Nearly 300 people gathered for the Northeast Nebraska Ag Conference held at the Lifelong Learning Center at Northeast Community College on December 17th, 2024. Attendees from Nebraska and surrounding states gathered to hear from a great lineup of speakers.
Rick Clark of Williamsport, IN, Kicked off the conference with his
keynote address "Increasing Farm Profits with Conservation". Rick
showcased how he has reduced
expensive inputs and increased profits on his operation. Rick is moving towards organic no-till on his farm and discussed the realities of both the successes, and the challenges, of making this system work.
There were numerous options for concurrent breakout sessions where attendees could select the sessions attended based on the topics that would best serve their farms and ranches. Speakers covered items of interest that ranged from equipment set-up for successful no-till to total crop system redesigns that include grazing livestock on cropland. In one session, Jason Mauck, of Gaston, IN, shared his passion for “farming weird” - including the way he views sunlight as a limiting factor in traditional systems, and the stock- cropper he co-developed to graze animals in growing crops.
Another session highlighted a value-added products panel - a group of Nebraskans who are adding value to products by taking them to retail, finding local added-value market s, or using unique "livestock" to produce additional products from the same crops. The panel discussed ideas on how to create more income on their acres.
Wrapping up the day, a panel of local northeast Nebraska farmers discussed how they are making conservation
farming work locally. Junior Pfanstiel, Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD); Jeff Steffen, Lewis & Clark Natural Resources District (LCNRD); Curt Morrow, Lower Niobrara Natural Resources District (LNNRD); and Art Tanderup Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District (UENRD) discussed their operations, how they are implementing different practices, and the economics of their systems.
The Northeast Nebraska Ag Conference was co-hosted by the Bow Creek Watershed Project (Lewis & Clark NRD) and the Bazile Groundwater Management Area (LCNRD, LENRD, LNNRD, and UENRD), Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Strategic Ag Coalition, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Partners include Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy / EPA, Nebraska Extension, Nebraska Environmental Trust, UNL and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The Committee is already hard at work preparing for the second annual Northeast Nebraska Ag Conference planned for December 2025.
