The Nebraska Sheep and Goat Producers honored Ivan and Doris Rush with the Ted and Alice Doane Outstanding Contribution Award for their many contributions to the sheep and wool industry. Al Weeder, past NSGP president, presented the Rushes with a plaque at the annual conference held in Alliance. 

Ivan Rush has a long history of involvement and contributions to the sheep and wool industry in Missouri; Oklahoma; Colombia, South America; Lexington and Scottsbluff, Neb. He devoted a lifetime to raising livestock, starting in the sheep business with 25 to 30 ewes. 

Rush began as a Nebraska Extension educator in Dawson County, raising a few sheep and doing judging workouts with 4-H clubs. He began taking an interest in Dorset sheep because they breed out of season. He took the opportunity to go to Colombia as a livestock Extension specialist for the University of Nebraska international program. 

Rush was hired as the Nebraska Extension feedlot specialist at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff in 1974. He retired from UNL in 2009 after 40 years of combined service with Extension. 

Ivan and Doris got back into sheep when their daughters enrolled in 4-H, starting out with four or five ewes. Although their girls have left the farm, they maintain a herd of about 150 ewes today.

NSB seeks directors

This year, the Nebraska Soybean Board will be seeking soybean farmers to represent fellow soybean farmers and the industry in Districts 1, 3 and 6. The candidacy petition period began Dec. 1 and will conclude April 15.

The following districts are seeking directors:

District 1. Antelope, Boyd, Cedar, Holt, Knox, Madison and Pierce counties

District 3. Butler, Colfax, Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders and Washington counties

District 6. Filmore, Gage, Jefferson, Saline, Seward and Thayer counties

“This is a great opportunity for a soybean producer to join the Nebraska Soybean Board and help shape the future of the Nebraska soybean industry and how the board invests the checkoff into programs,” said Scott Ritzman, executive director of NSB. “I encourage farmers in the districts up for election to submit petitions and join in on this prominent leadership opportunity.”

Qualified candidates include those who are a resident of Nebraska, are at least 21 years old, reside in the district where an election is being held, have been a soybean farmer in Nebraska for at least the previous five years and have submitted an NSB candidacy petition.

The election is conducted by mail-in ballot in July for District 1, 3 and 6. Soybean farmers who reside in counties that are up for election for 2021 will receive ballots and candidate information regarding NSB’s election process via direct mail.

To apply for candidacy in District 1, 3 or 6 you must:

Roles and responsibilities for soybean board member representatives are:

Dry edible bean trials results released

Results of the 2020 variety trials for dry edible beans and field peas conducted by the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center are now available. Results from both crops, as well as others such as sunflowers, millet and oats, are available at the Cropwatch Variety Trials page online at cropwatch.unl.edu/varietytest/othercrops.

Of a total of 12 trials conducted at two locations, there were two plots each of Great Northern (28 entries), pinto (50 entries), light red kidney (19 entries), dark red kidney (9 entries), black beans (18 entries) and navy beans (8 entries).

The results were compiled by Carlos Urrea, dry bean breeding specialist, and Eduardo Valentin Cruzado, research technologist for the dry bean breeding program. Financial support came from the Dry Bean Commission.