The Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition will be traveling to northeast Nebraska for the first time for the group’s annual summer tour. COVID-19 canceled the 2020 summer tour, which had been planned for the Sandhills.
But the tour is back for 2021, says Wayne Rasmussen, one of the summer NGLC tour organizers. It is set for June 15.
For the first time, NGLC will visit northeast Nebraska on-farm locations in northern Knox County, north of Lindy, and in northern Boyd County near Lynch. Tentatively, the tour will meet in Niobrara in the morning June 15, and drive east to the Tim Jessen ranch north of Lindy to look at 20 years of prescribed fire, the effect on invasive eastern red cedar trees and resulting improvements to native grazing lands.
Jessen’s father, Gene, took over management of their Devil’s Nest area ranch in 1960, after his father retired. He concentrated on cattle ranching and made conservation a priority for his prairie. Gene died in 2018, but Tim has carried on the multipronged conservation efforts of his father on this land just a stone’s throw from the Missouri River.
In the afternoon, the tour will move west to Kalkowski Family Ranches near Lynch, learning about the family’s efforts to improve grazing lands, employ rotational grazing to improve pastures and productivity, and install watering systems and unique cattle systems to enhance the land and natural resources.
The tour will conclude with an evening meal at SpringLake Angus Center, a new rural event venue 11 miles south of Lynch. Rasmussen says that farmers, ranchers and urban residents are invited on this educational and informative tour.
The cost is $25. For more information, email Rasmussen at giop@plvwtekco.net. Visit the NGLC website for upcoming details at nebraskagrazinglands.org.