Local Soil Health Conferences, Meetings, and Workshops
2026 Southeast Nebraska Soil Health Conference
Nebraska producers, landowners, and agricultural professionals are invited to attend the 2026 Nebraska Soil Health Conferences, a pair of free, one-day events in February focused on practical, research-based strategies for improving soil health and regenerative agricultural systems.
The events are free to attend and include lunch, but pre-registration is required. Pre-register by Monday, Jan. 26 for the Auburn conference and by Wednesday, Feb. 11 for the Hastings conference.
Monday, Feb. 2, 2026 — Auburn Christian Church Family Life Center, 1407 Courthouse Ave., Auburn
| Time | Registration, coffee and vendor exhibits | |
| 8:00 am | ||
| 9:00 am | Welcome and Announcements Nav Ghimire, Katja Koehler-Cole and Ritika Lamichhane | |
| 9:10 am | Enhancing soil health with corn, covers, cows and kernza Trent Bohling, farmer | |
| 10:00 am | Farmer Panel: Soil health journey Lynn Meyer, Mark Casper, Mark Knobel | |
| 10:50 am | Networking Break | |
| 11:10 am | Winter peas in the rotation Nicolas La Menza, Assistant Professor, UNL | |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch and vendor exhibits Nebraska Soybean Board | |
| 1:10 pm | Room 1 Soybean seed treatment: Results from on-farm studies Scott Richert, farmer and Matheus Ribeiro, Extension | Room 2 Assessing the viability of double-cropping after wheat in Southeast Nebraska John Nelson, Extension |
| 2:00 pm | Networking Break | |
| 2:10 pm | Soybean seed treatment: Results from on-farm studies Scott Richert, farmer and Matheus Ribeiro, Extension | Group activity: How can regenerative practices reduce input costs? |
| 3:00 pm | Upcoming Events, Research, and Evaluation Ritika Lamichhane & Katja Koehler-Cole | |
| 3:30 pm | Closing | |
Past Presentations
Soil-Health-in-Southeast-Nebraska
Local Soil Health Practices and Resources
List of practices and resources for improving soil health in eastern Nebraska: No-till/reduced-till, cover crops, diverse crop rotations, and livestock integration.
1. No-Till/Reduced-Till
- UNL CropWatch Website: Tillage and No-Till Systems
- Dakota Lakes Research Farm Library (Dwayne Beck) – List of articles
2. Cover Crops
Getting Started with Cover Crops
Cover Crop Selection Tools
NRCS/RMA Cover Crop Termination Guidelines
At planting in easterm Nebraska or up to 7 days after planting with no-till practices. Read more in the document below:
NRCS Cover Crop Termination Guidelines
3. Diverse Crop Rotations
Four Components of Crop Diversity
- Years separating the same crop type
- Utilize both grass and broadleaf crops
- Have both spring and fall-planted crops
- Presences of warm and cool-season crops
Example (numerous other options) crop rotations for southeast Nebraska (cc – cover crop, dc – double crop, fc – forage crop):
- Corn(cc)-Soybean-Wheat(cc, fc, or dc)
- Corn-Corn(cc)-Soybean-Wheat(cc, fc or dc)
- Corn(cc)-Soybean(cc)-Corn(cc)-Soybean-Wheat(cc, fc, or dc)
- Soybean-Wheat-Alfalfa(4-6 years)-Corn-Corn(cc)-Soybean(cc)-Corn(cc)-Soybean(cc)
- Corn-Corn(cc)-Soybean(cc)
- Corn(cc)-Soybean(cc)
Learn more about diverse crop rotation concepts at Dakota Lakes Research Farm Library
Adding winter wheat into the crop rotation
Soil-Health-Benefits-of-Winter-Wheat
CropWatch Article: Adding Winter Wheat into a Crop Rotation
4. Livestock Integration
More coming soon!
Other Local Resources
NebGuide: Soil Management for Increased Soil Organic Matter