With harvest just around the corner, many farmers may be considering the decision custom hire out harvesting work. Glennis McClure, a Nebraska Extension farm and ranch management analyst with the Center for Ag Profitability, has a new article on our site at cap.unl.edu, looking at the factors and costs that come into play when deciding between hiring a custom operator versus performing harvest with owned equipment. She also highlights how UNL’s Agricultural Budget Calculator program can assist with these decisions.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/finance/harvest-operations-own-it-or-hire-ithttps://cap.unl.edu/finance/harvest-operations-own-it-or-hire-it.

From drones scouting fields to real-time data-driven decisions, the embrace of technology by U.S. agriculture is expanding, with Nebraska at the forefront. A recent USDA-NASS survey shows 77% of Nebraska's farmers and ranchers now integrate computers into their work, a jump from 74% in 2021. Moreover, 85% use smartphones, up by five points in two years.

Larry Van Tassell is a professor in Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and director of UNL’s Center for Agricultural Profitability. As a graduate student, he helped survey producers in the 1980s – just as personal computers were beginning to emerge – about their attitudes toward adapting technology to help manage their operations. He dove into the new report, contrasting today’s attitudes about tech in ag with the skepticism he found among producers 30 to 40 years ago, in a new article on our website, cap.unl.edu. He’s here to talk more about the survey, how the perception of using technology in agriculture has evolved, and the important role it plays in today’s decision-making environment.

Read more at: https://cap.unl.edu/management/technology-use-growing-nebraska-farms-and-ranches.

For landlords and tenants with verbal lease agreements in place, September 1st represents an important deadline in Nebraska. The state Supreme Court has ruled that the lease year begins on March 1st and the notice to a tenant to vacate under a verbal lease must be given six months in advance of the end of the lease – or no later than September 1st. We’ll walk through what this means for both parties, discuss the benefits of

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/land/terminating-verbal-farmland-lease-nebraska.

Tina Barrett, with Nebraska Farm Business, Inc., explains a new tax law that could impact many agricultural operations across our Nebraska

Earlier this year, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB754, which contains changes allowing partnerships and S-corps to elect to pay state income taxes at the entity level, rather than only at the owner level. This opens up potential federal tax benefits for pass-through entities that were previously only available to C-corps in Nebraska. The law also includes options to make this election retroactively from 2018 to 2022.

Tina discusses how this new approach works, who may benefit from it, and what business owners should consider if debating whether to make this election.

Read more: https://cap.unl.edu/finance/nebraska-legislature-approves-pass-through-entity-tax-bill

Agricultural commodity prices remain strong as we head into summer 2023, but market volatility is a constant presence for farmers and ranchers, and high prices can bring both optimism and anxiety for producers. That’s according to Jay Parsons, UNL Farm and Ranch Management Specialist with the Center for Ag Profitability, who has co-authored a new article on our site at cap.unl.edu, which discusses the importance of managing market volatility this year. He’s joins to talk about current commodity prices and some strategies for growers and sellers to navigate any potential challenges in the markets.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/management/managing-market-volatility-2023.

A new tool developed by the Center for Agricultural Profitability works to help demystify farm finances by making easy work of calculating annual loan payments. The free, web-based Loan Payment Calculator is available for use now at our website, https://cap.unl.edu/loancalculator. Extension Ag Economist Jessica Groskopf is here to talk about it. 

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/finance/new-loan-payment-calculator-tool-launched/.

Impressive yields at harvest don’t mean a lot if the costs to grow the crop outweigh the price at marketing time. On this episode, we dive into the importance of calculating breakeven prices and yields to improve profitability. From understanding how much yield you need to cover your costs, to incorporating things like family living expenses and opportunity costs, there are many considerations to be made. Enterprise budgeting to understand those expenses and determine breakeven prices and yields can be time-consuming, but we’ll also talk about how UNL’s ag budget calculator program can streamline the process. 

Larry Van Tassell is a professor in Agricultural Economics and director of the Center for Agricultural Profitability here at UNL.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/management/using-breakeven-analysis-better-decisions.

In a unique initiative by the American Councils for International Education, Nebraska Extension educators Molly Brandt and Marilyn Schlake were invited to travel to the countries of Georgia and Armenia in October 2022, and April 2023, to train local educators in the principles of the 4-H Entrepreneurship Investigation (ESI) curriculum.

Brandt, an innovation and entrepreneurship 4-H educator, and Schlake, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska educator in the Department of Agricultural Economics, prepared for what they thought was a one-time experience. However, after their successful endeavor in Tbilisi, Georgia, in October 2022, they were invited back in April 2023, to deliver similar training in Yerevan, Armenia.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/rural/nebraska-extension-educators-bring-entrepreneurship-education-georgia-and-armenia.

As summer unofficially kicks off and fuel prices fluctuate, it’s important to understand how transportation factors like diesel prices, animal handling, and trucking industry changes are impacting the beef cattle industry. Elliott Dennis, assistant professor and livestock economist with the Center for Agricultural Profitability here at Nebraska, has a new article on cap.unl.edu about what’s behind the changing costs of cattle transportation in the U.S. and he joins the podcast to discuss what’s influencing the price of getting cattle from A to B and what challenges could be ahead for the livestock industry in this area.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/livestock/changing-cost-cattle-transportation.

When it comes to marketing feeder cattle in 2023, current calf prices are leaving some cow-calf producers optimistic about profits this year, even though forage availability continues to be tight and input costs continue to be high. Because a lot can happen between now and marketing time, price protection should still be a priority, even when that price outlook is optimistic.

That’s according to Jay Parsons, professor and farm and ranch management specialist in UNL’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Center for Agricultural Profitability. He’s authored a new article on our website, cap.unl.edu, and joins to discuss the importance of protecting prices and how Livestock Risk Protection insurance – and recent enhancements to the program – can serve as a valuable tool for managing market risks.

Read more at https://cap.unl.edu/livestock/managing-calf-market-risk-lrp-2023.