Cody Creech, associate professor in the department of agronomy and horticulture — and Extension dryland cropping systems specialist at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff — has been named the Fenster professor of dryland agriculture.

The position is supported by the Charles R. and Eunice R. Fenster Professorship Fund. Charlie Fenster, who retired in 1982 and died in 2016, was a dryland cropping specialist at the Panhandle center for several decades.

The Fenster professorship is intended to perpetuate scientific progress in dryland agriculture by supporting research and Extension programs that enhance the profitability and sustainability of dryland agriculture in the Panhandle.

Creech has served as the dryland cropping systems specialist at the Panhandle center since 2015, with the academic rank of associate professor in the agronomy and horticulture department. He received his doctorate in 2015 in agronomy and weed science from Nebraska; a master’s degree in plant science in 2012 from Utah State University; and a bachelor’s degree in business operations management in 2008 from Utah State.

He is the faculty supervisor in charge of research at UNL’s High Plains Agricultural Lab near Sidney. His research and Extension efforts focus on enhancing agronomic practices to increase profitability, optimizing soil water conservation and delivering weed management solutions. His research has refined the seeding recommendations for winter wheat and evaluated the role wheat residue has in facilitating soil water conservation.

In 2005, the Fensters endowed the Charles R. and Eunice R. Fenster Professorship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation. This is the first established professorship for faculty in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources who are at an off-campus location.

Creech is the second Fenster professor. His predecessor at the Panhandle center, Drew Lyon, became the first to hold the position in 2008.

2021 field pea trials

Results of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2021 variety tests for field peas have been compiled and posted online. In 2021, a total of five spring pea variety trials were conducted in the Panhandle and southwest Nebraska.

The three dryland trials were in Box Butte County near Alliance (19 varieties), Cheyenne County near Sidney (19 varieties), and Perkins County near Venango (25 varieties). The two irrigated trials included one in Scottsbluff and one in Cheyenne County. Each site also included a chickpea (garbanzo bean) variety, Kasin from Valesco Genetics.

The report lists data for each variety at all sites: yield (in order of rank), test weight, seed protein percentage, flowering, and height at harvest. Each site report also has notes about the growing season and production practices at that location.

The spring field pea varieties were provided by four commercial seed companies: Meridian Seeds (five), Pulse USA (five), ProGene Plant Research (seven), Valesco Genetics (eight) and North Dakota State University (two). All the pea varieties are human food-grade quality, not forage type. All were yellow field peas except for six varieties of green peas.

Learn more at cropwatch.unl.edu.