Curt Arens

Editor at Nebraska Farmer

Editor for Nebraska Farmer Magazine and Farm Progress

Articles

Windbreak plantings decline on US farms, raising soil conservation concerns

1 week ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

Go back to 1942, in the early days after the U.S. had entered World War II. It was the final and peak year of the federal Prairie States Forestry Project. By that time, 30,233 shelterbelts comprised of 220 million trees had been planted across 18,600 square miles in the U.S., forming a literal wall of trees across the Plains.
Strategies for economic success

1 week ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

Corn and soybean production may not be simple, but it is a known quantity that works. Part of the challenge of working small grains into a corn-soybean rotation is economics — making small grain pay. And all of that still comes down to managing the crop for the results you want. Trent Kubik farms in south-central South Dakota with his wife, Shannon, and two brothers and their families.
Nebraska farmer explores soybean markets in Central America

1 week ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

It’s one thing to plant your soybean crop on your own farm and market the grain after harvest through local channels that are familiar. It is quite another thing to physically meet international customers who purchase those soybeans you grow and utilize them in other parts of the world. For Cale Buhr, who farms in south-central Nebraska near Inland with his father and older brother, that is exactly what he did through the United Soybean Board’s “See for Yourself” mission in February.
Husker Harvest Days 2025: Improved access, early planting boost show

1 week ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

Curt Arens, senior editor of Nebraska FarmerEASY ACCESS: With hundreds of exhibitors and tens of thousands of farmers attending Husker Harvest Days from Sept. 9-11, west of Grand Island, Neb., it is good to know that road construction projects accessing the show site are ahead of schedule. It should provide easier access for traffic headed to HHD. Curt ArensIf you are a farmer or rancher from Nebraska, Kansas or other surrounding states, from Sept.
From farm boy to legendary agricultural broadcaster

1 week ago | farmprogress.com | Sarah McNaughton-Peterson |Curt Arens

On this Deep Dive episode of FP Next, Curt and Sarah visit with legendary farm broadcaster Max Armstrong. Starting from how he met his dream of being the voice through the tractor radio, connecting listeners across the country with his storytelling and news, to co-hosting and co-creating This Week in Agribusiness. "At the age of 24 I went on the radio in Chicago and I've had just a wonderful run over the years," says Armstrong.
Political rivals unite for Nebraska tree planting

3 weeks ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

It seems that tree planting transcends even the most strident political divisions. That’s how Arbor Day — that day that does not repose on the past but “proposes for the future” — got its start. While Nebraska City, Neb., editor and staunch conservative Democrat J. Sterling Morton is given credit as the founder of Arbor Day, it was actually a network of tree enthusiasts and early Nebraska territorial agriculture promoters who pushed the concept into reality. Ample credit must also go to Robert W.
Drones, ground rigs and planes

3 weeks ago | farmprogress.com | Mindy Ward |Curt Arens

Everything has its time and place. That could be said for modern drone-spraying equipment, high-clearance ground rigs and traditional airplane aerial spraying. There is a time and situation for each. Skyles Kinkaid, a farmer near Hartington, Neb., and owner of Kinkaid AgriSpray, knows plenty about these spraying systems and their proper uses.
Husker Harvest Days corn planting begins for September show

3 weeks ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

Curt Arens, senior editor of Nebraska FarmerGOING IN THE GROUND: Husker Harvest Days farm manager Jason Luebbe took a minute to pause from planting on April 10 at the corn harvest demonstration fields at the show site west of Grand Island, Neb. Photos by Curt ArensJason Luebbe knows the fields at Husker Harvest Days west of Grand Island, Neb., like the back of his hand.
Consumer demand rises as industry faces hurdles

4 weeks ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

Having your hand on the pulse of dairy producers and the industry in general only comes from years of experience. Connie Bellingtier, this year’s Nebraska Holstein Industry Award winner at the Nebraska State Dairy Association convention, which was held recently in West Point, is a manager at Automated Dairy Specialists in Clearwater, Neb. And Automated Dairy Specialists took the NSDA Friend of the Industry Award home too.
Machine shed door maintenance tips for farmers

1 month ago | farmprogress.com | Curt Arens

After harvest is done in the fall and the snow starts blowing, you close your machine shed door for the winter, and maybe you don’t even try to open it until spring. Before inspecting the door, observing whether it is frozen down or iced in — or even looking at the door hardware — you hit the “open” button.