Family, Community and Health

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

Most of our home gardens have given up their produce for the season, and it's always nice to have fresh vegetables for your meals during the season.

One tried and true method of preserving your homegrown produce is pickling.

On today's almanac, extension educator, Cindy Bryson talks about how to safely pickle just about anything that comes out of your garden.

[Cindy Brison, Nebraska Extension Educator]
So pickling is preserving by using an acid, and it's usually some form of vinegar.

So you can make quick pickles where you, for example, you make pickled onions, you mix vinegar and a little sugar and some salt, pour them over sliced onions, put them in your fridge, and within a couple hours, you have pickled onions, cheese and your pork sandwich.

Um, they last, you know, they probably last about a week in your fridge and they're okay.

You can do pickles the same way quick quick refrigerator pickles.

We mix up the brine, you pour them over the the spiced cucumbers, you leave it in the refrigerator for a couple days, and and then you have quick pickles, but again, they're not gonna last, you know, all year long.

We make fermented pickles where people put them in crocs, and they um, you know, let them ferment for long periods of time and then they can them or they or they just can pickles, but the biggest thing, use fresh produce, nothing damage, make sure you're using 5% acidic vinegar, doesn't matter if it's white vinegar, could be flavored vinegar. That's fine.

The most important part when you're pickling is that you're using 5% acidic vinegar.

Um if if it's not, it's not going to be safe.

Um, the ingredients you use are important so making sure that you use fresh produce use pickling salt when you're when you're pickling.

If you use table salt, it'll still work, but because of the iodine in the table salt, it's gonna make your pickle brine very cloudy, and it's not gonna look pretty and you're gonna think that they're not okay.

Use pickling salt. Be just fine.

Making sure when you're canning you're using the appropriate headspace.

So once you put your pickles in and you put your liquid in, you know it tells you to leave X amount of headspace at the top.

Follow the directions, if you leave too much or too little, um either the jar won't seal or you will have something that is unsafe, so make sure you, you're following again, following a research based recipe.

Never alter the amount of vinegar, food or water proportions.

Um making sure that you know you're you're following those because you're setting up a certain pH inside your jar and you want it to be saved.

Make sure your jars are in good shape before you use them run your finger around the top.

Are there any small mix or chips in it?

Have you put pickles in before or other things and run a knife down the side of your jar to make sure you got all the air out?

Are these, are your jar scraped?

Sometimes those grape marks on the inside of your jar can cause them to crack during a food preservation and you don't want that to happen either.

Making sure that you're cutting off the blossom end of your cucumber when you're making pickles.

Um, if you don't, the blossom in releases an enzyme that actually softens your pickle, which is the biggest complaint we get.

People don't want they want crispy pickles like they're buying plastic pickles at the grocery store.

Well, when you can pickles at home, they're not going to be that way, but there are things you can do to me- help make them crisper.

Um, you can use soft water, soft water helps with firm pickles.

Um, we don't recommend pickling lime or necessarily alum anymore.

Refrigerating your pickles prior to opening them can help with the crisp crispness too.

There are some commercial firming agents out there.

You can buy, but these are all things that you want to again, follow the follow the instructions, making sure you're doing them um, appropriately and um, and following, following a research based recipe.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
For more pickling recipes, visit UNL's food website at food.unl.edu.

That's food.unl.edu.

For Nebraska Extension Almanac.

I'm Brad Mills.

Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IA&R media and Nebraska Extension.

For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.

[Mike Straub, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

With farming and ranching, comes busy schedules.

Disasters we may face every day are not always front of mind.

Statewide disaster education coordinator for Nebraska Extension, Sawny Cochran, talks about the importance of being prepared for the many disasters producers in Nebraska face, affecting their land, livestocks, and families.

[Soni Cochran, Nebraska Extension Disaster Education Coordinator]
We're talking about being prepared, so planning, preparing and then steps you could take to protect your family, your livestock, and your community.

So we're doing all hazards.

And, yeah, there's been a lot of fires, but it's almost been statewide as well.

So we had some fires early on in Eastern Nebraska, and we're getting into harvest season.

We're gonna want to think about fires and preparedness with our equipment as we get into the fields, as well.

You have equipment that might get hot as you're going down the rows, and sometimes we have leaves, and stalks get up into those combines, and other pieces of equipment.

You know, it could be that you're in an ATV or UTV, and you accidentally happened to drive across really dry grass.

And just because we've had some rain doesn't mean we're still at risk for fires.

So one thing people can do, as well, is when you are, you know, you have a trailer, you have a truck.

Make sure those chains are up, so they're not gonna spark along the concrete or asphalt, and accidentally catch fire as you go along roadways.

Having communications equipment with you, Having a plan, or a map of your farm, or ranch, or acreage.

So first responders know where to go, and that map is located in a place when they enter the property, that they know where the gates are.

They know where the wrists are.

They know where the chemicals are, the fuel is.

You know that bull.

Where is that bull that might be on your property?

So we have a lot of resources we can help people with and talk through.

And, you know, if you're living in a small town, maybe you have a farmer ranch and, you know, your parents are out there.

You're out there, but your parents are in town.

You know, talk about those things as well.

Do you have a quick go bag you can grab?

That's what we're talking about here?

Do you have an emergency kit if there's a flood or tornado, and you've got to be in place for a few days because first responders can't get to you?

Do you have a weather radio?

Do you have, you know, your phones charged?

Do you have that list of, who you can call, and write that down, that number, all our cell phones, have that in our phones as, My son is like, Ben.

Well, that doesn't help me know what his phone number is if my cell phone isn't working.

So it's really important to have all those pieces, no matter where you live.

So I think one of the things that's really helpful is learn about your community, okay?

And check on your neighbors, take care of your neighbors.

I mean, even if it's really hot.

Not today, hot, cold, whatever it might be, you can also, you know, take classes.

So find out where there's a CPR class that you can take, so you can protect your family compute.

You can volunteer.

There's different organizations whether it's, you know, community emergency response teams.

If you get involved with scouting, if you get involved with your American Legion or VFW, whatever it might be, to try and make sure the entire community has those resources, again.

Those first responsors, responders, your emergency manager, your volunteer fire department, they're gonna be busy responding to that, and at the same time, you can take steps to protect your family, check in on neighbors, and think about the emergency plans.

What are the emergency plan for your local school?

Your local faith based group.

Is it your church?

What is their emergency plan?

Where are the shelters in your community?

Figure out all those things ahead of time, and then get engaged with those your emergency managers say, What else can I do to help?

Your county officials, your mayor, you know, they may already have some meetings that the community can join in to all come together to learn how they can better protect their community.

[Mike Straub, Program Host]
For Nebraska Extension Almanac.

I'm Mike Straub.

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.
 

Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

We've been focusing on promoting Pheasant Habitats recently in our program.

On a previous show, extension specialist Andy Little, discuss what factors make up a good habitat for these game birds to nest, reproduce, and have adequate protection.

On today's program, Andy focuses on the issues that have caused decline in pheasant populations in the state.

[Andy Little, Nebraska Extension Habitat Management Specialist]
So in general, you know, we've been losing habitat on the landscape since about the 1960s, uh, particularly, you know, obviously, as we have, you know, moved more towards corn soybean, um, fields, kind of more monocultural based crops.

Um, and I, and well, I talked to a lot of farmers out there, especially ones who remember the 60s and uh, time frame and they would say, man, we used to be able to go out in the back 40 and harvest a limit of pheasants.

Well, that back 40 does not look like the back 40 today.

And so the, essentially, a lot of those areas we obviously have with increased mechanization, you know, and a lot of other technologies, we now have the ability to not have smaller fields, we can have larger fields.

Well, pheasants love those smaller fields because you usually would have a lot of little hedgerows, and areas where they could take them, have a diversity of cover types for nesting, brooder, and fall winter cover, and they could move about the landscape, kind of like think about stepping stones from one point to another.

And then you get in some places now, you don't really have a lot of connectivity of those patches of cover, and so that makes it harder for them to get from point A to point B. But on the flip side of that is, you know, we were my lab, and when we do an applied wildlife ecology and spatial movement lab, or because that long, long name, we have an acronym of awesome labs, we have the awesome people work for us.

Um, within our lab, we're really focused on how do we take in, uh, work with our landowners to find innovative solutions, whether that's using precision ag, precision conservation technologies, to help them optimize their operation from a production standpoint.

And then from a habitat standpoint, and benefiting pheasants, or and then also benefiting other byproducts.

So soil health, water quality.

You know, I think a lot of folks are very familiar with those challenges we have in the state.

And so it's an opportunity, and what we really have kind of pride ourselves on in our lab is finding these innovative solutions to help optimize the overall profitability of your operation.

So kind of take it from where it's currently at and find new stackable enterprises that can help you diversify, doing it in a simplistic way, so it's not overly complicated, and then helping you actually make more money on the land.

So now you start seeing all those benefits.

Andy says the same techniques you used to promote pheasant habitat will also help a wide variety of other game birds.

There could be some little differences, but one of the things that, um, we always talk about, and actually the the project, um, that we developed in collaboration, the rest game parts commission, uh, in my lab, it was folks on identifying prioritizing areas for conservation delivery.

And the point is, is how do we identify and prioritize focus areas when you have limited people, limited money, and you got limited time.

You can't be everywhere in all places, that's just totally unrealistic.

And so, part of that conversation is I've had people ask that same exact question.

Can you, as you're thinking about habitat enrollment, and thinking about some of these innovative stackable enterprises benefit other species?

The answer is absolutely you can.

Every species is going to be a little bit different.

But what I always say is meet medium with the landowners developing the objectives of what they're most interested in and addressing.

You know, obviously they're not going to be able to address everything under the sun, and that would be anything else in life.

You know, you kind of find 2 or 3 really key objectives that are most critical to them.

And like from a, you know, pheasant standpoint or a turkey standpoint or quail.

You can say, hey, you know, um, what are you interested in, you know, game birds?

Okay, which ones?

And then we can start customizing things that best fit, what their interests are?

And again, you have groups like pheasants forever, and quail forever out there, and everybody's game parts commission, private lands division, all those different organizations who actually have private lands, folks, and can meet with you as an individual and talk through what your potential options are in your land.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
On a future program, Andy takes a look at some of the financial considerations for farmers that might help convince them that preserving pheasants and game birds could be another line of revenue for their operations.

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

[Mike Straub, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

High quality water is important to the health and safety of the people of Nebraska.

Extension Associate for Domestic and Wastewater Management, Becky Sherman, speaks on water quality, the importance of knowing the quality of your water, and how to test for contaminants.

[Becky Sherman, Nebraska Associate Domestic and Wastewater Management]
We are talking about water quality, the importance of knowing your drinking water quality, as well as making sure that your on site wastewater systems, and your domestic water systems, are kept in good shape and inspected twice a year, and maintained regularly.

And once you know your water quality, If there is an issue with a particular contaminant, let's say nitrate, that you are over the 10 milligram per liter, MCL, or maximum contaminant level, that you go ahead and look into implementing treatment, most often for residential homeowner, which includes our rural residences, that would mean a reverse osmosis system.

Typically, the basic, the most definite contaminants that we want people to test for are nitrate and bacteria.

But then finding out if there's any other contaminants of concern in your area.

So we do have naturally occurring arsenic and uranium throughout the state.

Nebraska is kind of blessed, I sarcastically say that, with hard water.

We have high iron and manganese throughout much of the state.

And so those are mostly nuisance contaminants.

Although, high manganese can also cause issues in health concerns with very young children, because of the fact that within the cereals, the baby cereals, and within a lot of the infant formulas, there's already manganese.

And so if you add high manganese water to that, you are going to have an exacerbated level of that within the food or the formula that you're feeding a baby, which can cause health concerns.

But we often tell folks, go ahead and check with your local NRD.

If you have a close by community water system, go ahead and find out if they have any contaminants of concern, and then go ahead and test for those.

Unfortunately, we don't have a one size fits all test for contaminant.

Usually, your nitrate and your bacteria tests are each going to run around $20.

We do recommend using a certified laboratory, which means a laboratory that can do public drinking water tests, because we firmly believe that your private drinking water is just as important as a community water system.

So, it's all, it's, if you know that you have high arsenic or high uranium in your area, I would go ahead and test for those as well.

But the biggest concerns, especially with our collaboration with UNMC, the water climate health program, we're looking at trying to educate healthcare providers on nitrate, and the health concerns of nitrate in drinking water, and then for them to be able then to also help pass on that information to their patients.

All rural domestic well owners need to be testing their water, regardless.

Most rule homeowners have farm ground that surrounds them.

But it's not just farm ground, it's also how you're taking care of your own yard, how you're taking care of your vegetable garden and landscape.

Unfortunately, more is not better.

And the aquifer is not set up in small little basins underneath each person's property.

It is shared.

And so nitrate concerns, depending on where your well is drawing from, often is the case, but nitrate concerns are everywhere.

[Mike Straub, Program Host]
For Nebraska Extension Almanac.

I'm Mike Straub.

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.
 

Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

On our final program on our series looking at termites, extension anemologist Jody Green focuses on some control measures that will help eliminate these paths from your home.

She strongly encourages homeowners to use professional services, but to do some research before they hire one.

[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
Okay, so the termites that we have here in Nebraska are called subterranean termites, which means that they have to maintain some connection to the soil.

And this is why when you hire someone to take care of your termite issues, no matter where they are, if you find an infestation in like a 3rd floor, uh, bedroom window, those termites still have some kind of connection to the soil.

So that's why we do soil soil treatments for termites.

This is not something you're able to do by yourself.

There are not any products that you can buy over the counter despite what they may have on the label, if you actually read it, it may be for a spot treatment to kill termites that you are actually seeing at that time, but you want to get rid of the whole entire colony, which is going to be in the soil.

They're going to be feeding above ground, maybe on the house, but they are going to be in contact with the soil.

So a soil treatment, which is usually a liquid termiticide treatment into the soil, or there are also bait stations, which are dug and installed into the ground to take care of the termite colony.

So, I would suggest that when you have positively identified that the problem is termites, to contact at least 2 companies that specialize in termite, control and management.

This way you have the ability to see the differences and make a decision that works best for you.

It can be expensive, yes, but you need to know what they're treating, how they're treating, what they're using, and how long the guarantee is for, and what it entails after that guarantee is over.

So many times there's just a lot of questions because it is so expensive.

Um, and this is, you know, your investment.

So you do want to make sure you're choosing a company that is reputable, that you trust, what they are doing, and that you are able to call them back.

And if you see any issues with termites in the future.

So, After doing that, and termite treatments are normally priced according to linear feet of the home.

So you should receive a map of the home, detailed where the conducive conditions are, where active termites are located and what and how they will treat.

And so that can be a good visual for you to see what will be done.

Sometimes people are concerned when the salesperson or termite technician talks about subslab drilling, but sometimes you have to drill through the cement to get to the soil underneath, and that's the reason why.

So the idea is to create a complete barrier that termites cannot get to the house.

And if they are in that zone, that it will eliminate that whole colony.

So that is why they need to do the drilling.

And then there's also something called a trench and treat, and that's, um, for anything that's not cement around or they can dig a little trench and put some insecticide or turn mitaside in there.

And uh, termiticide is, um, it binds really closely to the soil, so there's not usually uh, uh, you know, problems with leeching and getting into the water because those people are very um, careful on where they need to put that.

So that's why you can't like dig up that soil after it's been treated and you don't want to plant any, you know, gardens there.

You want to keep that, that traumaticide in the ground close to the house.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
For more information on identifying, scouting, and treating a termite infestation, contact your local extension office, or go online to search for Nebraska extension resources that can help you solve this problem.

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.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

Today's programs part three of our series on Termites.

Last time we told you about certain strategies around your home that could be good preventative measures to keep termites out.

Extension anemologist Jody Green continues that discussion to focus on what to look for inside your home.

[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
If you're looking for termites in your house.

So you're doing a termite inspection.

You want to consider what kind of construction.

You have in your house.

So if you do have a basement.

Do you have a crawl space?

Are you able to get into that area?

So if you've got a crawl space, you do want to, you know, wear your PPE, get a flashlight and you want to go under there and you're looking for mud tubes.

So these are shelter tubes made by termites, they can be free.

Freestanding mud tubes from the ground up to the structure or to those beams to the sill plate.

And you're also looking for any type of damage.

So, um, anything that looks, um, I guess it would simply look similar to wood rot, but, but a little bit different.

Sometimes people will see corsadaust or piles of wood.

And that is not going to be termites.

So termites eat the wood, so they consume the wood, and in the place of those, the wood material, they're going to leave fras, which is essentially poop.

So it's going to be mud and it's pretty much going to be packed into those tunnels because they have eaten the wood and they've left this frass.

Whereas carpenter ants or other insects that nest in wood, they're not able to consume the wood, so they're going to kick it out.

And that's when you'll see piles of sawdust.

So sawdust is not termites.

Termites are going to be more cryptic than that, so that's why they move in those shelter tubes.

If you don't have a crawl space, you do want to get into your basement and many of us have finished basements, so that makes it difficult.

So you want to go into a place that you can see the sill plate.

So that is basically where the foundation wall ends.

There's going to be some wood and then usually insulation.

And in that area where it's pretty hidden.

You know, sometimes you can pull that back, look for mud tubes.

There are a lot of homes that are completely finished, so what you can do is get a moisture meter.

And detect, look for high moisture areas.

So those are the places you're going to look around, uh, windows, where spigots are outside, maybe where downspouts come out or anywhere that you know you've had a flood in the past or, um, you know, high moisture.

So, you know, look at those areas.

And then on the outside of your house, you want to look around your foundation wall, you want to make sure you have a clear view of the ground up into the house.

So, dirt filled porches, in the garage.

You want to make sure your walls are not completely covered that you can see that area because if you see the start or mud tubes, then, you know, early detection's going to be the key, so there's less damage.

But if you are looking around and you don't see any of that evidence, then you might not have termite damage, even if you were to get a professional inspector.

There are a lot of places that we consider in quotes inaccessible because we cover things up.

So, you know, you just want to make sure that your your structure is uh, visible and is dry and uh, you know, keep those termites over at the neighbors.

Well, most houses that are going to be built with that kind of lumber are going to be pressure treated, if you are building your own home, you can have it treated with a borate solution that will protect it from wood destroying organisms.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
On our final episode at this look at termites, Jody will talk about a few control measures to eliminate them from your home.

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.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

This is part two of a series of our discussion on termites, and today, extension animologist Jody Green will be talking about certain conditions to be aware of around your house that could be inviting the termites.

[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
Termites are naturally beneficial insects because they break down the most abundant material in the world, which is cellulose.

So rotting wood, anything that's made out of paper, anything, plant material, that breaks down.

And we need insects like carbon orients or termites to break those down for us.

So when we do discover them out in the yard, it's usually in a stump, in a rotting log, in um, landscape timbers that have broken down.

And they are just generally decomposing this material.

People worry, though, because they worry about their house, their house is their investment and their buildings.

So when that happens is maybe you're, you know, digging something up or turning over a log and you'll see these white little soft bodied insects just start moving around and disappearing really quickly.

And that is actually okay that they're out in the yard.

You want to consider how far it is from the structure and things that you want to protect, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's in the house.

You'll see lots and lots of them.

So these, at this stage, they don't have eyes, they will, they're very soft bodies, so they'll dry out in the air.

So they want to get hidden as quick as possible.

But you can dig them up.

They are going to be, like we think of soil wood contact.

So if you got anything, um, like a deck that's right on the ground instead of, you know, um, with concrete posts and or is elevated a little bit.

So those are kind of things that you want to think about.

But just because your neighbors have termites doesn't mean you have termites in your house.

So the goal is to protecting your home and investment.

So, you know, the yard is one thing, your home is another thing.

Ways you can prevent termites from infesting your home is to really think about your landscape and make sure the grade, um, you know, the, the grade is the proper grading.

So you want to have the water that comes down to flow away from the house.

You also want to make sure your down spouts and your eavesdrop are working correctly so that water isn't, you know, being held close to the house or dripping over.

You want it to, uh, be taken away from the home.

You don't want to have firewood or other wood to soil contact really close to the home.

And another question I get is mulch.

So mulch is not going to, you know, bring in termites or attract termites, but termites may be living under that mulch.

Sometimes, if you've got things that are breaking down, they may be there, may be a bridge.

So what you want to do is make sure you can always see the foundation of your home.

You never want your wood siding to go right into the mulch or go and hit the ground.

You want to dig some of that away.

And if you've got any, uh, water damaged windows or roof or any structural, you know, timbers that have moisture damage, you want to have those replaced because that is going to be attractive to termites.

Termites are going to be more likely attracted and infest wood that's been damaged by water, then dry, treated, intact wood.

So many times when people are renovating, that's when they're going to see termites because they're going to be hidden behind the walls or, you know, things like that.

And, They cannot, can come through cracks in um, a garage or cement, basement.

So you want to make sure to have any cellulose pulled up off the ground on shelves, things like that.

Sometimes people even find them in cardboard boxes that they've been storing items in.

They pick that up and they realize it's been eaten by termites.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
On a future program, Jody will continue this discussion about termite damage from the perspective of inside your home, 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.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

On today's almanac, we start a four part series on identification and control of termites.

We'll be covering how to identify termites from common ants and what to look for if you suspect an infestation, and we'll cover some various prevention and control issues.

To help us with this discussion, extension urban etymologist, Jody Green, talks about what termites look like and how to differentiate them from ants.

[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
So termites, when they are wings, they have 4 wings that are equal length and size.

So that is actually one of their identifying characteristics to separate them from winged ants.

So we can talk about that, because most times, when we think of ants, we don't consider them with wings, because they're foraging, they're on the ground, and mounds, or under the soil.

But they become swarmers, usually annually, their colonies are big enough that they want to mate and disperse.

So they'll set out winged queens and males.

And that is to mate with other ants of the same species and then dispersed to create new colonies.

And so at that time when they have wings, A lot of homeowners have never seen those before, and they may come out of the woodwork, so they may come out outside through landscape timbers.

They may even come inside through expansion joints in the basement or windows, things like that.

And then people get very alarmed because they believe they're termites.

Because when people think about termites, they do think of the winged form.

So whenever we see either one of these insects, ants, or termites with wings.

We are thinking they are reproductives.

We may call them swarmers.

Another name for that is alates.

So looking at these alates, they're both going to be darker color.

So usually, um, like a black color because, uh, well, termite workers are, uh, like cream colored soft bodies, you don't usually see those outside of, you know, out in the open because they will desiccate very quickly.

So when you do see these swarming uh, reproductive casts, they're going to be a dark color.

They're gonna have 4 wings.

The ants are gonna have wings of unequal sizes.

So their 4 wings or their front wings are going to be a lot larger than their hind wings.

And then they will also have their antennae will be elbowed, or we call it geniculate.

So it kind of is like, uh, I don't know, you want to call it like a gold post?

So they're elbowed.

Whereas the termite antennae will be straight.

We call those bead like.

So if you look very closely, they're straight, they will not bend.

They will not be in an elbow shape.

That's probably the easiest one to tell.

Also, when you look in an ant, most people think, oh, it's got segments, we can see that, they've got like a, I don't know, a thin waist or a node or a pedic- pedicel, or termites, they're broadly jointed.

They do not have that thin little waist.

And so, those are those 3 differences.

So the antennae, they're going to be elbowed in the ants and straight in the termites.

There are gonna be, uh, in the ants, larger 4 wings than hind wings, and then also ants are gonna have a thin waist, whereas termites will have a broadly jointed waist.

When it comes to workers, though, It's going to be something that you don't see.

So those termites are going to be cream colored, very soft bodied.

So we don't see those above ground.

They will make mud tunnels or mud tubes, shelter tubes, and they use the soil, feces, saliva to make those, and then they hide in them because they will dry out in the air.

So what you're looking for when looking for termites are those mud tunnels.

If you see that, going over top of something that's not wood, like your sill plate, or the foundation, that is going to be a sign of termites.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
We'll be covering what to look for around your home for signs of termite infestation in a future episode.

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.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

In part one of a discussion of home canning, extension educator Cindy Bryson discussed the equipment you'll need, as well as inspecting your produce before you start canning.

On today's program, so go into detail about how long home canning will last, as well as a few safety tips.

[Cindy Brison, Nebraska Extension Educator]
Usually, um, the recommendations are that once you can something, it lasts about a year or a year and a half .

Um, once you, once you can something appropriately, take off the seal or take off the um, rings, and then store them someplace cool.

If you leave your rings on, you can't tell if the lid has popped off or not, and um, if people are canning inappropriately, uh, it's really interesting that um, those rings actually hold the seal on.

They don't it's not sealed, but they hold it on and the jar builds up pressure, especially if it's botulism.

Um and things like tomato products and salsa and the jars explode.

So we've we've seen pictures of people's ceilings being covered in tomatoes because because they've left their or their rings on so we don't recommend when you store your jars take your rings off.

One of the things I really like to talk about is making sure they're using correct recipes.

Um, when, when you're canning, you know, this can be a life or death situation, we have people that have canned green beans inappropriately, especially green beans, where they've ended up in the ICU on ventilators, so using a research based recipe and adjusting for your altitude is important, in the state of Nebraska, on, on our side of the state, on the, the eastern side of the state.

You know we're at a 1000 feet above uh sea level by the time you get to the other side of Nebraska you could be 68000 feet above sea level and that makes a big difference on your recipe and how long you have to to um cook it.

So making sure you're using a research based recipe, something from the center for a home, food preservation, for volcanic, any extension office web page, is is important because they've been tested in the lab and they're safe, and make sure you follow the recipe.

There's just a research study that had resurfaced um that said that 70% of the salsa recipes that were tested when they pulled off recipes off the Internet like Pinterest and you know grandma's recipe. 70% of them were unsafe.

So use a research based recipe that's been tested uh and if you don't if you have a favorite recipe that you've created great freezing.

Freezing is totally safe.

Um don't mess with the canyon part of it and you should be just fine.

Um if if it has been canned appropriately with a research based recipe and it it looks funny.

It looks foamy when you open it up.

Um it smells bad.

It looks like it has mold on the top, then sometimes things seal initially but maybe their seals start to start to come off.

You know, the biggest problem with canning is gonna be botulism and botulism can be deadly.

So it might smell fine taste fine and look fine and still make you sick.

So it's just important, start out initially, make sure everything's sanitary, you're using, your jars are sanitized, your area, you're preparing, things are clean.

You follow the recipe, you do it in a safe manner, you store them correctly.

It's not stored someplace it's hot.

You're not storing your can goods in your garage um where it might get too hot or too cold.

You want to make sure once you're done you're storing them appropriately too.

So then you're giving your can goods the best chance to be safe.

And and to last the longest.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
The University of Nebraska food website has a wealth of information on food preservation and canning.

You can access these valuable tips by going to food.unl.edu slash tags slash canning for Nebraska extension almanac.

I am Brad Mills.

Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IE&R Media, and Nebraska Extension.

For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

As the home garden harvest is wrapping up, some gardeners might be interested in preserving their crop for later consumption.

That's where home canning comes in, and on today's almanac, Nebraska extension educator Cindy Bryson discusses the equipment you'll need, and inspecting your produce before you start canning.

[Cindy Brison, Nebraska Extension Educator]
There's lots of different types of equipment you can use to can, and depending upon what you're canning, determines what you use.

So if you're canning, high acid foods like tomatoes, um, you know, salsa, spaghetti sauce, things like that, you're going to need a hot water bath, jams, jellies, um, so that means that you don't have to can with pressure, it only has to get to a certain temperature for a certain period of time for your product to be safe.

If you're canning low acid foods.

Um, if you're doing vegetables, you're doing meat, you're gonna need a pressure canner.

Um, a pressure canner actually um, builds up pressure and it cans at a much higher temperature, so it kills botulism.

It kills the bacteria that could make you sick.

Um there are steam canners out there that you can use.

You can hot water bath with.

They're just different a different form of a hot water bath.

Um, there are multi cookers out there like insta pots and things like that that say you can can in them. You cannot can in them.

They do they do not.

They've not been tested to the point where they keep the temperature constant and at the right temperature to make sure that your can goods are safe.

So um, it's really important.

You know whatever equipment you have make sure it works if you're using a pressure can or take it.

Take your lid to your local extension office once a year and have your um have your gauge tested to make sure that it works if your gauge is off your canning is going to be in safe.

So whatever you're using, make sure your equipment, you know when you're done when you're done with preserving this fall, make sure it's all clean and put away dry and put away so you can use it again next year.

But but well, whatever you use has to be clean, has to be sterilized.

Um, it, it has to, it has to be functional so, um, it's, it's one of those things that, um.

You know just make sure that you are um that that you are using it um correctly and that everything is okay.

Um when you're when you're choosing produce, you want things that don't have um non-marks in them.

For example, we have a woodchuck and and a lot of our tomatoes had had chew marks in them. You would not can with those.

You don't want anything that's been split or cracked or anything that might have any potential bacteria in it.

You wanna make sure that it's all fresh um that it's all you know is is unblemished.

There's no mix. There's no cuts in it.

Um, you wanna pick your produce and and then preserve it as fast as possible.

So um, you know, if you pick it in the morning, then preserve it the next day.

If you can't preserve it right away, like right now, you know, this is the end of the season for for tomatoes.

So I have a lot of tomatoes all at once and I don't have time to to can them right now so I'm going to wash them off of cold running water.

Dry them put them in bags and put them in the freezer until I can do something with them later.

So you know, make sure that you're using you're using good produce, you don't use frozen produce.

If you've had a frost, you should not be caning with that kind of produce.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
The University of Nebraska food website has a wealth of information on food preservation and canning.

You can access these valuable tips by going to food.unl.edu slash tags slash canning.

That's food.unl.edu slash tags slash canning.

Stay tuned to future almanac programs for part two of Cindy's discussion on Canning.

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.
 

Jessica4LegalDocs126 Transcript:

[Brad Mills Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

We've been going through a lot of detailed discussion surrounding succession plans for family farm operations recently.

On today's program, extension ag economist Jessica Groskoff talks about the difference between succession plans and estate plans, and why that is so critical to the operation's future success.

[Jessica Groskopf, Nebraska Extension Ag Economist]
The last type of planning that we talk about, when we talk about complete succession planning, is estate planning.

Well, Jessica, isn't that the same thing?

No, no, it is not.

Estate planning is a huge component of this, but I will promise you, an estate plan does not make a succession plan.

Having an estate plan in place basically tells the government what you want done at your death.

It basically allows assets to be passed. From one person to another person through a legal process.

It does not teach someone how to manage a farm or a range business.

And this is where farm and range families get stuck.

So you might have an estate plan in place, and you might be thinking, oh, well, we're good.

No, you're not.

We have to have all 4 components of the planning process in place in order to make sure that this farm or this ranch or business can survive the death of the oldest generation.

And it it includes 4 basic documents.

Every adult within a farm or a range business in the state of Nebraska, an adult is 19 years.

And up, okay?

So 4 basic documents, you need a will, a will, basically what a will does is says, I want these things to go to these people.

It also assigns a guardian for your minor children, and it assigns what we call in Nebraska a personal representative, and that person has the joy and pleasure of making sure that these assets go to these people.

Assets that pass through the will are subject to a process called probate.

Well, what is probate?

Probate is that physical process of retitling those assets to these people.

Probate gets a bad rap for a couple of reasons, number one, probate is public.

Number two, probate can be costly because some attorneys will charge a percentage of the estate that is probated.

So if you're going through the probate process, I actually encourage you to find an attorney who charges by the hour, not as a percentage of the assets.

And number three, probate can take quite a bit of time.

So if we're running a farm or a ranch business.

And we have said that these assets will go to these people and it takes 2 years for that to happen, that, um, is difficult for a farmer arranged business to keep operating during that time.

It just creates a lot more complexity.

Now, in Nebraska, whether you like it or not, whether your assets are probated or not, your estate will still be public because in Nebraska, we have Nebraska inheritance tax.

So avoiding probate because of the public manner of it.

Honestly isn't really an argument because if somebody wants to be nosy and they want to find out what you passed, at your death, they will be able to look that up because of the inheritance tax regardless of whether your assets were probated through a will.

If you die without a will, you will be subject to Nebraska intestate laws, which basically is the default rules of the state of Nebraska of how your assets will be passed.

Most people say, well, it'll just go to my spouse.

Not in the state of Nebraska.

No one, no one likes the government's plan for anything.

So if you write a will, that will supersede the state laws.

So again, we recommend that you have a will just to supersede the state loss.

[Brad Mills, Host of This Program and Soon To Be Retired]
Stay tuned for future programs, where Jessica continues to focus on legal issues surrounding a complete estate plan for your family farm.

For Nebraska extension almanac.

I'm Brad Mills, Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IE&R Media and Nebraska Extension.

For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans.

Go to extension.unl.edu.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]

Nebraska Extension Almanac.

A growing concern in our state is nitrates increasingly showing up in our water supply.

UNL Assistant Professor Krista Brown talks about these concerns and mitigation efforts to decrease the risk.

She says there are many health risks with increased levels of nitrates and talks about the university's role in raising awareness.

[Krista Brown, UNL Assistant Professor]

What I would want people to know about nitrate and human health effects is that, um, in addition to several other contaminants that can get into our water sources, um, in Nebraska, nitrate is an issue that we are concerned with and that, um, could have, uh, a myriad of negative health effects that it could cause.

Currently, the evidence shows that a lot of those conditions relate to cancer, so whether adult or pediatric.

They can also cause things like blue baby syndrome, also known as methemoglobinemia, as well as more non-severe symptoms, just general discomfort, abdominal cramps.

And then things like Alzheimer's and thyroid conditions.

So I think it's really important that people are aware and testing their water, that if you are in an area with high levels of nitrate, or you're concerned, you might have bought a new home, that you do get those tests, that you need.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]

Christa encourages farmers to frequently test their wealth for nitrate levels.

And some of the resources available to help with that process.

[Krista Brown, UNL Assistant Professor]

Oh, um, if your well does come back, hi, with nitrate, um, there are systems that you can uh, install such as RO filters.

Um, it is important that you continue to test um, at least every year.

But there are also people in your community who can help you, including the NRDs, your local public health workers, there there to help, and provide additional resources, get you in touch with testing options, and some of those mitigation options as well.

The natural resource district employees, though.

So those are the folks that work and live in our communities here in Nebraska, that they are all about water, soil, public health, and they're there to help.

So you can find their information by just Googling your county and NRD.

You can also go to UNL's websites, UNL, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, has an extension office.

They have a ton of great resources and information about how to test your well, when to test your well, when to contact, and then how to get a hold of some of those additional mitigation effects.

Yes.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]

As Christa said, there are several resources for producers that will help with testing.

For the most part, your local natural resources district office offers free testing in their labs.

In some cases, help with mitigating high nitrate levels are also available.

Accredited labs across the state can be found by visiting the Nebraska public health environmental labs website.

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.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

Outdoor activities during the upcoming summer can be ruined by pesky mosquitoes. 
Nebraska extension urban etymologist Jody Green says, the right clothing and smart use of repellents are a good defense against mosquitoes. But she also talks about a few common sense ideas for keeping the population under control around your house.

[Jody Green, Nebraska Extension Urban Entomologist]
Mosquitoes can breed in places you might not have thought of.

And she suggests scouting around your home for places that can collect water.

It's finally summertime, and that's a time for grilling out with friends, working in the garden, harvesting some of our food crops, and it's also a time for mosquitoes.

So let's talk about what we can do to protect ourselves from mosquito bites this summer.

Mosquitoes are semi aquatic, which means they spend most of their lifecycle in aquatic environments.

The female mosquito lays her eggs near or on the surface of the water, where her larvae and pupe will develop.

As adults, she is very mobile, and she feeds not only on blood, but males and female mosquitoes, we'll feed on nectar from flowering plants in the garden.

We want to protect ourselves from mosquito bites, because mosquitoes can transmit viruses, such as West Nile virus and St.

Louis encephalitis.

We can protect ourselves by, one, reducing the population of mosquitoes in our landscape and nearby areas, and, two, by preventing them from biting us, by wearing repellents.

One of the things we can do is dump standing water.

Mosquitoes can breed in the smallest amount of water which includes a planter, a tree hole, a bird batter, or some tires left in the yard.

When the water is left stagnant, mosquitoes can complete their life cycle, and as little as seven to 10 days, adult mosquitoes, on the other hand, can fly in from up to two miles away.

So even if they're not breeding in your yard, they can fly in from neighboring yards and from the vegetation that they rest in during the day.

Besides dumping, standing water, you can also treat the water that you can't be dumped with mosquito dunks or bacillus, thyringensis, Israeli enses.

This is a bacterial product that the larvae of mosquitoes eat that will wipe them out, but it is not toxic to wildlife, birds, fish, and humid.

Another thing you can do is avoid going outside during times that mosquitoes are most active in your area, like dawn and desk.

You can wear loose feeding clothing, a light color, so mosquitoes can land on you but not bite.

But again, that mosquito repellent, that's EPA approved, is recommended, so mosquitoes won't land on you.

Make sure to fix your screens, to your house, keep your doors closed when not new, so mosquitoes aren't flying into your home.

You can also run a fan when you're sitting outside on a porch, so mosquitoes have a hard time landing, and we'll go away.

One of the things you can do is share this information with your neighbors and your homeowners' association, because mosquito populations is a community wide problem.

And the more people dumping standing water and reducing their populations in their own yard will make the whole neighborhood a mosquito free place.

Keeping mosquitoes under control can be as simple as draining water that may have collected in plant containers, children's toys, low areas in the landscape, or tires that are around the area, wearing the proper clothing and using repellents, will also keep mosquitoes from biting you.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
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.
 

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

Despite increases in beef prices at the grocery store, Americans still aren't slowing down their purchases. Nebraska extension educator Alfredo Deaconstanzo says, in fact, consumers have spent more on beef than they have in the past decade. He talks about how beef still has a bright future and why.

[Alfredo DiConstanzo, Nebraska Extension Educator]
As you indicate that that analysis tells us that beef and the form of roast, uh, steaks and ground beef has increased from 50 to 54% since uh, 2016.

That's one segment of those surveys from the same US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On the other hand, there is a nice set, as I said, before that tracks what individual, what households, and I'll explain what a household is in a minute, spend on beef.

A household, by the way, is defined by 2.4 people, which is obviously resulting from the survey.

So imagine, you know, a regular home with mom and dad and a child pretty much is kind of what that says, but of course, has to take into consideration single family homes, et cetera.

And this cuts across the demographics, right?

We're not looking at any backgrounds or anything, just across the board, American people that were interviewed, and by the way, the survey tracks, 1000000 people a year, which I think is really good.

It's a good basis on where to base or information.

So, from about the most recent data, unfortunately, is 2024.

The previous data that I looked at was 2016 and at that time, a household spend and remember what I'm saying, a household spend $244.16.

And in 2024.

The same household spend $408 a year on beef.

This is at home and away purchases, which is interesting because if you remember the press and the media, saying how expensive beef has become, and it has.

It's just that on a yearly basis, it doesn't impact a house, American household to a degree any more than 400, perhaps the 2025 figure will come back to $500 a year.

And that's one of the shocking things and when reviewing these data that, uh, We talk on one end that prices have increased.

But, you know, the consumption is still at only $400 in 2024.

If you take just the price of beef increases between 16 and 24 versus what the American house will spend between 16 and 24, And the American house will spend $164 more in 2024 than they did in 2016.

This is way more than than beef increased in price.

So that has to say that these people are eating way more beef.

And when you calculate that back, and this is the fun part about this article is that, and this is not the way we calculate generally the demand in America.

Demand is calculated in America by simply dividing the number of carcass pounds available a year by the population.

This figure that we're talking about here reflects that in 2016, uh, by using the the prices that the bureau reported, in 2016, Americans were consuming £42 of beef in a household.

And now they're consuming £51 in 2024.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from a recent beef watch podcast produced by Nebraska extension.

To hear the entire interview, go to beef.unl.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Nebraska Extension Almanac. 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.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska extension almanac. The country's facing the realization that Elder Care could be moving into a crisis, as the population of Americans over 65 should double in the next 30 years. Cindy Holden from the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center says a program that focuses on training home care workers for the elderly should help ease the problem.

[Cindy Holden, Nebraska Cooperative Development Center]
Well, we are officially in the silver tsunami, which is when the majority of the population is now 65 and older and they're retiring.

And as you may have figured out as you get older.

Things happen to you, you become less healthy and may have health issues develop and some of those health issues lead to the need for care.

U.S. Census reports estimate that by the year 2060 will have 94.700000 Americans over the age of 65.

10,000 Americans retiring every day, hence the silver tsunami.

And for the 1st time in history, people over 65 outnumbered children under the age of five.

In Nebraska, in 2010, 13.5% of our population was 65 and older.

In 2020, that percentage was 16.4.

And 65 and older outnumbered those under 5 by 9%.

So we're getting older.

We just need people to care for us.

Additionally, in Nebraska alone, in the last 3 years, 12 Nebraska nursing homes have closed, and there are currently 15 Nebraska counties that have no access to nursing home or assisted living facility.

So when you get out to rule Nebraska as you get older, If you need care for a variety of reasons, there is literally nowhere for you to go.

Except to one of the larger communities, um, you know, so for example, you know, here I'm in Buffalo County, I'm in Kearney, we have facilities.

But if you go just a little bit to the, um, West to Furnace County, they don't.

So if they need somewhere to go, they're going to have to move to Phelps County or Gosper County or even Buffalo County to get care because they don't have care in these areas.

And it makes it hard for families to remain in their communities.

What a home care worker cooperative is, is it is a home care, um, agency that is owned by the workers.

So it's not owned by a corporate located, it could be incarnate, it could be in South Dakota, it could be in Chicago, it could be anywhere.

It is owned by the workers that live and work in the community where the care is provided.

So it's a really good economic model if you want to talk about self-empowerment and keeping wealth local.

Because if you and I formed a worker cooperative, we would make the investments, we would do the work and we'd share the profits.

They don't leave where we are.

And we get to make the decisions of what happens to those profits.

Those decisions aren't made by some corporate board.

And that's really important in these small rural communities. That want to keep their wealth in their communities.

So what the home care academy does is it takes a group of interested individuals through the process of forming a worker owned cooperative.

We talk about what it's like to own your own business, what are the things you know how to do?

And then we're able to connect them with resources nationwide.

The other cool thing that we help these communities do.

Is we help them create, um, some relationships with care providers across the country.

It's kind of like a support group for lack of a better word.

People that you can talk to and find out how much you have in common with others.

Because I think sometimes, especially in world Nebraska, you think you're the only one that has this issue.

Well, then when you start talking to someone from rural Washington State or rural California or rural Michigan or rural Minnesota, you realize that we're very similar.

And it gives them some camaraderie and some sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, and it's a really cool opportunity.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
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.