Farm Management and Ag Policy

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac.

We've been examining issues surrounding the upcoming deadline for producers to sign up for the current season's ARC PLC program, which is December 11th.

Nebraska Extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin continues that discussion by talking about the 2025 program payments that are arriving now, and what producers should keep in mind for the upcoming decisions on the 2026 crop.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist}
In the end, this is sort of an academic exercise because producers are going to get paid the higher of Arker PLC.

It's not that that decision back in spring of 2025 was meaningless.

In the end.

We made changes to the program and therefore we made changes to the payment structure.

The reality is it's a reminder of the potential range of outcomes one can see in in arc and PLC payments, arc particularly is, as I said, a function of payment yields or prices and local actual yields.

You can have by practice comparisons where, um, uh, in a good year, maybe non-irrigated outperforms, its benchmark, and, therefore, it ends up that the non-irrigated practice doesn't pay, but the irrigated practice does, or or vice versa.

And so, um, so it's a reminder that, uh, um, your actual production conditions, the local production conditions really matter when you're trying to evaluate the the protection in something like the arc program.

So 2025 gave us a lesson, a reminder on how arc and PLC work, even though ultimately it didn't matter what the choice was. 2026, you have to make the choice, but it is at the end of the growing season.

And so you have, at least expectations about what your actual yields end up being, what the county yields are weaning toward, for weed producers.

We already have some very solid results of what either farm or county numbers looked like.

You may have better insight on the yield component of the arc equation, which means you can, you can do a better job of estimating whether the art program really provides substantial support yet for the remainder of the marketing year, or whether it, uh, you know, in counties with strong yield results.

Arc may get pushed sort of out of the money and not offer much downside support in counties with average to below average yield results, Arc could pay substantially.

PLC could pay substantially, if prices drop from where we currently project them.

Now, I'm not confident in any sort of price projections.

I'm not the market analyst to want to put those out there, and I certainly wouldn't be very confident in a projected price in October for a marketing year that just got started.

But if you look at USDA supply and demand reports that they publish every month, there is a projected price in there.

And it represents both a weighted combination of everything that has been marketed to date during the marketing year plus some economic projection of what's ahead.

By the way, the analysis that I wrote up in the cap article was based on September numbers from USDA supply and demand report, with a 480 per bushel projected price compared to a PLC program that would trigger it 442 or an arc program that would trigger it, say, 453 assuming benchmark or trend yields.

Since I wrote that article.

USDA did release their October supply and demand estimates, and they took a dime off of the corn, grain sorghum, and wheat projections.

So suddenly those programs are already looking a little bit stronger than they were even last month.

Uh, for the wheat program.

In fact, it even means we went from being slightly out of the money to slightly in the money.

And that matters to producers trying to figure out how these programs pay.

[Brad Mills, Program Host}
Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from a recent farmcast podcast offered by UNL Center for Ag Profitability, to read the detailed article, or listen to the entire interview, go to cap.unl.edu, or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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.

Nebraska researchers have developed a wide array of digital tools that aid producers in managing nutrient application, improving animal welfare, mitigating spray drift, conserving water, and much more.

These tools are tested on Nebraska's research sites across the state or through Nebraska on farm research network.

Interim, digital AgHub director Guillermo Balboa speaks on the importance of this research.

[Guillermo Balboa, UNL Interim Digital AgHub Director]
So yeah, we just recently launched the dealery culture have at the University of Nebraska.

The goal of these hobbies to bring together university capacities in resource, teaching, and extension, and partnering with growers and ranchers across the state, and industry that we basically around challenges that we have in terms of digital agriculture, adoption.

One of the main challenges that we identify in one of the surveys that we run across the state is that growers really don't know for some of the tools, what is the real value, how many dollars per acre, they can improve if they implement it, or what is the real problem they are trying to tackle.

So one of the objectives of the hobbies to test these tools and to really show what is the real value of them.

And then giving the chance to the grower to say, yeah, this is something that can be used in my operations or not?

But also, the habit is meant to help to co develop those.

So we are trying to get growers and ranchers involve early in the stage of tools that are being developed here or could be developed for industry.

So they have a, the developer has an insight directly from the end user, and then the development process is more efficient at the end.

Nebraska growers, I would say, early adopters of a lot of these practices, and you can tell that, but the involvement that they have in different programs from the university, like the Nebraska confound research network.

They're always asking questions about, hey, is this work?

I have this problem, I can use this tool.

Um, so the, the, the, Nebraska is very culture, have the idea is to bring together and and to help to catalyze those processes are already happening, to take them to the next level, right?

To have more growers involved, to have more ranchers involved, to have more industries collaborating with university, in the development of those tools.

So, in some cases, we will be involved only in the testing of that tool, and then the idea is to try to scale the use of those tools.

Not forgetting that we also need to train the next generation of people that needs to use these tools, right?

The workforce was identified as one of the limitations for implementation of these practices, right?

We need people that is trained on how to use these tools along with the growers and farmers.

We recently launched how we are working hard on different aspects to start rolling in the ball.

One of them is having some conversations with some particular industries to start working on our agreements to test some of these practices.

We're also revising all, uh, some of the students, curriculum for undergrad and graduate programs to make sure that we're incorporating all that content related to digital culture.

And we're also submitting, you know, different proposals for funding to continue expanding the research component, and we support, as well, for example, to grad students.

So a lot of work in the different aspects of they have in order to get the support, to continue with the mission of the hub.

Particularly in environmental landscape today, where we have, you know, whether uncertainty, economic, uh, ups and downs, I think all the implementation of these agricultural tools and processes can help growers to be more efficient, right?

To try to adjust all the inputs and all the labors that they are doing, to be able to address all these challenges that they have.

So these agricultural tools is another tool in the toolbox in order to address these challenges.

So the hub has 3 main pillars.

We say, one is the one related to the resource component where UNA has a strong history, as I mentioned, more than 40 teams working in livestock production, robotics, AI, precision nutrient management, how to manage landscape, resources, natural resources.

The 2nd is basically extension, and workforce development, where we are having, or thinking about providing these lighted culture budges in order to get training for students beside the regular training that we are offering, but also for stakeholders, and certify crop advisors, for example.

And the 3rd one is related to entrepreneurship, trying to support internally and externally at UNL, all the teams that are looking to develop new tools, particularly for growers and ranchers across the state.

[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 today's almanac, extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin talks about the projected 2025 payments that are coming in now.

He says there's a bit of a discrepancy on how much will actually be paid.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
Well, it's worth looking back at 2025 as an indicator of how the program works and the variability that we end up seeing in the program as producers are thinking about 26 and then 27 enrollment decisions.

We did make a decision between Arc and PLC for 25 back in spring of 2025.

But then with the one Beautiful Bill Act, the budget reconciliation bill that was passed in the summer of 25 and made substantial changes of the program, increasing support levels for Arc and PLC, amongst other things.

The decision was written into that legislation to simply give producers the hire of arc or PLC for the 2025 crop year.

That's the payments that are arriving now in October of 2026.

Payments always come a year after harvest as the marketing year ends, and final payment rates are calculated and paid out.

But the cash flow that's coming now is that 2025 result, where producers originally made a decision, but ultimately, they got paid the hire of Barker PLC.

Well, theoretically, that sounds like an easy to calculate number, except don't forget, the PLC payment is unique to every farm, because there's a specific payment rate per bushel for each crop in the base, but it's also tied to your farm's program payment yield.

So it's unique to each farm in terms of the dollars per acre.

That's the dollar per acre payment rate that I calculate in the in the estimate there.

And if you look at average PLC payment yields by county across the state.

And then you calculate the payment rate accordingly, you can end up with corn PLC payment rates that range from roughly $26 to $48 an acre per paid acre.

That sounds like a substantial range, but it's exactly the same dollar per bushel payment rate.

It's just a function of average yields in the county.

Of course, on the farm. Even more unique.

So producers need to think about what their actual PLC payment would be on the farm.

Don't forget, that's per paid acre.

We only get paid on 85% of our base acres, so multiply that number by 85%.

Reduce it again by 5.7% for budget sequestration.

These payments, farm program payments are still subject to budget sequestration rules that were written more than a decade ago.

So the total payment ends up smaller.

But we have this comparison payment rate.

Well, the producers are going to get paid, the higher of arc or PLC.

Well, what's the arc payment?

It's a payment rate calculated at the county level, so everybody gets the same payment rate.

And if I looked at for corn again, for example, the arc payment rate, ranges from 0 to as much as 148 bucks an acre, 104, actually 147, 39.

Arc is payment racer dependent upon actual county yield results multiplied by that same national price compared to the guarantee.

So the payment rate will differ across counties, based on county results.

The payment rate differs also by irrigated versus non-irrigated practice, and for any one individual producer, their arc payment is a weighted combination of both irrigated and non-irrigated guarantees and results.

So even there, the actual payment rate for arc, as calculated, is very dependent on the farm level, um, sign up.

Then you compare the hire of arc or PLC and finally make a payment.

So trying to tell a producer exactly what the payment would be is really complicated.

It's dependent upon some very farm level, specific detail, and then trying to aggregate that and estimate what total payments in the state might look like is also, by nature, very complicated.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from a recent Farmcast podcast offered by UNL Center for Ag Profitability.

To read the detailed article or listen to the entire interview, go to CAP.UNL.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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.

Agricultural producers have a relatively short window to complete their ARC PLC decisions for the 2026 crop year as the December 11th deadline approaches.

The sign up differs this year because it comes after harvest, when producers know what their yield is as opposed to making the decision in the spring before planting.

Extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin, talks about a number of issues.

Producers need to consider, before signing up on today's almanac, the election is the decision between arc and PLC.

That ended up not mattering for 2025, but for 2026, producers, again, need to make an election between whether they will enroll in the arc program or the PLC program.

If they don't make an election, it does not revert to what they previously had done.

It is nothing, and they would end up qualifying for no support.

They need to make an election and they need to officially enroll in the program by the December 11th deadline.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Brad says the shift on the normal spring sign up to fall could help producers make better decisions.

2026.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
We have a great deal more foresight of what we think will actually be the result.

Typically, we're doing this in the spring.

We're making decisions about a farm program safety net and a choice between the price-based PLC program and the revenue-based arc program.

But we're making that decision early in the spring when we don't have a great deal of inside on what the crop production year will look like.

We have early season price forecast, but that's a long ways away from the marketing you're even starting.

So it's more based on typical trends or expectations.

Uh, I should say with the caveat, wheat producers sign up in the spring for a crop that was planted back in the fall, they always have some insight about what the wheat crop might end up looking like.

But, uh, um, but generally speaking, we have to make decisions, uh, with with average or or sort of trend expectations, no real insight.

Now we're making decisions on the 2026 program year. At the time of fall harvest, where we at least know or have a very good idea of what our own yields look like.

And we have some idea of what we think county yields ended up being, although we don't have a final number and we don't know that number for several months yet.

And we have some projection, at least, of how the marketing year started with prices, but we don't have a final number either.

So we know more, or at least we think we know more than we would have back last spring, that gives us some insight in terms of the likelihood that either the arc program or the PLC program, or if your farm results are challenging, maybe arc icy specifically, might be a much stronger safety net for you going forward.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Brad talks about issues producers face while waiting until the last minute to sign up.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Gag Policy Specialist]
You know, that I think the best answer is they need to get into the office and make that decision and enroll when they can.

Uh, the waiting until December 11th.

Sounds like we're going to have more information.

We're not going to have substantially new information on either county yield or marketing your national marketing, your average price forecast.

So what we know today is a pretty strong indicator of where we think we are, at least for the fall.

Theoretically, you could wait until the last day, but not everybody can wait until the last day and still expect to get into the office.

So the better strategy, uh, make a decision, get it done, get enrolled.

If there's a reason to revisit the program, there may be an opportunity to revisit that election, but don't delay here.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned to feature programs where Brad talks about these issues in more detail.

Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from a recent Farmcast podcast offered by UNL Center for Ag Profitability to read the detailed article or listen to the entire interview, go to cap.unl.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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 past almanac programs, extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin has been focusing on the struggles Congress has had as they try to get a new farm bill passed.

Brad has looked at issues such as bipartisan support, the upcoming election, and snap benefits.

As we conclude our series on this topic, Brad takes a look at the status of commodity programs and what producers should be paying attention to as the Senate continues to try to get a new bill passed.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]

Commanding programs sign up is certainly part of farm bill implementation.

And even as we're talking about trying to get a farm bill done, we're also talking about implementation, because we're implementing what was passed last year in the budget bill.

So when the budget bill included reauthorization for commodity programs through 2031, it immediately adjusted the safety net rules for the 2025 program crop year, which was already in place, and it made those changes for 26 and beyond as well.

For producers that were enrolled in the 25 program crop, before the budget bill even passed, they will start getting payments in a couple weeks here, in early October, based on how that arc and PLC program participation and payment rates ended up under the 25 crop.

At the moment, as of early or mid September here, we have also opened up enrollment on the 26 program crop year.

We did not do enrollment early this spring, when we ordinarily would have.

The ordinary cycle would be that you'd have enrollment decisions before spring planting season really started, but with the changes rules and with some of the detail that had to be done, we didn't get that enrollment started early this spring.

Instead, we also dealt with adding additional base acres.

That was something that was also authorized in the budget bill, to add up to 30 million additional base acres across the country, not to change the base acres that producers already have, but to add additional base acres for those producers that had been planting more than what was in their base.

And that sign up is now officially done, and we know what those acres are.

So now we're ready for program enrollment.

Enrollment started here in mid September for the 2026 program, crop year, and runs through mid December, for the moment at least.

Producers have a decision to make about arc or PLC.

For the 25 crop, since they didn't have a decision, didn't make a decision until the rules had, or after the rules had changed, they're simply going to get the higher of arc or PLC.

Simple calculation, no decision necessary, for 2026, we're back to, You have to make a decision.

But by this point in the year, we also know a little bit about what we think the crop looks like.

We don't have official statistics of yield.

We have some idea of where we think prices are headed, although we are clearly early in the marketing year.

So we still have a lot of price and yield uncertainty, but we know a little bit more than we would have known back in the spring.

Producers have to consider those things now to make some decisions about whether arc or PLC looks like a stronger safety net.

They will start the enrollment process for 2027 as well.

Here a little bit later this fall, with expectations to run that through mid March of 27, like the normal deadline would be.

Producers will have to make that 27 decision before they get into the planting season and begin to think about what actual pricing yield expectations might be.

[Brad Mills, Program Hosed]

This series of programs, focusing on the progress of a new farm bill, was taken from a recent farmcast podcast produced by UNL Center for Ag Profitability.

To read a detailed article, or to listen to the entire interview, go to cap.unl.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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.

Any future progress for the passage of a new farm bill will most certainly need bipartisan support.

On past almanac programs, Nebraska extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin has talked about other obstacles that the legislators will have to figure out before getting a bill finished.

On today's show, he points out that the upcoming election will possibly present more issues for the Senate to consider.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]

You know, the the Senate version that came out of committee includes this one-year delay in shifting some of the snap cost estates based on error rates in those states. What Senate Democrats on the committee were arguing about or arguing for at the time was an amendment that would have made that a two year delay.

Is it really just debating about one year versus two years?

It's possible that a two year away would be enough on the Senate 4 to get more support to get the bill across the finish line.

Mind you, all this is happening right now, likely after the election.

We can talk about the pathway to maybe a bipartisan coalition that puts a Senate farm bill across the finish line in the Lameduck session of Congress, and then conferences with the House.

We also have to acknowledge that the election results will have a major impact on, maybe, the interest and willingness and motivation to try and get a build done now, relative to pushing it off yet again, and debating anew in the new Congress.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]

Other important policy issues will have to be discussed by the Senate in order for the bill to get finished.

Brad points out that specific state statutes often come up in debates about federal rules and guidelines.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Expert Dude]

One of them is this writer to try and pre-empt state statutes.

If state statutes, in this case, in California, dictate not just how livestock are raised in California, but dictate how all food animal products that are consumed in California are raised, wherever that is, including Nebraska, that is either a state welfare and food safety regulation that is allowable, or it looks like a state restriction on trade, which arguably violates the interstate commerce clause.

Well, the case was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to deny California's right to implement Prop 12, which requires not just production, but also all consumption, all food products sold in California to meet those standards.

Well, absent a ruling that the state law violates the U.S. Constitution, then they're looking for a federal law to preempt state law.

And the House did include language that would do that, the Senate bill does not.

Even if the Senate bill moves forward without it, that's going to be one of the sticky questions that gets debated in conference committee.

It's a challenging question.

Some of agriculture, many agricultural producers have already sort of adopted to those stricter California standards, and so they've invested in the production systems that would qualify.

They perhaps are already serving or capitalizing on those new market opportunities to provide that product to California.

But there, but it also looks like a substantial burden on U.S. Production, food animal production in general, if everything needs to adopt to these higher standards, even though not all of it is being sold to California.

So it's a challenge, and it's a putical challenge as to how we deal with it in the end.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]

Our discussion on the work being done to pass a new farm bill continues on a future almanac program where Brad talks about the status of commodity programs.

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.

On a recent almanac program, Nebraska extension ag policy specialist Brad Lubin laid out some of the problematic issues with passing a new farm bill.

One of the biggest obstacles that this and older farm bills has had is the snap benefits issue.

Brad says this is always the most contentious issue, and this new proposed bill is no different.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
The snap issue has been a fundamental challenge.

It's been at the heart of the Farm Bill Coalition for decades. Supplement nutrition assistance programming, what we long ago called food stamps.

That's the food assistance portion that brought the food interest and the urban interest together to form a coalition to help pass the farm bill with the farm interest.

So you had farm and food policy, or farm and food programs, as part of that coalition effort.

Well, for decades, that was the formula to getting a farm bill done in bipartisan fashion.

When the farm bill didn't get done in 23 or 24 and the language was moved to the budget reconciliation bill in 25, the budget reconciliation process is a much more partisan process, because the reconciliation rules don't require overcoming a filibuster in the Senate.

So you can imagine language or legislation moving along party lines.

The budget language that was included in 2025, increased commodity program supports, increased crop insurance supports, basically reallocated some of the conservation program dollars to establish more of a long run budget baseline, and substantially either cut or reduced snap spinning.

I say cut or reduced.

It depends on which side of the aisle you're on as to which word you want to use there.

But it substantially reduced the total expectant level of spending on Snap by establishing tighter eligibility rules, by shifting costs to the states, by proposing a revisit of the calculation of benefit rates.

All of these things look on paper, like they would reform a program, and maybe reduce errors, and reduce assistance going to ineligible individuals, but it still fundamentally looks like a cut to food assistance.

And so if the argument is about any dollars being cut from food assistance, relative to what were, in fact, dollars added to the farm site, that got through on partisan lines in a budget reconciliation process, it's not clear that that keeps the coalition together. To try and get the rest of the farm bill through on a bipartisan basis.

So Snap's a critical part of the farm bill, it's been key to the coalition that's gotten a farm bill done for more than 50 years.

It's not clear as to whether that coalition is willing to put the rest of the farm bill across the finish line.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
There is much more to cover on this important topic.

Next time, Brad talks about some of the political obstacles to passing a new bill.

You can read a detailed article or listen to the entire interview by visiting UNL Center for Ag Profitabilities website at cap.unl.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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.

On this week's episode of Nebraska Extension Almanac, former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johannes, speaks on the importance of trade and relationships with trade partners.

[Mike Johanns, Former Secretary of Agriculture]
In the last 18 months or so, I've been in Brazil twice. 25 years ago, my message was, look, these folks are doing some things we need to pay attention.

They're going to be a big competitor.

Kind of the response I got from some was, well, they don't have any roads, they don't have railroad systems.

They don't have ports, you know, so they're not going to be much.

Well, they're a powerhouse now.

They truly are a leader when it comes to soybean production.

And if you go to Brazil, they make no secret about it.

Corn is on thorizon.

They want to be a leader in their Safrina corn crop.

And in some places, many places in Brazil, they can do a couple of crops.

So it's a real challenge for the United States.

And we see it with our relationship with China.

You know, we get in a spat with China.

Does that leave China shorter and soybeans?

No, they go to Brazil.

And if you talk to folks in Brazil about the relationship with China, they don't get all tangled up in the politics of what China may or may be doing at a given time.

They will tell you, disappoint blank.

Our job is to sell soybeats.

Um, and we're going to do everything we can to sell soybeans to China and anywhere else that we can sell soybeans.

So, like I said, if we really want to be competitive, not only do we have to be competitive in that international marketplace, but we have to be competitive in what we're doing here in the United States.

And if you're not emphasizing biodiesel ethanol, I think we're missing out on a great opportunity for corn producers, soybean producers.

You know, President Bush was very clear to me, and it was very clear to the United States trade representative.

He told us, I want you out there together.

I want you to be the team.

And I want you to build trade relationships.

I want you to get trade agreements.

He was just very, very forceful about it.

He believed that trade was an opportunity for us to win.

He would maintain, and I said the same thing, level of the plane filled, and Nebraska farmers and ranchers gonna win.

U.S. Farmers and ranchers are gonna win, because we produce just unbelievable products in this state and in this country.

What I experienced in talking to ministers from other countries, whether it was Canada, Mexico, or India, or wherever, was that they wanted predictability.

China was the same way, you know?

China wanted to be able to rely upon the fact that they had a trading partner that was predictable, that they could get their soy beans from our country.

Let's not be mistaken about this.

There were trade irritations all the time.

I mean, that was constant.

I spent a tremendous amount of my time as secretary D line with those kinds of trade irritations.

But at the end of the day, I felt very, very strongly that if farmers and ranchers were going to be successful.

I had to lead the way to open up markets and to level the playing field.

And it just was extremely important.

When I became Secretary, There were 145 countries or something.

We can sell our beef.

Here we're raising this unbelievable product.

And literally, we've got no place to market it.

And so, you know, work very hard to get that straightened out, but, again, that was just a piece of what I did.

So, I'm a believer that you can fight for fair trade and negotiate good trade agreements for farmers and ranchers.

But there has to be a predictability about what we do that's extremely important.

Our trading partners need to rely upon the fact that today and tomorrow, that market will be open.

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

I 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.

Sustainability, soil health, and water quality are key components to every farm and ranch operation.

Extension habitat management specialist, Andy Little, says conservation and sustainability can include areas on the operation that promote wildlife and game bird habitats.

He encourages farmers to look into taking unused or difficult to farm areas, and try making these habitats which may lead to a future revenue stream.

Well, I can say personally my passion. Is around how do we help landowners optimize their operation.

And so I'm, my driving force every day I wake up is how can we, with this research and extension, because I'm also an extension specialist at university.

Um, how can we take this information, get it into the hands of landowners so that it actually is helping them make more informed decisions on their operations?

And particularly, as I alluded to earlier, the Stackable Enterprise arena.

That is where we're, I'm very invested because we, what we are seeing in the state of Nebraska and many other states, as we're seeing obviously sole health issues.

Um, we've seen water quality issues in particular across the state of Nebraska, you look at Iowa's and other illustration.

Um, a lot of challenges there.

And so every farmer that I've met with is insure it wants to ensure the long-term sustainability of their operation.

And so I come back and say, okay, if these, what are the friction points, if you want to say, for you and your operation, how can we make that easier and finding ways to adopt some of these practices and usually what I hear, especially on some of the conservation programs is, hey, it just doesn't pencil out financially.

So then I can't really, in my role, I can't change conservation programs, but I can totally find other ways to help them, think about other alternative opportunities beyond maybe a conservation program.

And maybe it's a conservation program plus something else, like a hunting lease or plus something else in your operation where you have a little diversity.

And it's not asking to convert massive amounts of acreage.

It can just be small amounts of your property where, and that's one of the things always also tell people a lot about is just try something small.

Just take, say you have just a couple acres and you're like, hey, let's just try this out and see how it works. Know, do a little experimentation.

We have the one farm research network at university.

It's another great opportunity to collaborate with them, um, and test out some ideas as well.

And then you get some of these folks will help you out and designing something research project around your questions and be able to implement that.

And so really, the the value to me is, I'm looking at the future legacy and what we're leaving and how can we take and leave that lasting legacy to our kids or grandkids in one down the line by establishing these holistic operations where we're balancing out conservation and production.

And there is really no cookie cutter approach, and now you're going to get it done. Everybody's going to be different.

But finding innovative ways that we can help landowners optimizer operation from that profitability side.

Because if we can't do that, it's going to be a little harder to, you know, look at, hey, I'm putting taking land out of production to your earlier and put it into something else.

Well, we need to say if it pays, it stays.

That's just the reality of it.

So if it pays economically for you by diversifying, um, through stackable enterprises, that's part of what my lab's doing right now or helping to address those risks and helping to develop basically pathways so that landowners can actually, they're, again, reducing these friction points so that they can say, oh, okay, I have somebody can kind of help me along this trajectory to diversify and look at something a little differently on my operation.

[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.

Congress has made significant progress in coming up with a new farm bill, but getting it passed is an entirely different matter.

Extension specialist, Brad Lubin says, a farm bill has passed the house, but policy issues and political uncertainty has begun to bog it down in the Senate.

He begins today's program by looking back at where the farm bill has come, and some of the frustrations that might prevent it from moving forward.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
The road has been long and frustrating for sure.

The current farm bill that still technically exists is the 2018 farm bill that was expired in 2023.

When we didn't get something done in Congress, It was extended for one year to 24.

It was extended another year again to 25.

You noted some of the policy changes that were dealt with in the budget bill in 25, but the rest of the bill expired yet again.

Another one year extension gets us to 26, And here we are again, waiting on congressional action to try and get a farm bill done or yet wondering if it's destined for another extension.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Brad details how the House of Representatives passed a bill back in April, where it had bipartisan support.

Brad says, the Senate has to take a different approach to make it past any possibility of a filibuster.

He says one of the major problems is the upcoming election that could possibly destroy any plans of this bill passing the Senate.

[Brad Lubben, Nebraska Extension Ag Policy Specialist]
Yeah, the Senate has moved a bill out of committee, but it still faces an uncertain fate on the floor of the Senate.

It's worth backing up, though, to what the House did back in April.

The House did pass a farm bill, out of committee, and across the four, with bipartisan support.

It basically reauthorized what we call the skinny farm bill, the parts of the bill outside of commodities, crop insurance, conservation, and snap, the parts that were addressed in the budget bill last year.

The Senate has to take, arguably, a more by the Senate has to take a more bipartisan approach than even the House, because it has to figure out how to get over a 60 vote filibuster threat on the floor of the Senate.

The bill that came out of committee does make some overtures to the necessary bipartisan support.

It included an amendment to delay some of the proposed cost shifts in the snap program, cost shifts from the budget reconciliation bill that would shift part of the cost of benefits and the snap program to states based on error rates.

Well, the Senate farm bill does include language that would include a one year delay in that shift.

That was not enough to get any bipartisan supporting committee.

And so it came out of committee on a 12/11 party line vote.

How it gets across the Senate 4, where it does have to find some bipartisan support to get past the filibuster, is still a real challenge.

And in fact, that challenge won't even happen until after the election, in a lame deck session of Congress.

By that point, the election results will also matter.

They may dictate, well, they certainly will dictate who will have power in the next Congress.

And that may either dictate a more congenial discussion and compromise here in the lame duck session of Congress, or it could also basically propel the partisanship and the desire to try and push off the decision yet again for another year, so that a renewed debate could start again in the new Congress.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned for future programs where Brad discusses more on this issue.

Next time, Brad will talk about how the snap food assistance policy has always been a sticking point when it comes to passing a farm bill.

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.

We've recently had several programs discussing wildlife and game bird habitat creation and promotion on our program.

Extension habitat management specialist Andy Little, returns to talk about a research program at UNL that has been studying wildlife habitat, and says it's a critical part of conservation, as well as something farmers should consider to pursue another line of revenue on their operation.

[Andy Little, Nebraska Extension Habitat Management Specialist]
The research started back in 2021.

And so that project was designed to start targeting, basically, areas within the rainwater basin, so kind of like Grand Island East to Lincoln, the other study areas in northeast Nebraska and about like 8 or 9 counties up there.

And so in each of those sites, we went in and we generated a bunch of, we call them crow count points.

And so basically what that means is there are a bunch of generated points, randomized points in a landscape, and then we send out teams of our students, biologists, et cetera, um, to go out to those points and they're listening for about 3 minutes at each of those points throughout basically the, um, uh, breeding season for pheasants.

So kind of that, I would say basically like the 1st week April, um, uh, into basically early part of June, essentially is kind of the sampling time frame.

And so our team will go to each of those points 3 times and during that window of time, and they would basically listen for 3 minutes and record down, hey, how many birds, how many pheasants am I hearing crowing?

We use all that data on the back end to then start combining that with satellite imagery, of land cover out there in a landscape.

And then we combine all of this stuff together.

And basically a modeling platform, uh, which then allows us to be able to identify and prioritize these folkwareas.

So listeners may be aware of like the focus on pheasant areas, the Nebraska and Parks Commission is established across the state, and that's essentially is kind of further refining them and being able to start building out those, like I mentioned earlier, stepping stones, if you want to say, of saying, hey, you know, are there ways that we can work together with the neighboring landowners, to start building out connectivity to some of these other existing patches, because what happens, and I've had people say this, like, you know, um, you, I put in a practice and I'm not seeing necessarily the return on investment that I expected.

And then you zoom out from the property and you say, well, there's really no connection of other types of, say, grassland and Ford communities that are really scaled out around that.

And so you kind of get what I like to say is an island.

And that island is it's hard and you could have an island and still be productive, but if it's a pretty small island, you know, eventually the birds, you know, you're not going to have a lot of birds moving into and out of that area because they, you know, especially when the crops are off in the fall and winter, because they're a higher risk of predation. And other sorts of mortality as we're going out, say, through an open cornfield.

Obviously in the summer, they can totally move around and about, you know, those fields and stuff.

Um, but one of the things today is, you know, there's not a lot of incentive for a lot of birds to move out into the middle of a field because there's not usually a lot of diversity of insects that are out there or other types of uh, plant communities because usually it's the crop and then the soil.

And so they usually spend a lot of time around the peripheries of those fields.

Ultimately, a couple of the big things come out of that is we basically have identified that strategic targeting of habitat is really, really critical, especially in highly fragmented landscape so we see today.

And that's no different than when we kind of go back into the 60s.

And we say, well, pheasants, they don't they don't need a big, huge block of cover necessarily.

They need mixtures of different cover types on the landscape.

So they do need crop fields, kind of interspersed with those grassland patches.

But those grassland patches can't necessarily be just a thick, you know, uh, or thick dense cover to the point where it doesn't provide any of that brood ring cover that I alluded to earlier because that's where you, that's one of the limitations.

You got to think about kind of the what they need biologically throughout the season.

And so with all of that, it gives us opportunity to start saying, okay, how can we be more strategic with those investments and getting out and meeting with landowners and really engaging to build those kind of complexes, if you want to say out.

[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.

Some farmers might be hesitant to seemingly take away valuable crop land to uses wildlife habitat.

Nebraska Extension Habitat management specialist Andy Little says, there are good financial reasons to protect and promote wildlife habitat.

On today's almanac.

Andy talks about why protecting game birds and other wildlife could be profitable.

[Andy Little, Nebraska Extension Habitat Management Specialist]
So in general, what you hear a lot is, well, if I put in, especially, and I'll use Eastern Nebraska's good illustration.

We have fairly high soul rental rates in this part of the state compared to Western Nebraska.

So if you look in general, across the state, you tend to see more CRP conservation reserve program, uh, lands enrolled out in western Nebraska, southwest and western panhandle, because it's, you know, basically the, there's an opportunity there, this whole rental rates are substantially less than a lot of cases.

And so then it makes sense financially to put those practices in.

Here in eastern Nebraska.

It's a little harder and it's harder for folks to justify with current prices, commodity prices.

And so, um, to answer original question, yes, there's an opportunity there.

And that's really what we're looking at is, is you can build in not only having your main, you know, kind of breadwinner, you know, say corn soy beans, but you can take and strategically target marginal acres where you're consistently losing money by using things like yield monitor data.

So everybody, you know, who's driving a combine in the fall, they get the, you'll monitor data right in the combine.

And so they're seeing those areas that are consistently low yielding.

We can take those areas out of production, put them into alternative practices, and it doesn't have to be necessarily like CRP, because there's only so much money in that bucket, and that's something we're working on right now is actually some, you know, kind of additional stackable enterprises.

Could be grazing acres, it could be hunting lease, could be a, you know, hey, you want to put an apiary out there?

You want to get some bees.

Um, you, really the, the, the sky's a limit on your creativity, but the ultimate goal that we're trying to get at is how do we help people diversify, especially when you're in current situations like with the stuff going on and over in the Middle East, where nitrogen prices now have been really skyrocketed.

Um, and then you have other costs for the farm really skyrocketing.

And so how can we strategically work on diversifying your financial portfolio so that when you do have bad times come in, which inherently it's going to happen at some point or another, whether it's weather, you know, whatever, and there's going to always be challenges like that.

You do have some other streams of income that can help and diversify in your operation, help pay those bills.

So.

One good way for farmers to profit off these techniques is a hunting lease.

Andy says, using problematic areas on the farm, could be a good opportunity to make money from a hunting lease.

So there's there's a couple of different ways that people have done hunting leases.

So one is, um, right now they, the Rescue Parts Commission has the open fields and waters program, and so they basically that program was specifically designed to help open up access, um, across the state, for people who are wanting to be able to hunt, to recreate, hunt, fish, et cetera.

Um, and so people can obviously go learn more about that at their website and there's, they can contact with their local areas.

But the point is, is that yeah, that, um, there, that's an opportunity.

The other opportunity is, um, just simply, hey, I'm, you know, have, if outside of the open fields of water, I just want to take and have a component of my property that I'm not really making much money on, and I can take and put that into conservation program or something else, habitat wise, and I got people want to deer hunt or pheasant hunt or whatever, and then people will pay for it.

You know, we're talking 1000s upon 1000s of dollars, people paid either have a hunting lease, a hunting operation, that they want to be able to come and hunt their recreationally every year.

I see it all the time.

They're actually kind of like the, there's different platforms now.

Some of them are more like the Airbnb experience, if you want to say.

Um, and you kind of say, hey, I want to come hunt these couple of days.

And then, yeah, you're basically paying a landowner for access to hunt their property.

And so, yeah, there's definitely a market.

There's absolutely a big market.

There are lots of money in hunting industry.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned for future programs where Andy talks about deeznuts program at the university that is studying this issue and using it to help game birds thrive again in this state.

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.

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.

Pheasant hunting in Nebraska is a time honored tradition.

On today's almanac, extension specialist Andy Little talks about how pheasants came to this country, and what farmers and acreage owners can do to promote a habitat where they can thrive?

[Andy Little, Nebraska Extension Habitat Management Specialist]
They were brought over from China back in the late 1800s, here to North America.

Um, a lot of, and basically the primary reason was uh, individuals wanted to be able to hunt pheasants over here.

And so they brought them over here and started introducing them into various states in particular across the United States and obviously Nebraska and the Midwest.

It was a designated location for releasing pheasants.

And so, uh, we released pheasants again, you know, kind of late 1800s.

And actually this year, interestingly enough, in Nebraska is the 100th year of pheasant hunting uh, in Nebraska.

And so again, it's uh, they've been around for quite a while.

Populations of pheasants in Nebraska, really peaked back in the, I'd say about the 50s, 60s time period, and a lot of that was due to crop diversity.

We had at that time, you know, in some places, 5 to 6 different types of crops being grown.

And so crop diversity was pretty important to them and really that kind of speaks to their need to have a lot of different types of cover in the landscape.

We can probably dive into that more in a moment.

Um, but at the end of the day, yeah, they, they were brought over here late 1800s, North America, and then continued to expand across the country as people were wanting to, you know, primarily from a recreational standpoint for hunting.

So.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Andy talks about what the ideal pheasant habitat is to help them nest, reproduce, and have protection from harsh weather and predators.

[Andy Little, Nebraska Extension Habitat Management Specialist]
So we'll kind of started like the nesting cover side of things in the spring.

So right now, birds are kind of the peak point of nesting for pheasants.

Um, so they they want to obviously have some level of concealment.

So we think of, um, a mixture of Forbes and Grasses.

Uh, and so people think uh, immediately of like CRP conservation reserve program fields, uh, that may have a little bit more of a, um, uh, diversity there of both, again, grasses and Forbes, just to have some level of structure.

So when she puts a nest in, Um, she can still be able to see potential predators.

You'll see pheasants, especially nowadays as we have, you know, again, peak back in the 50s and 60s.

Populations have continued to decline across the state of Nebraska and many states.

Um, what you actually see is birds will be nesting in, you know, roadside ditches because in cases like that.

Those roadside dishes are really all they have available to them.

Um, and then when you get to the brood running stage, once that nest hatches, the uh, chicks are going to need uh, more open kind of bare ground mixed with Forbes, they can find insects, but they can move around quickly.

And similar to turkey, uh, poults.

One of the things with pheasants is if, in that 1st, especially a couple weeks of life when they just hatch out, they can't really thermal regulate very well.

And so if it gets like a cool night and you got a lot of moisture and say you have, um, you know, like brome, you know, in your pasture, for example, it's really dense.

If they get in there, they can actually die from hypothermia because they get moisture on them and they can't thermal regulate.

And so you really want to have a diversity of kind of open areas.

And the way I always tell people to do this is if you want to know you have brooder in habitat, take a little kid's monster truck or a tennis ball and try to roll it through the area where you think is brood rearing cover.

If it stops immediately, that's not quality brooder and cover because they're not likely to get through there.

Now, if they, you can roll it through and there's some open areas, bare ground, then sure, they can definitely get to that.

And then you get later in the summer into the fall time period, you know, when most people are hunting them, they're thinking of kind of the taller 4 foot tall vegetation, the CRP fields.

That's what most people are obviously visualizing and thinking, hey, this is what quality pheasant cover is into a point, yes, but at the end of the day, you have to look it up from a life stage standpoint, because that really thick cover, maybe in that fall winter time frame is not really going to be the ideal cover for, say, brood rearing, because they need to have those mixtures of those different cover types really within a pretty uh, to each other in a landscape.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Stay tuned to future almanac programs where Andy discusses pheasant population decline in Nebraska.

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.

UNL Center for Ag Profitability has a resource that helps match aspiring producers with landowners who want to see their legacy continue.

It's called the Nebraska Landlink, and on today's program, Extension Educator Emeritus, Alan Benalik, talks about how owners should prioritize their goals, and their legal documents before any transition plans are put into place.

[Alan Vyhnalek, Nebraska Extension Educator Emeritus]
I want people to start thinking about what happens to their stuff when you pass, when you're gone.

Do you have plans or your plans in place?

Do you and your spouse, if you have one or have another partner, business partner, you have to get that set 1st before you could even consider thinking about getting into the whole landing program or interviewing someone for the landing program.

Next, what is your estate plan?

Do you have your end of life documents in place?

How old are they?

If they're more than 5 years old, you probably need to review them and maybe make some adjustments, make some amendments.

Do they need to be updated?

And when I talk about estate plans.

I'm talking about end of life documents, things like your healthcare power of attorney, your healthcare directive, and your business power of attorney or the or the durable power of attorney.

And then I'm also talking about your will or trust or LLC.

Are those in good shape?

But now we're going to talk about what happens to your ag operation?

Do you plan to have that I operation succeed and do you have the documents in place for that to happen properly?

If you're bringing a land seeker into your operation to help or work to work or hopefully take over, have all that kind of in place 1st before you think about this.

It's important that you think about what income you're going to need from your operation later in life.

If you're unable to contribute to the operation and you're no longer providing labor, maybe management, but no labor.

What income are you going to need to live off of?

Where do you plan to go?

Do you have aspirations to do trips?

Do you have aspirations to take vacations?

And how does that be adjusted given where we're at with these land seekers and what are we going to expect those land seekers to pay?

We can't put them under the bus in terms of them being able to pay or they're not going to want to stay with our operation very long.

Where do you expect that income to come from?

I don't know, there are a lot of people could just live off their social security, some people can.

But a lot of people don't necessarily.

And if you're no longer able to do the work, if you're no longer a part of your operation, where do you plan to live?

Do you still plan to live out on the farm?

Are you going to have home in-home healthcare?

How's that going to work if you become incapacitated?

What do you plan to do?

Let's have a plan for that.

Let's think about what those options might.

And how about to control the operation?

Uh, you know, the famous story is that a 65 year old said uh, to one of the farm succession people, uh, when is it appropriate to give control of your operation to your son?

And that farm succession counselor knew that this 65 year old had a 3540 year old on the farm.

And you said, well, you know, if your son's 35, 40 years old, been with you 10 or 15 years, start time to start giving up control.

And a 65 year old goes, no, I'm not talking about.

My son, I'm talking about my 90 year old father.

When's he going to give up control?

Because right now, my son and I get into the truck and we drive over to his place every morning to get directed.

So what we ought to do every day?

So there's that story and lies what's happening with a lot of the of our landowners and a lot of our old-time farmers, they never really want to retire and they always want to maintain control.

I'm not being critical of that, but you have to think about how you're going to handle that control.

And where would you plan to give that up?

And how are you going to give that up?

And if you plan to give it up, Yes, yes, good, fine.

But who are you going to give it up to?

Are you giving it up just to your children?

Are you giving up to this new land seeker?

How do you want your operation to go forward?

So think about those big picture goals.

What do I need from my operation for income?

What do I need for my operation, for where I'm going to live?

How do I get to transfer control?

How am I going to transfer my assets?

Who are my assets going to go to before you start this interview process with the land seeker, thinking about what you need to make sure you have in place?

And of course, be sure you communicate this with your children, if you have children involved, and absolutely be sure you are in agreement with your spouse.

Today's program was a portion of an interview taken from the Farmcast podcast offered by UNL Center for Ag Profitability to hear the entire program.

Go to cap.unl.edu or download from Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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.