The one common thing across the world is food. Every person on the planet requires food to survive. Enjoying food brings delight and satisfaction. A region’s culture is often identified by the food. Nebraska brags on our tasty beef and sweet corn. As families grow and move away from home, the memory of food connects them back to where they are from.

Corn, soybeans, livestock and ethanol are currencies that have powered Nebraska for more than a century, enabling our state to engage in domestic and global markets and ensuring our economic strength. But the challenges our farmers and ranchers face continue to evolve. They must deliver increasingly higher yields to meet demand for food. Like all of us, farmers are paying much more now for the inputs to grow food, fuel and fiber.

BEAVER CITY – Over 20 residents attended the 45-minute city council meeting on April 15. Local businessman Mike Kelly’s requests to add additional chairs for seating or allow residents to bring in their own chairs were denied.

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is all about handson, experiential learning. We constantly look for ways to apply what is taught in the classroom.

Last weeks’ temperatures should have coaxed you out of your winter slumber and encouraged you out to the landscape to complete your spring todo list. If the gardening bug has gotten you, there are some things you can be planting now even if it is a little too early to plant all of your plants outside. Starting your own transplants shouldn’t feel like a daunting task. Last time we talked about the homework you have to do if you want to start you own transplants. First you need to decide what you want to plant.

The government closest to the people serves the people best. But too many in Washington stay in Washington, and don’t get back to what I know is “real America.” These people tend to make decisions and policy by listening only to each other.

There is an old joke where a man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I do this. What should I do? To which the doctor replies, “Simple, don’t do that!” While the advice seems trite and maybe even insulting, like most jokes, there is some truth in it. Pain is one of the ways your body tries to protect you from even worse injury.

The baking aisle at your local supermarket has grown to include a wide variety of flours. Flour is the finely- ground, sifted meal of grains, nuts, seeds, legumes or certain vegetables— each kind of flour has a different nutritional profile. The cooking and baking properties will vary by the type of flour you are using. The most common flours are milled from wheat, a Nebraska agriculture commodity. But today there are so many other choices says Nancy Frecks Nebraska Extension Food & Health Educator.

“You know how you’re always telling me that I’m never home and always busy and that we never hang out? Well, I think I’ve been in your sight for about sevenstraight days now and I think we need a break.”

As a general internist who does primary care for adult and elderly patients, I talk to patients a lot about arthritis and joint replacement surgery. This type of surgery, also known as arthroplasty, is one of the most common types of elective surgery done in the United States. Knees, hips, and shoulders are the most frequently done arthroplasties, and most of those surgeries are done for severe osteoarthritis.