UNL Hosts Agronomy & Horticulture Conference

This year's conference arrives as Nebraska crop farmers face mounting economic pressure. Recent analysis points to narrow profit opportunities, as high input costs for essentials like fertilizer run up against lagging crop prices. In 2025, Nebraska farmers faced estimated losses of $87 per acre for corn and $61 per acre for soybeans before crop insurance payments. The event's keynote address will be delivered by Jackson Stansell, founder of Sentinel Ag, setting a tone of innovation for the proceedings. A stakeholder panel will feature key industry figures including Zach Hunnicutt from the Nebraska Corn Board and Brea Hutchcraft, an Alliance Development Manager at Bayer. Discussions are scheduled to tackle some of the most pressing issues in modern agriculture head-on. Roundtable sessions will focus on the future workforce, the integration of AI and data technology, and strategies for future funding and partnerships. These topics reflect a statewide shift toward a more technologically advanced agricultural workforce. The University of Nebraska's research, central to the conference, directly confronts these challenges. The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture's work spans critical areas like water management, crop diversification, and soil science, aiming to bolster an industry that accounts for nearly a quarter of the state's GDP. On the first day of the event, attendees can also attend the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Heuermann Lecture, featuring Washington Post columnist Tamar Haspel. The lecture series is a platform for discussing significant issues related to food and natural resources. The focus on innovation is a core theme, with UNL programs exploring solutions like hydroponics and precision agriculture. Nebraska is a national leader in no-till farming and the use of pivot irrigation, and the conference will highlight data-driven digital agriculture and other emerging technologies.