SORGHUM BOARD APPOINTMENTS: In October, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the reappointment of three Nebraska sorghum growers to serve three-year terms on the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board.

Governor makes appointments to Sorghum Board
In October, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the reappointment of John Dolnicek of Lawrence, John Dvoracek of Farwell and Duane Vorderstrasse of Hebron to serve three-year terms on the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board. Dolnicek, representing District 2, was originally appointed to the Sorghum Board in 2007. During his tenure, he has served as the secretary-treasurer for the board, as well as on the research and budget committees. Dolnicek, along with his wife, Beth, has life-long involvement in farming and raising sorghum as a primary spring crop. Dvoracek and his wife, Robyn, operate a crop and livestock farm in central Nebraska, where sorghum has always been central to the crop mix. Dvoracek began his service on the Sorghum Board in 2004 during which time he has served as vice chairman and chairman. Duane Vorderstrasse was originally appointed to the board in 2014 to fill a vacancy and serves on the board’s Research Committee. He and his wife, Debra, run a diversified farm and ranch operation at Hebron and Orleans, where they grow corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum and alfalfa.

Nebraska Farm Bureau has 2 finalists in Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge
Ryan and Austin Stauffer of Seward County and Martin Bremmer of Perkins County were recently selected as finalists for the 2016 American Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge. Ryan and Austin Stauffer’s business is called Levrack, a storage system that came out of a need for storage on their farm in Seward. The versatile storage system is sturdy enough for the farm and sleek enough for home use. Martin Bremmer’s business is called Windcall Manufacturing Inc., which manufactures the GrainGoat, the smallest, most efficient grain combine on the market. The GrainGoat is a hand-held harvester that collects, cleans and calculates the moisture of small grains all within minutes. Entrepreneurs sent in 365 applications from across the nation. Team Stauffer and Bremmer have been awarded $15,000 in startup funds.

NCTA Livestock Team 3rd at Mid-America
In their second livestock judging contest of the season the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Aggie team won third place in the Mid-America Classic held in Hutchinson, Kan. The NCTA team from Curtis, Neb., ranked high in several categories, including first in sheep and goats, second place in swine, and fourth in beef. Katharine Schudel of Loup City, Neb., placed fourth-high individual in swine judging. The NCTA sophomore team placed ninth. The team is coached by Dr. Douglas Smith, with assistant coaches Bailey Hinrichs of Ayr and Wade Vallery of Plattsmouth.

UNL agronomy, horticulture department head appointed to national advisory board
Roch Gaussoin, head of the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been appointed to the USDA National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Gaussoin will serve a three-year term on the board. The board provides advice to the secretary of agriculture and land-grant colleges and universities on top priorities and policies for food and agricultural research, education, Extension and economics. Gaussoin will represent Category G — national crop, soil, agronomy, horticulture, plant pathology or weed science society. Gaussoin has worked at the university for 25 years as a professor and Extension specialist in integrated turfgrass management and weed science. He has been head of the agronomy and horticulture department since 2011. In 2015, Gaussoin was president of the Crop Science Society of America. He is chairman of the Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies.