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Share Your Vision with Employees
Janet Walker, President and CEO, J. Walker Associates, Inc. (Omaha, NE) discusses with Lynn Hinderaker questions surrounding company culture, leadership, management styles and the hiring of employees that fit with the company. Janet suggests you help employees buy in to the vision by providing an emotional connection – be willing to express your vision or the dream that drives you to succeed. As a business leader, you need to tell your story, don’t assume the employees embrace the vision. The management style and cultural values of the organization also needs to be translated into “this is how we do things.” When interviewing potential employees, detail your values and management style to the candidate so that they too can decide whether they fit with your company. View Video
Tips for Hiring that First Employee
Janet Walker, President and CEO, J. Walker Associates, Inc. (Omaha, NE) highlights key steps a business owner should take when hiring the first employee. 1) Define what success looks like for that position. Keep in mind that you are not hiring co-workers, but employees that need defined roles. 2) Articulate the details and identify what you want to them to do and how they are to do it. 3) See yourself as a leader/manager of the organization. 4) Don’t get caught up in first impressions, watch and listen to what the candidate says. 5) Past performance can predict future performance, pay attention to job skills. 6) Let the candidate ask questions. 7) Don’t make any promise until after all are interviewed. View Video
East 2 West:The Nebraska New Venture Competition
Invest Nebraska Corporation has announced the seven finalists of the 2009 East-2-West New Venture Competition. The competition is free and open to the public. It will take place Friday, December 11th at the Del Ray Ballroom in Lincoln’s Haymarket. Read more
Ventilate and Take Other Safety Precautions to Prevent Manure Pit Explosions
LINCOLN, Neb. — Recent explosions and flash fires that occurred in livestock buildings with manure pits in Iowa and Minnesota have a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension engineer and others offering advice on how to avoid these potentially dangerous situations.
So far, the explosions have resulted in building damage with few animal losses and no personal injuries or fatalities, said Rick Stowell, extension engineer in the university’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Few, if any, explosions have been reported in Nebraska. However, the much-delayed harvest most likely has kept many farmers from agitating pits and moving manure to their fields yet this fall, Stowell said.
As farmers hustle to apply manure yet this fall, they need to be aware of potential safety concerns and take reasonable precautions, he said.
A team of agricultural engineers, animal scientists and an industry consultant recently developed recommendations to help producers deal with the potential for danger.
When liquid manure is agitated to suspend the settled solids and create pumpable slurry, numerous gases are released into the air, Stowell said.
At elevated concentrations, some of these gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, are hazardous to those inside the building — people and animals. However, methane, which is very flammable, also is released. If the methane concentration within the barn reaches its explosion threshold of 40,000 to 50,000 parts per million and there is an ignition source, such as a pilot light on a heater, an explosion likely will occur.
Stowell and this team of experts offer these suggestions:
Producers should provide continuous ventilation to prevent a gas build-up and increased ventilation during agitation to quickly dissipate released gases. Sufficient ventilation or exchange of air in the barn is also essential to keep the concentration of methane below its explosive threshold. While agitating and pumping a manure pit, producers should provide at least two to three times the minimum ventilation rate (or around 10 air changes per hour) for the barn. If the pit is full or nearly full, producers should not rely only on pit fans to supply this airflow rate, since these fans may be severely restricted. It may be better to use only wall fans to supply this air exchange while agitating/pumping the barn’s manure pit since methane gas is lighter than air. Also, producers need to make sure the normal ventilation inlets are open and operating properly to ensure good air distribution in the barn. This is also important in preventing animal deaths if animals must be present in barns during agitation and pumping of the manure pit.
To prevent igniting an explosive concentration of methane, producers should turn off heater pilot lights and other non-ventilation electrical systems, such as the feeding system, that might produce an ignition spark. Without supplemental heat, producers may be restricted to pumping manure from a barn on warmer days or a warmer part of the day.
When pumping pits that are nearly full, producers should pump without agitation until manure is about 2 feet below the slats. This will allow pit fans (if available and used) to perform properly during agitation and provide more dilution space for methane and other gases that are released.
Foaming of manure pits is a growing and significant concern that might be related to explosion incidents. Some recent cases have seen foaming or extensive bubbling on the manure surface before the explosions. There are reports of several feet of foam developing in a matter of days in a building. Experts aren’t certain what contributes to extensive foaming or how best to control it; they’re studying it further.
Additional information on this issue can be found at the following Web sites:
University of Minnesota Extension’s swine Web site: http://www.extension.umn.edu/swine/porkcast/barnventilation.html
Minnesota Pork Board Web site: http://www.mnpork.com/producers/index.php.
11/17/09-SK Source: Rick Stowell, Ph.D., associate professor, biological systems engineering and animal science, (402) 472-3912, rstowell2@unl.edu; this information was adapted with permission from Larry Jacobson, University of Minnesota Extension manure.17 Editor: Sandi Alswager Karstens, IANR News Service, (402) 472-3030, salswager2@unl.edu
Don’t Let 2009 Tax Planning Go By the Wayside
LINCOLN, Neb. — While many Nebraska farmers are still trying to finish up with harvest, now also is the time to start thinking about year-end tax planning, says the Nebraska Farm Business Association director. Read more
UNL NebraskaEDGE and NxBizSuccess Webinar
Topic: NebraskaEDGE and NxBizSuccess, hosted by Marilyn Schlake and Tonia Franklin. To attend the webinar simply log into the Adobe Connect Pro meeting room location at: http://breeze.unl.edu/p18749928/
Monthly eShip Webinars are scheduled for the 4th Tuesday of each month at 10 am CDT at the same Adobe Connect Pro meeting room location.
Embrace the Nebraska Outdoors
Embrace the Nebraska Outdoors
2010 Agri/Eco-Tourism Workshop offers education, networking opportunities
LINCOLN, NEB. (Dec. 4, 2009)—The 2010 Governor’s Agri/Eco-Tourism Workshop will offer the Nebraska tourism industry a fun way to network, learn and cross-promote business. This year’s workshop will take place Feb. 3 and 4 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney. It is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s Travel and Tourism Division along with co-sponsors the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Read more
Importance of Agricultural Tax Planning
Tina Barrett, Executive Director of the Nebraska Farm Business, Inc. discusses farm tax issues common to farm operations. Minimizing the tax burden is critical to a farm business. Planning one to two years ahead helps the producer situate themselves so they are not paying for more taxes than necessary. Read more
The Emotional Side of Business Leadership
Jim Meier, President of Training and Consulting Connection (Omaha, NE) highlights three factors for success: believe in yourself; really, really want it; and do the work, both physically and mentally. Self-knowledge is an important factor as is leadership. You can be the visionary leader, the networking, collaborative leader, or the operational leader. Most people don’t possess all three leadership skills so you need to find others who help fill the void. Find someone you trust for advice and in turn, be coachable. Find people who can help you clarify your ideas, challenge or confront your concepts and nurture your soul. (www.tccomaha.com) View Video
Knowing your Business Self
Jim Meier, President and Championship Thinking Coach, owns the Training and Consulting Connection (Omaha, NE). Jim uses sports psychology and philosophy as it relates to business. In most situations, the biggest competitor is him or her self. Small business owners need to “really” believe in themselves and know how to management the doubts. Most business owners over estimate themselves in the sense of understanding all the difference facets of entrepreneurship that are needed to be successful. The business owner must understand their ‘blind spots” and know when to seek assistance. (www.tccomaha.com) View Video
