Southeast Nebraska farmers can sharpen their management strategies for the third and fourth most grown crops at the second annual Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa and Wheat Expo. Hosts and southeast Nebraska Water & Integrating Cropping Systems Extension Educator, Nathan Mueller, and southeast Nebraska Beef Systems Extension Educators, Wayde Pickinpaugh and Connor Biehler advocate for more diverse crop rotations that are both underutilized and undervalued. Integrating alfalfa and winter wheat into the crop rotation can provide a critical tool to mitigate extreme weather like flash droughts, improve soil health, increase corn and soybean yields, combat troublesome pests like Palmer amaranth, increase flexibility in manure management plans and cattle feed.

At the inaugural Expo last year, there were 63 attendees along with 13 exhibitor booths (Figure 1). Like last year, the Expo will help farmers prepare to grow these crops for the first time and fine-tune the skills of experienced alfalfa and winter wheat growers. Speakers and panelists will address important issues for southeast Nebraska farmers and allow for great one-on-one discussion with local private industry exhibitors and sponsors. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension is uniquely suited to bring farmers unbiased and research-based information. The second annual Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa and Wheat Expo is scheduled for Thursday, September 1, 2022, in Crete at the Tuxedo Park Exhibition Building. The expo will begin at 8:00 am with a light breakfast and exhibitor booths. The educational program starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. Continuing education units will be offered for Certified Crop Advisers.

Royce Schaneman, Nebraska Wheat Board Executive Director, and Dave Bauer, Major of Crete will welcome attendees at the Expo prior to our morning speakers and topics about wheat. Wheat topics and speakers from 9:00 am to Noon include variety recommendations with Dr. Nathan Mueller, underseeding red clover with Dr. Katja Koehler-Cole, hail damage and wheat streak mosaic with Dr. Stephen Wegulo, cost-share programs for growing wheat with Lydia English, and feeding wheat to cattle with Wayde Pickinpaugh. Topics on alfalfa during the afternoon sessions from 1:00 to 3:00 pm include benefits of diverse crop rotations for wildlife with Dr. Andrew Little and Nathan Pflueger, potato leafhopper management with Dr. Bob Wright, irrigation management with Steve Melvin, and herbicide management for late summer seeded alfalfa with Dr. Chris Proctor. Door-prizes will be drawn, and A&W root beers floats will be served from 3:00 to 3:30 pm.

Thank you to the sponsors including Nebraska Wheat, Farmers Cooperative, North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Scoular, and Winfield United Crop Nutrients that help make the Expo free to attend including lunch from City Slicker’s Bar and Grill. Attendee pre-registration is requested by August 30 to help organizers with meal planning. To get more information on the Expo and to pre-register online, please visit https://croptechcafe.org/alfalfawheatexpo or call the Saline County Extension office at 402-821-2151. For any inquiries about the Expo, please contact Nathan Mueller at nathan.mueller@unl.edu.