Content
Nebraska Wildfire Update: Forage and Grassland Recovery
The recent Nebraska wildfires has caused major devastation to rangelands leaving many cattle without forage for the coming season. Nebraska Extension Irrigation and Cropping Systems Forage Educator Todd Whitney talk’s about the timeline for grazing and forage recovery.
View Transcript
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.
Dry conditions this fallen winner have contributed to the recent wildfires in Nebraska.
Extension educator Todd Whitney has been on the ground around the cottonwood fire, looking at the devastations the fires have done. He described some of the damage he's seen around farmland and local communities.
[Todd Whitney, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Pastures are still brown.
We've had some encroachment of eastern red cedar that's come in there.
It's posed a big problem for those that are trying to fight the fires because that cedar, uh, when it burns, is is burning eyes.
It's been hard for them to breathe as well.
And so it's been a big factor that way.
Uh, We have had some, some cases where people have been hesitant about whether they should do some cover crops. Have had a lot of ride that's been used in the area.
We've seen some, uh, switching to some other rotations with some lead in the rotations to.
This is proving out to have a green barrier helps.
And so, uh, we've had a case like the village of Farnham, where, uh, they had some green cover that was there.
The fire came up, basically stopped at the cover crops and then kind of went around, probably saved the town because it was in desperate need of support.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Because of recent past wildfires, experts have a little better understanding of what might recover, and what conditions are optimal for quicker recovery of pastures and prairie.
[Todd Whitney, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Every fire is different.
I mean, if we can start getting some rains that will definitely help.
I think we'll see recovery if the rains come.
Uh, you know, delaying uh, turnout will help.
Uh, we are hopeful that we will see some of those rains coming and that things will be helpful reducing stocking rates, some of those normal things.
But if the rains don't come, it's going to be really tough.
We've had people that virtually have all their grass is has been burnt up.
And so they've got to have to wait for recovery.
Even if the rains come, it's probably going to be 45 days before they can start doing some degree of grazing.
We've had some that thought, well, they had an open winter.
They sold off half of their, their hay, and now, they don't have, and now, we've had cases, I've heard of 500 bales being burned here, 300 round bales over here, takes for 200 cow herd, it takes 3 bales a day, if they're gone, now are they going to be able to buy, it is so widespread.
It's like, it's just not like next door, you can go buy some more for each because there's been so many acres that's been impacted.
So be a lot of trucking, people are trying to make decisions.
What are they going to do?
And we've had some people step up and say, well, they would allow, uh, others to come have their cows over, uh, and calve out in their area.
We have a lot of calves on the ground.
We don't know how many are gone.
You know, mostly the cows weren't turned out because it was dry, and so they were dry lauding.
And so that was a blessing that way, but it's still not known yet, you know, because we don't know what the range is going to.
Last year, we started getting rains, we had twice as much rain as normal last year, coming about mid May that came in and turned things around.
Uh, this year we didn't have a lot of uh, subsoil moisture in the moral area we're concerned about uh, how deep some of those hot fires impacted.
There's already been some movement, but the sands moving around and the heat impact.
And so some of the dunes have kind of moved around, which is, we're not sure what the full impact's going to be, but there will be some change on, on some of the grasses that come back because that's short grass prairie where we're kind of intermediate in that, uh, cottonwood area.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned to future almanac programs that will continue this discussion of the recent wildfires and efforts to recover from it. For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills.
Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
Nebraska Wildfire Update: Crop Land Recovery
Wildfires have devastated row crop acres in western Nebraska causing significant destruction of crop residue and soil organic matter. Nebraska Crop and Water Systems Extension educator Jenny Brhel talks about how to proceed with the 2026 growing season.
View Transcript
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.
Wildfires need fuel to keep burning, and according to extension educator Jenny Burhel, there might be some differences between pasture land and row crop land. She says every fire is different, and every land condition and environment is different, but there might be an opportunity to stay ahead, even if your land has been damaged.
[Jenny Brhel, Nebraska Extension Educator]
When it comes to wildfires and when they burn residue, what we know is the questions we're getting right now, with the high input prices, the low commodity prices, how much nutrients have we lost?
And we say that basically, the nitrogen, the sulfur, the carbon that was all in that residue was gone.
Um, but some good things are based on the research from, it was South Dakota State, and then there was some other Western states that did this to Wisconsin and others.
They showed that it actually, because you're changing that carbon and nitrogen ratio on the soil surface, it allows for more mineralization of nutrients.
So, They, in their studies, never felt like they had to supplement with more nitrogen as a result of wildfires and residue.
The biggest concern I have is, when you have a wildfire, the waxy oils from the plants get moved onto the soil surface and it creates a hydrophobic surface, meaning it doesn't allow for water to infiltrate very well.
So what I've been recommending to producers and what we've done in the past, I just recommend getting something drilled in there right away, like oats.
I've been telling everyone, just get in there with some oats right now, and that could be a great opportunity for guys who have cattle too.
Put in oats, put in oats and peas, get some forge growing, and maybe they consider, in a year like this, I've been pushing really hard, looking at putting annual forges on crop ground versus corn and soybeans because of the economics.
And this may be an opportunity for some of those growers to, um, utilize annual forges too.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Jenny talks about how wildfires have different effects on land that is used for pasture or crops.
[Jenny Brhel, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Every fire is different and how fast it burns across the field, how much residue is burned, how much soil is blowing, what the crop rotation was.
Like there's so many factors, what the soil moisture was before the fire.
All of that makes a difference on mineralization, on any kind of other surface, um, minerals lost.
The thing I would mention about the cover crops, the reason why I keep pushing that is every wild fire situation I've had experience with, what we have seen is where we were able to get a cover crop established in a field versus not.
We were actually able to have a crop that yielded afterwards because it helps heal that soil so much faster.
If we don't get something in the soil and get that soil trying to heal itself.
It just takes longer on those effects.
The cover, they can either use it for forage or they can plant their soybeans or corn green into it.
The 2nd thing, I would say, is we have a bunch of resources at our cropwatch.unl.edu website as well as I know the beef team does as well.
And if they search for wildfire, they will get all that and it'll be on the front page too.
And the 3rd thing is don't don't be afraid to reach out for help because there is a lot of emotion, stress, grief, loss in this, and we all need each other.
We were meant to live in community.
And so there are resources to help the real response hotline and just keep checking in with each other.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Be sure to stay tuned to Extension Almanac for more updates on recovering from the recent wildfires. For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills.
Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension.
For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
After Wildfire Livestock Care
Some of the most devastating damage a wildfire can do is to livestock, causing smoke inhalation or burns on their hide, feet and udders. Randall Spare and Travis McCarty two experienced veterinarians talk about what cattle producers can look for if they think their livestock has been affected.
View Transcript
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.
Recent wildfires in Nebraska have taken their toll on farmland, rural communities as well as livestock. On today's program, 2 veterinarians from Kansas, who've had experience in helping cattle and other livestock recover from problems from wildfires, discuss key factors to recovery. To start the show, Dr. Randall Spare talks about how wildfire damage is different for every farm operation.
I think the thing that we have to understand is it's a complex issue and no operation is the same.
[Dr. Randall Spare, Kansas Veterinarian]
Each operation is going to handle this differently.
Some need more help than others, but as we assess the cattle, end up, it's an ongoing assessment, but, Obviously, there's those cattle that succumb to it, to the fire and they're dead.
There's cattle that have been hurt, but still walking around, and uh, Than those cattle that happen to be in a location where they weren't hurt.
Major damages that would occur that with cattle still alive or burnt hides and more importantly, probably the feet that have gotten so hot.
And uh, initially there may not, may not be any separation at the coronary band that's obvious.
But those are issues that can occur either from two, three, four, five, 6 days after the fire, they appear to be normal, but then they're start to become lame and they, they might be not able to get around and then if you look down and look at their feet, there's a separation at the cornel band.
Also, the udders are a problem.
Those cows that have been burnt, but they're walking around, they're udders.
I don't know any other way, but you just got to almost feel each one of those to see if they're being damaged.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Dr. Travis McCarty focuses on how experience can be critical to understanding what cattle are going through and have the ability to help them recover.
[Dr. Travis McCarty, Kansas Veterinarian]
You know, the beginning, you're just triaging through an emergency, right?
Like you said, there's those dead cows that succumb, unfortunately.
Then you got then you got a welfare situation.
And depending on how large the herd is, that could be an issue of trying to find ammunition to be able to put those animals down.
And once you get through that, then like Dr. Stewart is talking about, you need to examine feet and others are your biggest things.
Eyes would be maybe tertiary, beyond that, but, you know, one of the things, you mentioned the Anderson Creek fire and the Starbucks fire, we learned some pretty good lessons in my opinion, Doc.
We tried some animals and maybe we thought, oh, maybe we'll be okay.
And and those were maybe some mistakes.
And the mistakes I'm talking about is like those cornery bands.
They may look fine today.
Here you are a week out from your fire, but they may look fine today.
But they may not be.
So, so getting getting a look at them and you're right.
Sometimes our facilities burnt down.
So how can we actually physically get them done?
And that's where working with your neighbors, finding people that have, you know, maybe get you like a wheel corrals or something where you can handle those cow and get a good look at them today.
This is a good time right now to get a good look at those animals.
And finally, you know, everyone gets really worried about smoke inhalation.
And I'm not going to downplay smoke inhalation.
You know, that respiratory track does a pretty good job of, uh, of clearance of that smoke, and I've been pretty amazed by the, just how infrequent, uh, smoke inhalation is a, my, my order as a list of a problem, so to speak.
And it's not as bad as these burns we're talking about.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned to Extension Almanac for future updates on farm and community recovery after the wildfires. For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.UNL.edu.
2026 Nebraska Farmland Value Survey
The latest findings from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Farm Real Estate Market Survey confirm a trend that’s been building: Nebraska agricultural land values have now declined for two consecutive years. Nebraska Extension Ag Economist Jim Jansen says lower crop prices and tighter margins contributed to declines in cropland values.
View Transcript
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac
For the second year in a row, Nebraska's Ag land value has declined according to extension Ag economists, Jim Janssen. Those values reflect differently according to location and how the land is used. He talks about some of the key factors. Affecting AG real estate values. So in the state of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska Lincoln annually surveys land industry professionals across the state to evaluate changes in land values as well as cash rental rates.
[Jim Jansen, Nebraska Extension Ag Economist]
As part of recent findings from the University of Nebraska Lincoln Center for Agricultural Profitability. Farm real estate market survey and report findings indicated that the overall market value of land decreased approximately 1% to an average of $3,905 an acre, which is about 1% lower than the prior year.
With that being said, the market value of land is composed of two, uh, land classes you might call. One land class is a crop land side, whether irrigated or dry land, crop land. The other type of land is, uh, grazing land and hay land roughly half, a little over half the state is in grazing land or hay land.
The other half is cropland. Now what was reported and some of the trends indicated is the trends in the market value of land are actually reporting the profitability or the profitability expectations surrounding crop land versus grazing land. For example, the average market value of crop land declined slightly one to 2% for dry land cropland with or without irrigation potential, and maybe even a little bit more than that for the irrigated, for center pivot or, or, um.
Gravity irrigated cropland, which those declined about two to 3%. Now, for grazing land, which the profitability is a little bit different for the cow calf folks, or at least the expectation is that prices are fairly high and expectation. We might see fairly favorable prices for the fall of 2026 when one might consider selling cattle, or maybe after the first of the year if you choose to hold them that long.
We've seen an increase anywhere from five to 7%. Now that reflects a lot of a difference in the market value of land. So it's important when we're talking about the market value of land, what type of land are we reporting on, and also what area of the state are you in? Differences in the presence of livestock, even on the crop land side, when folks are having a good year on the, um, cattle side of, uh, cow calf peas.
Or if you're in the feedlot business, you might see some of those values get reflected in. Potential buyers buying land or evaluating land purchases in an area. So for the upcoming year, things to be keeping an eye on is where interest rates headed. That influences the cost of long-term borrowing, where input expenses headed seed, fertilizer, chemical on the cropland side, fuels also in consideration even for the cow calf folks.
And herbicide, yes, on if you raise hay or. Got, uh, grazing land, you might use various, uh, types of herbicides for things like that. And also the price of seed if you're on the cropland side, where, where's profitability headed. So we have to keep an eye on that. And obviously we're having a lot of challenges right now related to fire damages on, uh, some of the acreage that was unfortunately, uh, burned in the western part of the state.
What does recovery look like for that? And also what does profitability look like for the cow calf folks? So there's a lot of things to be keeping an eye on and unfortunately it looks like this year might be a dry year, and hopefully I'm wrong in saying that. And we start getting adequate moisture. I think everybody is short moisture to some degree, and, uh, small rainfall of any amount at this point would definitely help some of those folks in their recovery efforts.
Or even if you're on the grazing land side, uh, helping get some of that spring vegetation started growing. That'd be very useful. So to find more information on the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey and Report, visit the Center for Agricultural Profitability website at cap.unl.edu/realestate, no space real estate in one word for Nebraska Extension Almanac.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills, Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans. Go to extension.unl.edu.
Strategic Planning for Farmers and Ranchers
Running a farm or ranch often means reacting to immediate needs; weather, markets, labor, equipment; so long-term planning can easily fall to the bottom of the list. Nebraska Extension Farm and Ranch Management Specialist Jay Parsons explains that strategic planning is one of the most important tools for improving both resilience and financial performance.
View Transcript
JayStratPlanning23 Transcript:
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.
The volatile nature of the ag industry can make strategic planning for any operation a headache. Nebraska extension ranch management specialist Jay Parsons says successful operations have a solid foundation of planning, as well as good decision making under pressure, on today's almanac, he talks about how strategic planning can help producers chart a plan to success.
[Jay Parsons, Nebraska Extension Ranch Management Specialist]
Well, surprisingly, a lot of the stuff hasn't been done in the U.S. As far as studying producers implementing strategic planning and whether or not they're doing it successfully.
So at least the studies I was able to find were pretty much overseas or up in Canada.
So Peter Nuttall out of New Zealand's done quite a bit of work looking at managerial abilities of ag producers and different aspects of that.
And his survey, he was asking producers to rank, different attributes, that they think are important for management.
And surprisingly, having a clear vision of their missions and objectives and goals, uh, ranked, kind of in the middle of pack. Who's about 6 on their list of 15.
I think that they ended up ranking.
But things that were at the top were things that we'd expect to be there.
Like the ability to basically read the tea leaves, right?
See where the markets are going, see what's happening out there and reacting accordingly, where the type of things that made the top five.
And then there were some out of UK.
And, um, there was a study there on just general small businesses, small family uh, businesses in rural areas, um, and then uh, one that they looked at the actual uh, farmers themselves and uh, things that they uh, ranked up there.
It pretty much, you know, comes down to goals and objectives, right?
It's kind of the take-home point of things that they pointed out in there.
Um, you know, other things that you could do, like SWAT analysis, you know, strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and stuff like that kind of kind of weigh in there a little bit, but a lot of producers don't get to that level of it.
But they at least, I think one of the studies, there was 3 quarters and the other one, maybe 2 thirds, that actually said that they had a clear understanding of their goals and objectives.
Surprisingly, well, maybe not surprisingly.
Very few actually had them written down.
So it's more like 10 or 15%.
Just general planning tools, right?
So, so, you know, you think of crop farmers or crop rotations, you know, where they're going to put their crops in what years and how those rotations might work, same thing on the on the livestock side with grazing management plans and stuff like that.
That we might think of more traditional production planning tools.
Those are also part of your strategic plan, right?
Because a lot of times it has to do with basically machinery replacement decisions or machinery purchases, land, management decisions and so on.
So all of those are part of an overall strategic plan.
But then certainly cash flow projections and things like that, the financial side of it weighs in there too.
For the most part, people, you know, and Agar try to build their financial positions or their equity position.
So having good, you know, financial statements produced on a regular basis and just kind of goals of different metrics that you're trying to reach each year is important.
Farmers or ranchers spend a lot of time producing, right?
So they're sometimes they're on tractors, sometimes they're out on a horse or at a pickup or whatever.
And they think about things that they want to accomplish on their operation virtually every day, you know, several times a day.
Um, just take some time to think about some timelines.
You know, what is it?
How would I measure progress towards these things I want to accomplish?
And then take, you know, some time to write some stuff down.
You got to start someplace.
So you never really know what the key metrics are until you start thinking them through, right?
What is the right way to measure that I'm actually growing my business in the direction that I want it to go, reaching, uh, if you're wanting the next generation to take over, what kind of planning goes into that in terms of of getting those uh, young folks involved in the operation and finding a place for them to uh, operate and function and grow as a manager within the operation.
Lots of different things like that that you can think through and where you want your operation to be in five, 10, 15 years, and then just, you know, lay out some things that you would use to measure that you actually make in progress.
[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Today's program was a portion taken from a recent farmcast podcast offered by the University of Nebraska Center for Ag Profitability to hear the entire interview, go to cap.unl.edu or download from Apple iTunes. For Nebraska Extension Almanac. I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR media, and Nebraska Extension.
For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.