally isn’t enough time for significant regrowth to draw those reserves down. That leaves 360 to 900 GDD as the higher-risk window for harvest.
For eastern Nebraska, the University of Wisconsin’s Alfalfa Cutting Tool can help. Select the Upper Midwest map, your location, and then the Season Planning tab. Currently, coverage only extends into roughly the eastern quarter of Nebraska.
For areas farther west, the High Plains Regional Climate Center’s CLIMOD tool can be used to look at historical base-41 GDD and killing-freeze dates for nearby locations.
Finally, stand condition and stress over the growing season should also factor into any late-cutting decision.
Hunting Rights and Land Leases
Amid ongoing market volatility, some producers may be exploring additional income opportunities, including leasing hunting access. This often raises an important question: Who holds the hunting rights when land is leased?
For written cropland or pasture leases, hunting rights can be specifically addressed in the lease agreement. If the lease does not reserve those rights to the landowner, they generally belong to the tenant for the duration of the lease.
The same is typically true for verbal cropland leases. Unless the parties agree otherwise, hunting rights usually default to the tenant because the tenant has the right to possess and use the property during the lease term, including the right to exclude others, even the landowner.
Verbal grazing and pasture leases are somewhat different. Because many of these leases end before hunting season begins, hunting rights often return to the landowner once the lease expires. However, if a verbal grazing lease remains active during hunting season, hunting rights generally belong to the tenant for the duration of the lease unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Landowners do not automatically retain hunting rights simply because they own the property.
Written leases are the best option to avoid misunderstandings, landowners and tenants should clearly address hunting rights when negotiating lease terms and review applicable Nebraska law regarding verbal cropland and pasture leases.
Controlling Winter Annual Bromes
Cheatgrass, sometimes called downy brome, or wild oats, is an annual weedy grass that can be a problem in pastures, particularly in central and western Nebraska.
Cheatgrass often invades thin or overgrazed pastures in fall and early spring. Livestock dislike grazing it after it becomes mature and over time it can take over and create large patches in a pasture.
Research by the University of Nebraska evaluated herbicides for controlling cheatgrass. Products containing rimsulfuron and imazapic can provide good control of cheatgrass from a single application, but control can vary widely from year to year depending on when the application is made, plant maturity, and weather patterns. A one-time management operation, utilizing grazing, mowing, or a non-residual herbicide, usually does not have a lasting impact on the cheatgrass in the seedbank. To reduce the seedbank, control needs to be close to 100% and repeated over several years.
Rejuvra™ is a new rangeland herbicide product from Bayer that works differently from existing cheatgrass herbicides. Rejuvra™ has limited activity on emerged plants and only controls seedlings as they germinate, so it is best to apply Rejuvra™ in early fall before seed germination. This herbicide can provide control up to two years post application.
For warm-season grass pastures, you can use glyphosate herbicides after top growth of these grasses has gone dormant due to a hard freeze or two. This can kill emerged annual brome seedlings or other cool-season species without harming the desirable grasses. With any herbicide, always read and follow label directions.
Fall Grazing Balance
After several dry falls in a row, this year may be shaping up a little differently. With recent rains and cooler weather, cool-season pastures like brome, bluegrass, and fescue could put on some extra growth. That’s good news — but it also raises the question: do we graze it now or save it for later?
Grazing now can ease feed pressure and provide high-quality forage before crop residues open up. Stockpiling, on the other hand, sets up feed for late fall or winter and cuts down on hay use.
But remember — fall is when grasses rebuild root reserves and set buds for next spring. After repeated drought stress, some pastures could use extra rest. If you’ve been battling weeds, that’s a red flag that recovery time is needed.
If you do graze, rotate quickly and leave at least four inches of stubble on cool-season grasses. Overgrazing now can slow green-up next spring, while stockpiling uses forage later when plants are already dormant.
Fertility also plays a role. While the window for nitrogen is nearly closed, a small application with moisture can still boost growth. Phosphorus and potassium don’t add fall yield, but they support root health, persistence, and winter survival.
This fall may offer a rare opportunity for extra grazing. Managing it wisely can fill feed gaps today without sacrificing productivity next year.
Grazing for Interseeding
Pastures and hay meadows provide higher quality feed, are more productive, and require fewer inputs when they have good forage legumes growing in them.
Outside of moisture, nitrogen is often the limiting nutrient in pasture production. While commercial fertilizer may be a quick and easy option, it’s costly. Instead, let’s grow our own nitrogen using legumes.
Do you have a pasture area or hay meadow that is relatively free of weeds and makes up no more than about 15 percent of your total pasture acres? If so, here is what I want you to do. From now until that grass will grow no more this year, graze that grass hard. Grub it down, then graze it some more.
Now why would I recommend overgrazing? Surely, it will hurt the grass. Well, that’s exactly what we want. Next spring, you will interseed legumes like red clover, white clover, and alfalfa into that grass to make it more nutritious and productive. We may even consider a winter frost seeding if conditions are right.
The biggest challenge to establishing legumes into a grass sod is competition by that existing grass on new, slow growing legume seedlings. Anything you do to reduce competition, and slow down grass growth will help. Overgrazing this fall prior to next spring’s seeding will weaken the grass and slow its spring growth, thus giving new legume seedlings a better chance to get started. Areas that experienced drought this summer may have seen unplanned overgrazing this summer, interseeding may be a way to make some lemonade out of that particular lemon. Of course, all this depends on moisture next spring to work.
While you’re at it, also collect some soil samples. Then analyze them and apply any needed fertilizer. Legumes especially need good phosphorus and the proper soil pH.
So, add some legumes to your pasture next spring. Graze your grass this fall until virtually nothing is left. Then, keep grazing a couple of weeks more just to make sure. Legumes you add next spring will establish better because of it.
Natalie Jones | IANR Communications
Nebraska Extension series to help cattle producers evaluate feed options amid drought, higher hay prices
With drought conditions affecting forage availability and higher hay prices increasing winter feeding costs, Nebraska Extension will offer its Fundamentals of Feeding the Cow webinar series this fall to help cattle producers evaluate feed options and make informed nutrition decisions.
The four-session online series will be held Nov. 9, 12, 16 and 19 from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. CT.
Fundamentals of Feeding the Cow is designed to help producers better understand the nutritional needs of beef cows and how those needs change throughout the production cycle. Participants will learn how to evaluate available feed resources, compare alternatives, and develop feeding strategies that meet cow requirements while managing costs.
The series comes as drought conditions and higher hay prices are prompting some producers to take a closer look at available forage supplies and consider alternative feeds. Knowing a cow’s nutrient requirements — and how to accurately compare feeds based on nutritional value and cost — can help producers determine which options make the most sense for their operations.
The series will cover four key areas:
• Understanding how a cow’s nutrient requirements change throughout the production cycle.
• Reading and interpreting feed test analyses and feed tags.
• Comparing feed options and determining the best buy; and
• Developing cost-effective, year-round feeding plans.
Nebraska Extension educators Erin Laborie, Troy Walz and Brock Ortner will lead the series. Sessions are designed to provide practical information producers can apply to their own operations, with opportunities for participants to ask questions throughout the course.
More than 185 producers have participated in previous offerings of Fundamentals of Feeding the Cow.
Registration is $65 and includes a notebook of Nebraska Extension resources. Participation is limited to 40 people, and registration is due Oct. 26.
Register at go.unl.edu/feedingthecow.
For more information, contact Erin Laborie at 308-268-3105 or erin.laborie@unl.edu.
