KHAS Weather
Local Farmers gather to plan for the 2013 growing season
After a record dry year, farmers and producers are hoping for relief as they look ahead to 2013. The Agriculture Outlook of 2013 is taking place in Grand Island at the Heartland Event Center at Fonner Park.
"I'm just looking to take something away today that might help me with what I'm doing this year and next year and the year after, whether it be marketing or production," said Zach Mader, Grand Island Farmer. Together producers and professionals are sharing ideas to crawl out of last year's drought. "We produced good crops just because we have the ability to irrigate but it was awful labor intensive and we had just different challenges we normally don't face," said Mader. David Hightower with the Hightower report says that Nebraska farmers shouldn't just focus on producing food locally, but that farmers need to think globally. "International buyers were sent a message that they have to rebuild their buffer stocks. So we're going to need actually more supply than we realize because people are going to put it away, they're going to store it; they're going to hoard it," said David Hightower, Hightower Report. A message that caught Cole Tierney's attention. "I think some days we get caught in our own struggles with everything going on and we forget that the market place is becoming more global and there's a lot more people out there that need food and need our commodities here from Central Nebraska," said Cole Tierney, Broken Bow. Cole and his family own a ranch in Broken Bow. And it's no surprise drought is their biggest concern for 2013. "We need the rain, we need grass to grow. That's our number one feed source for our cattle and our operation that we run. So if it doesn't rain we run short pretty quickly and we have to change plans then," said Tierney. "That variability in a climate is still very present and we've had significant soil moisture deficits that you're just not going to rebuild them without something abnormal. We need more than just a regular year," said Hightower. "If it starts raining between now and planting season things will look pretty good, if it continues in our dry pattern it could get really interesting for us this year," said Andy Paul, Jones Insurance Agency. "We're hopefully optimistic and we don't want to plan for the worst but I think we're just ready to move forward," said Ben Benson, Big Cob Hybrids. "We're rain dancing at the moment," said Cole. The Ag Outlook wraps up Thursday. |
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