News

June Buffalo Bridge Hike The Sandhills Prairie Refuge Association (SPRA) is excited to host a community guided hike on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge. The “June Hike to Buffalo Bridge” offers a unique opportunity for residents and visitors to explore the Wilderness Access Foot Trail and witness the stunning beauty of the Niobrara National Scenic River.

Students in Valentine’s FFA Heart City Beef program were making their usual rounds when something didn’t feel right. Calf number two, a young steer they’d named “Keith,” wasn’t up and moving like he should be. Lethargic and unable to rise, the little calf quickly turned a routine check into a moment of concern ~ and a real-life lesson in action.

Whether it is the possibility of drought or loss of pasture because of wildfire, some producers are considering using irrigated annual forages to bolster their grazing or hay supplies. For spring or cool-season annual forages, we are in the planting period of late March to early April.

Lincoln, NE, April 20, 2026 — Wildfires and other disasters can force agricultural producers to sell livestock earlier or in greater numbers than planned. These decisions can create unexpected tax consequences, which will be explained in an upcoming webinar from the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Lincoln, NE - April 24, 2026 ~ The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin accepting applications on Monday, April 27, for the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) in several Nebraska counties impacted by March wildfires.

The recent discovery that the screwworm fly has invaded southern Mexico and infected cattle (not yet at the U.S. border) has resulted in considerable misinformation from some official sources as well as a new generation of ranchers born after its prior eradication from the U.S.

by Rachel Hochhauser Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life by Rachel Hartigan We the Women by Nora O'Donnell This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives by Elizabeth Arnott A Far-Flung Life by ML Stedman All Booked Up by Melody Carson NEW BOOKS - 4/28/2026 Faithful of Heart by Tracie Peterson The Fortune Flip by Lauren Kung Jessen The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas The House of Hidden Letters by Izzy Broom How to write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh The Hybrid Prince by Tui T Sutherland It Girl by Allison Pataki A Good Person by Kirsten King.

When my neighbor’s daughter came for a visit, she decided to help her mother deep-clean her kitchen and was amazed at the unnecessary items her mother had saved and stored in her cupboards. There were several stacks of plastic cottage cheese and margarine cartons, plus neatly folded well-used sheets of tin foil. As she described these findings, I thought of my own mother who saved the same items, even saving waxed paper, and made sheets from the lining of cereal boxes to lay out warm cookies as she removed them from the oven.

The best news I can comment on this week is that we received moisture over the weekend! There was a little snow, but mostly rain, and so appreciated. There were different amounts reported, but probably an average of around 1 inch or so. Bring on the green grass!

by Aug and Debby Galloway April 12, 2026 We were in Cherry County Hospital at 12:30 on March 12 where my husband, August, was being examined for having a heart attack. We were waiting for the tests to tell us if he would be flown to North Platte. Around 4:00 I heard the nurses in the hallway discussing a fire south of Kilgore, NE.