Agriculture

Over the past 117 days as a Nebraska State FFA Officer, since my last column, I’ve been busier than ever before. I have been challenged, been pushed out of my comfort zone, and have been a leader of an organization that is so much bigger than myself.

Through all of this, I have become a better person, laughed until my stomach hurt with my teammates, and have bonded with FFA members across the State of Nebraska.

After Business and Industry Visits in June, the next state officer duty was attending the State Officer Summit. This event was held in Washington, D.C. My team and I bussed to the summit conference with the Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and South Dakota State Officer teams. We spent over 50 hours on the road during this trip!

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VIEWS FROM VANDEWALLE

Free legal and financial clinics are being offered for farmers and ranchers at seven sites across the state in October. The clinics are one-on-one meetings with an agricultural law attorney and an agricultural financial counselor. These are not group sessions, and they are confidential.

The attorney and financial advisor specialize in legal and financial issues related to farming and ranching, including financial and business planning, transition planning, farm loan programs, debtor/creditor law, debt structure and cash flow, agricultural disaster programs, and other relevant matters. Here is an opportunity to obtain an independent, outside perspective on issues that may be affecting your farm or ranch.

To sign up for a free clinic or to get more information, call the Nebraska Farm Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.

It is increasingly important to educate not only adults, but also youth where and how food is produced. Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and everyone everyday uses agriculture products, yet agriculture is taken for granted.

As each generation becomes more distant from production agriculture, it is essential to teach youth the importance of agriculture and how their food is produced. Livestock Ag-Venture is a program that promotes the agricultural and more specifically the beef industry by teaching youth the importance of the industry and educating them on agricultural issues.

This annual educational program is hosted by the South Central Cattle Women in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.

Old Trusty kicked off the weekend with its annual trail ride, as seen below, and tractor drive, above, on Friday, Sept. 6. Here, Lynn Sorensen of Ong pulls out of the Clay County Fairgrounds, headed for Fairfield.

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Earlier this month, Brian Herbek did something he never dreamed he would do—stood up in front of a room of people from across the nation to share lessons learned in his 20-plus years of farming.

“He did great,” said his wife, Blythe, near the picture window of their home that they share with their two young sons south of Deweese.

Overlooking the rolling hills near Walnut Creek, where not another house can be seen for miles around, the view out of their living room is a far cry from the busyness of Peoria, IL, where the couple spent early August taking part in the National Strip-Tillage Conference.

Approximately 600 people attended the two-day event, which included Herbek’s breakout session entitled “Crunching the Numbers on Nutrient Efficiency in Strip-Till.” Blythe described how farmers were so engaged in her husband’s presentation that many were resistant about moving onto lunch.