Nebraska FARMcast - Farm and Ranch Management Center for Agricultural Profitability

The 2024 Nebraska Custom Rates Report, which offers insights for agricultural producers and service providers, is now available through Nebraska Extension and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability. The report, published at cap.unl.edu/customrates, compiles survey data from 159 respondents, providing current market rates for 138 different custom operations and services across Nebraska.



This comprehensive resource serves as an essential guide for those offering and seeking custom agricultural services. While the report offers a detailed overview of market trends, custom service providers are encouraged to consider their own operational costs when determining their rates.



Glennis McClure, a farm and ranch management analyst with the Center for Agricultural Profitability, discusses this year's report and how it can be used by custom operators and those who pay for custom work.



More at: https://cap.unl.edu/management/2024-nebraska-custom-rates-what-charge.

The higher interest rates that were established to counter inflation a couple years ago are persisting into 202, continuing to affect agricultural producers. On this episode, Jay Parsons, professor and farm and ranch specialist at the University of Nebraka-Lincoln, discusses how these economic pressures are impacting crop production, machinery purchases, and cattle herd rebuilding efforts. How do these rates stack up historically and what do they mean for producers trying to navigate these financial challenges this year?



Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/finance/what-do-ongoing-high-interest-rates-mean-ag-producers.

The quest in Congress to pass a new farm bill continued on May 23 when the House Agriculture Committee finished their markup on the bill after a long session that saw major amendments proposed by the minority fail, leaving a bill generally resembling the one that was introduced. Dr. Brad Lubben, an agricultural policy specialist with the Center for Agricultural Profitability wrote about how this signifies the “starting line” for the bill’s ultimate passage in his policy report column for Nebraska Farmer. He discusses what this step means and what the road ahead now looks like for the Farm Bill.



Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/policy-legal/farm-bill-just-making-it-across-starting-line.

What's the impact of cover crops on the profitability and sustainability of livestock systems?



Dr. Jay Parsons, a professor and farm and ranch management specialist and director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability, discusses a new USDA Economic Research Service report on the integration of cover crops into livestock operations, highlighting the economic and environmental benefits.



Read more and find the full report at https://cap.unl.edu/livestock/nebraska-researchers-contribute-study-cover-crops-livestock-operations.

The newly published Nebraska Feedlot Labor and Management Survey Report, by Nebraska Extension and Nebraska Cattlemen, looks at data through 2021 and reveals significant changes in labor costs, compensation, and management practices within Nebraska's feedlot industry over the past few years. To discuss the key findings from the survey, including the challenges and trends feedlot operators face in navigating labor costs and industry shifts, is Dr. Elliott Dennis, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist at Nebraska, and a co-author of the report.



Find the report at https://cap.unl.edu/feedlotlabor21.

Cindy Houlden, a Cooperative Development Specialist with the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, joins to discuss g a pressing issue facing rural Nebraska and much of the country – the challenge of aging in place and the innovative solutions being developed to address it. Houlden shares insights from her recent article on the establishment of the Homecare Worker Cooperative Academy and how it's helping communities like Arapahoe find sustainable ways to support their elderly residents.

Read more: https://cap.unl.edu/rural/aging-place-rural-nebraska-homecare-worker-cooperatives

More about the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center: https://ncdc.unl.edu.