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5 days ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
When talking about the birds and the bees of plant reproduction, the stork is not making the delivery. From a scientific standpoint, the process of pollination is complex, involving different types of pollination and pollinators, varying plant structures and perfect timing. Dr. Emily Stine, Nebraska Extension educator based in Scottsbluff, has a more basic definition.
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6 days ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
If you enjoy the beauty and aroma of freshly cut flowers but do not have a green thumb, you can still experience picking your own flowers in nature and taking them home to adorn your kitchen table. FarmHer’s Flora is blooming as one of the newest cut flower farms in northeastern Nebraska. Located about 4 miles south of Fullerton, FarmHer’s Flora offers U-Pick flowers amidst the serenity of a farm setting. This is the second season for owner Jess Milby.
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1 week ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Norfolk Senior High student Dominic Nienaber has ambitious plans for his future. Just finishing his junior year, he will graduate a year early this May. He is already enrolled in the wind energy program at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, and will begin classes there this fall. Later this year, the 17-year-old will move into the home of his late grandfather to establish his own farrow-to-finish hog operation. By doing so, he is carrying on his family heritage.
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3 weeks ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
For more than 80 years, an Adams County farm supported thousands of patients living at the Hastings Regional Center. The land fulfilled a need within the community by providing food for its people. Now for 20 years, that same ground a mile west of Hastings, Nebraska, has supported nearly 98,000 families and children as they connect with other people, food and the land.
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3 weeks ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Hidden underground, roots are basically the most undervalued part of a plant. But there is so much more to the important role roots play, despite being embedded beneath the surface. “Roots anchor plants. They are the main way plants uptake water and nutrients from the soil,” said Dr. Emily Stine.
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3 weeks ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Each time you run a center pivot, you are contributing to climate change. Microclimate change, that is. “Through research on the microclimate of how irrigation impacts the corn canopy, we’re seeing irrigation events can decrease air temperature, increase relative humidity and increase leaf wetness,” said Talon Mues.
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1 month ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Whether pruning trees, propagating stem cuttings or planting a new strawberry patch, understanding how plants grow is important to their proper care and management. Nebraska Extension educator Dr. Emily Stine covered what she called “above ground structures” in her Gardening Back to the Basics physiology class about the shoots and leaves. Or as Stine said, basically everything but the roots. Key roles for the shoot system include photosynthesis, gas exchange and nutrient transportation.
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1 month ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Across the Breadbasket of America, winter wheat is breaking dormancy, and for many wheat producers in the panhandle of Nebraska, the spring thaw is proving their worst fears. Bare spots in fields and poor wheat stands mar the nearly 1 million acres of hard red winter wheat or white winter wheat that was planted in Nebraska last fall.
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1 month ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
In grade school, you were taught that plants need water, light and soil to grow. While that elementary principle is the “root” of plant propagation, successfully growing fruits, vegetables or flowers involves many more factors. Gardening enthusiasts went “back to the basics” of botany and management through a series of classes held last fall by Nebraska Extension horticulture educators Dr. David Lott and Dr. Emily Stine.
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1 month ago | 
agupdate.com | Kristen Sindelar
Calving is one of my favorite seasons on the farm. It is simply amazing to watch a newborn calf wobbling its way to the cow’s udder for its first meal within minutes of birth. Having married into a cow-calf farming operation, this is only my ninth calving season. Each one has brought new experiences, and admittedly a few challenges, as well. My role in pulling calves has always been the supportive assistant who hands supplies to my husband but otherwise stands out of the way as much as possible.
