Anyone who owns farmland may want to participate in a day-long seminar that will provide management strategies for this asset. The seminar is scheduled for Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Lunch will be included.

Pre-registration is requested by Aug. 25. The registration fee of $20 per person or $30 per couple covers handouts, refreshments and lunch. Contact Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf, 308-632-1247.

I am contacted monthly from citizens who have had their parents pass away, and now they are managing a farm for the first time in their lives, said Allan Vyhnalek, Extension Educator and event speaker. They may have even grown up there, but havent been around for 30 or 40 years, and need to understand that farming practices and management concepts have changed, Vyhnalek continued.

The workshop is designed to provide primer education for those that havent been on the farm much, or on the farm much recently. It is also designed to be a refresher course for those that would like to have the latest information on land management and rental.

Participants can use this seminar to answer questions they might have: Am I keeping the farm, or selling it? How do I manage a farm? If leasing, what are key lease provisions? What legal considerations do I have with this decision? And, how do we manage family communications and expectations when other family is involved? What does a soil test tell me? I hear about organic or natural production, how does that vary from what my farmer is currently doing? If corn and dry beans arent making money why dont we raise other crops? What should I expect for communications between the landlord and tenant? What are key pasture leasing considerations?

The program is being provided by Vyhnalek, Gary Stone, and Jim Jansen, Extension Educators from Nebraska Extension.

For more information or assistance contact Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf, 308-632-1247, jgroskopf2@unl.edu.

Gardeners invited to share excess bounty with food pantry

Do you have zucchini coming out of your ears? More tomatoes than you know what to do with? At this time of year many gardeners face the wonderful problem of too much bounty from their gardensbut no one wants to see good produce go to waste.

Nebraska Extensions CHOW (Cultivating Health Our Way) program has a solution.

This summer, the CHOW program and the Ever Green House in Gering have partnered to supply the food pantry at the Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska (CAPWN) with fresh produce. Vegetables are grown in a donation garden at the Ever Green House with the help of volunteers, Extension Master Gardeners, and the SNAP-Ed program of Scotts Bluff and Morrill Counties, and then delivered to the food pantry.

Now, the partnership is inviting gardeners from all over the area to join in by dropping off quality produce that is simply more than they can use. The CHOW program will deliver the produce to the CAPWN food pantry.

Produce is an important source of vitamins but can be hard to come by at food pantries because of the shorter shelf life and difficulty of transporting it from major food banks, said Erin Kampbell, SNAP-Ed Assistant at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. By providing locally grown produce to food pantries, families in a tough spot can still include vegetables in their diet.

The opportunity to donate abundant produce is great for gardeners, too, Kampbell said. Dropping off extras at the Ever Green House is a way to make sure quality produce that might otherwise spoil or get thrown away is used and enjoyed.

Produce of good quality can be delivered to the Ever Green House at Overland Trail Road and D Street in Gering from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesdays through September.

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Ag land management seminar planned for Aug. 28 at Scottsbluff; register by Aug. 25 - Scottsbluff Star Herald