A social hour will begin at 6 p.m., with a meal to follow at 7 p.m. Local agribusinesses will be sponsoring the food and beverages for the evening.

The featured speaker will be former Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. Corn industry updates will be given by the Nebraska Corn Board and NeCGA President Randy Uhrmacher of Juniata.

All area corn producers and spouses are invited to attend.

For more information or to RSVP, contact John Willoughby at (308) 583-2375 or Curtis Rohrich at (308) 583-2683.

St. Paul man honored for wildlife efforts

Pheasants Forever selected St. Paul Resource Conservationist Jim Lott as the 2008 Wildlife Professional of the Year at the Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever State Habitat Meeting last weekend.

"Jim exemplifies the title 'Wildlife Professional' in that he strives on a day-to-day basis to incorporate wildlife and wildlife habitat into his conservation planning with landowners," said Pete Bethelsen, president of Nebraska Pheasants Forever.

When a new conservation program is announced, Bethelsen said, "Jim is always one of the first resource professionals to seek additional information and ask how the program can benefit the producers he works with."

Bethelsen added that Lott is the lead person on WRP projects in one of the largest NRD's in the state. He also serves as a mentor and role model for both the farm bill wildlife biologists and coordinating wildlife biologists that he works with in the state.

Bethelsen said Lott has volunteered his time and energy to assist Pheasants Forever by serving as a past president and a current committee member in his local chapter.

"The support, guidance and passion of resource professionals like Jim are a major reason why Pheasants and Quail Forever has been as successful as it has in Nebraska," he said.

Upcoming no-till seminars will benefit farmers

The Upper Big Blue NRD, University of Nebraska and University of Nebraska Extension Education are sponsoring a series of no-till seminars this week.

The dates and locations are:

* Tuesday at the Stone Creek Inn at McCool Junction.

* Wednesday at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Aurora.

* Thursday at the Seward County Fairgrounds in Seward.

All meetings will start at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., with a free meal to be provided. There is no charge for any part of the program.

Speakers include Paul Jasa, Dan Gillespie and Mark Watson sharing their experiences with no-till farming. Jim Schneider, Hamilton County Extension educator, will give a presentation on the use of cover crops and Graham Christianson with the Nebraska Farmers Union will bring everyone up to speed on the Carbon Credit Program.

Value-added producer grant meeting set for Kearney

Ag producers and small businesses are encouraged to attend an informational meeting to discuss value-added opportunities available via the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program on Feb. 20.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development will host the meeting at the Nebraska Public Power District Meeting Room at 900 Fourth Ave. in Kearney. The meeting will be held from 1 to 3 p.m.

Attendance is highly recommended for agricultural producers, agricultural producer groups, farm and ranch cooperatives and majority-controlled, producer-based business ventures. Attendees will become familiar with the value-added program eligibility requirements and will be guided through the application process.

Value-added producer grants may be used to fund either:

* Planning activities needed to establish a viable value-added marketing opportunity for an agricultural product (e.g. conduct a feasibility study, develop a business or marketing plan);

* Or acquire working capital to operate a value-added business venture that will allow producers to better compete in domestic and international markets.

Statewide, value-added grants totaling $681,176 assisted eight producers in value-added ventures in Fiscal Year 2007. The 2002 Farm Bill made available monies for the USDA Rural Development VAPG program. Since the beginning of the program, Nebraska has received nearly $9.6 million assisting in 80 value-added ventures.

Applications must be postmarked no later than March 31.

For further information, contact Kelley Kinney, rural development specialist, USDA Rural Development, (308) 237-3118 ext 4, or kelley.kinney@ne.usda.gov. Visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/ne.

Tree care workshops focus on preparedness

Nebraska tree care workshops will offer members of the green industry the opportunity to learn more about current and emerging issues in tree care with an emphasis on preparedness for the community forest.

"The fact is that there's a lot of things on the horizon coming up that we need to look out for, like pests and disease," said Chip Murrow, community forester assistant for the Nebraska Forest Service.

The day-long workshops will be offered at four locations across the state in March. Each workshop contains five presentations made by Nebraska forestry professionals.

One of the sites will be on the Ockinga Conference Center at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, 2505 20th Ave., Kearney. That workshop will be March 6.

A panel discussion will focus on local issues, community forestry and ReTree Nebraska. ReTree Nebraska is a 10-year cooperative initiative to restore and revitalize Nebraska's community forests.

"The idea behind that is to put a million trees in communities throughout Nebraska in the next 10 years," Murrow said.

Public works employees, landscape managers, tree board members, arborists, nursery professionals and others in the industry are encouraged to attend.

"It's good to get new blood in there. Not only does it give us a chance to meet those people, it helps them get some information, and it's a good networking chance for them to get new material."

Workshop session titles include:

* "Community Readiness Planning."

* "Tree Identification and Selection Alternatives."

* "Pests of Broadleaf Trees."

* "Emerald Ash Borer Management Alternatives."

* "Promotion, Politics and Policies for the Community Forest."

For more information, call Murrow at (402) 472-1382 or e-mail him at jmurrow2@unl.edu.