The Nebraska Wheat Board held its first-quarter meeting Aug. 3 in North Platte. The meeting included the swearing in of Rick Dunbar as representative of District 7, updates from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a strategic planning discussion and the election of this year’s chair and vice chair.

Bob Delsing of Hemingford was reelected as chair of NWB for the 2020-21 year. Delsing was reappointed to the Nebraska Wheat Board in 2019 by Gov. Pete Ricketts. He farms dryland wheat, corn and cattle on his farm and ranch in Dawes and Box Butte counties.

Mark Knobel of Fairbury was reelected as the vice chair of NWB for 2020-21. Knobel was reappointed to the board in 2019 by Ricketts and represents District 6. He raises wheat, soybeans and corn in southeastern Nebraska and is a certified seed dealer.

Delsing and Knobel will serve in their positions through June. They are responsible for representing Nebraska on the U.S. Wheat Associates board of directors by voting on important matters to the industry.

Nebraska Soybean Board elects board members

The Nebraska Soybean Board held an election in July for board members in Districts 5, 7 and the at-large position. Nebraska soybean farmers in those districts voted, while the sitting board voted on the at-large candidates.

For District 5, which includes the counties of Cass, Johnson, Lancaster, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee and Richardson, Brent Steinhoff of Syracuse was elected.

For District 7, which includes the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Clay, Franklin, Hall, Kearney, Nuckolls and Webster, Doug Saathoff of Trumbull was reelected.

For the at-large position, Greg Anderson of Newman Grove was reelected.

Newly elected board member Steinhoff will begin his first term on the board, while reelected board members Saathoff and Anderson will begin their second and third terms, respectively.

The elected board members will serve a three-year term beginning Oct. 1, and ending Sept. 30, 2023.

UNL students receive Entomological Society of America awards

Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln students have received national student awards from the Entomological Society of America for research on sorghum-aphid interactions.

Sajjan Grover, doctoral student in UNL’s entomology department, was named winner of the 2020 Kenneth and Barbara Starks Plant Resistance to Insects Graduate Student Award, which recognizes innovative research by a graduate student in entomology or plant breeding and genetics.

Grover’s research focuses on understanding how plant signaling mechanisms are altered upon insect herbivory. His research involves sorghum and its interaction with sugarcane aphid, and could be used by sorghum breeders to increase sorghum’s resistance to sugarcane aphid.

Earl Agpawa, insect science undergraduate student researcher, was named winner of the 2020 Undergraduate Student Achievement in Entomology Award, which recognizes undergraduate students who have demonstrated significant achievements through research, teaching and outreach in entomology.

Agpawa’s research project focuses on assessing sorghum tolerance to sugarcane aphids, and could help more accurately identify sorghum genotypes that are tolerant of the pests.

Both students will receive a plaque, cash award and a waiver of registration to the Entomological Society of America annual meeting.