Saturday's events included a weigh-in and class sorting while Sunday was the official judging, selection of champions and a 4-H premium auction. Organizers say the beef expo is a reward for the 4-H students for all the hard work they've done over the year. So it's a way of keeping our youth involved in agriculture and assisting them in financing their projects. When you think of Nebraska, besides the Cornhuskers, you think of it's top notch beef industry. And this past weekend in Norfolk,...

Agricultural societies were created and, along with them, the agricultural fair. The earliest European settlers relied heavily on swine for their meat, but cows were needed for milk and oxen to plow the stony land. Organized in 1853 by the revitalized Agricultural Society headed ably by Henry Flagg French the fair drew thousands of people to town to view the finest farm animals, produce, domestic arts and a few competitions. After the Revolution, agriculturalists began to look for ways to...

It makes you wonder why producers of the major subsidized crops wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and cotton couldn t somehow also survive without federal handouts. The Agriculture Department predicts that net farm income this year will reach a record of more than $87 billion, nearly 50 percent above the previous year. With more acreage going to corn, there s less acreage for wheat or soybeans, and that constrains supplies of those crops and helps keep prices up. Production of fruit, vegetables,...

Some help is on the way for farmers and livestock producers. It has forced them to buy feed and to sell cattle to stay in business. For cattle farmers, the drought has dried up pasture grass, their normal source of feed. The drought has hurt crop farmers, lowered lake levels and hurt water supplies in some communities. Hall said he has done farming work "on and off all my life. As those costs have risen, action at livestock auction barns has increased as farmers fighting for their...

The intensive grazing dairy farm would milk 3,250 cows when it is fully developed, according to information reviewed by the commissioners. Honey said the commissioners were notified of the plan because the farm comes under the same notification requirement as concentrated animal feeding operations. Last week, he described problems with odors and animal waste from the operation, which milks about 1,200 cows. Erwin, who owns a farm near the dairy CAFO, for years has urged the county to adopt...

Sharon McDonald, wife of former R-CALF USA director Dennis McDonald, and former member Judie Manuel have been submitting letters to various publications that mislead readers by asserting that litigation against former directors and members has absolutely no basis, that the lawsuits are frivolous and wasting producer dollars. Sharon McDonald, wife of former R-CALF USA director Dennis McDonald, and former member Judie Manuel have been submitting letters to various publications that mislead...