Introduction
Greetings from the staff, students, researchers, and crew at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Lab,
We begin this year much like the last few years with unseasonable warmth, constant wind, and less than normal predicted rain in the future. We enter spring after drought conditions throughout winter have decreased soil moisture in much of Nebraska. The abundant hay crop last summer sustained affordable hay prices for many months, but hay prices may begin to rise if future precipitation and current soil moisture cannot support normal pasture and grass growth.
The research and educational programs at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory continue to be more ecologically diverse and team oriented. Collaborative projects with animal, range, soil, veterinary, economics, entomology, geology, forestry, hydrology and wildlife increase the understanding of the Sandhill ecosystem which results in advances in range livestock nutrition, reproductive management, and overall ecological systems.
Research faculty are affiliated with the West Central and Panhandle Research Extension and Education Centers, and several on campus departments in addition to the School of Natural Resources. The integration of economics into many areas of research has become an integral part in developing plant-animal production systems that are economically and environmentally sustainable in the Nebraska Sandhills.
Our most recent and ongoing research can be found in our annual Nebraska Beef Cattle Report. Dr. Mitch Stephenson and Dr. Jerry Volesky continue their research on annual changes to total plant production and biomass of important plant functional groups caused by differences in precipitation and temperature. Dr. Stephenson also continues research on virtual fencing for cow-calf pairs. New research studies have begun at GSL focused on improving longevity in the herd through timely supplementation with minimal costs. Dr. Karla Wilke is evaluating the effect of energy supplementation on 2- and 3-year-old cows between calving and breeding to improve reproductive measures. She is also evaluating the effect of differing levels of supplementation to weaned heifers on reproductive measures. Dr. Rick Funston is comparing a normal weaning to a late weaning system in May calving cows to evaluate the economic, physical, and reproductive effects on dams and their calves.
We are now accepting applications for the Ranch Practicum class open to everyone until May 5. Please register here. The GSL Open House will be on August 20, 2025. Stay tuned for updates on who will be presenting.