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The Pony Express rode through yesterday through Gering, Nebraska, and through several parts of the Panhandle. In fact, one of the riders called us from Bridgeport to confirm the transfer location. Michelle Hunter LaTowski was a rider from Scottsbluff, who did several different legs of the re-ride. Find pictures and video from the Pony Express on our page at Panhandle Scanner, and some interesting information, like did you know that the riders switch off every mile? That's why we see them riding like heck away from each stop, but every mile it's a fresh rider and horse, and that leapfrogging happens through all 1,966 miles of the trail.

And a special thanks to Nebraska, writes the National Pony Express. Did you know there are over 505 miles of the Pony Express in Nebraska alone? Special thanks to Nebraska ponies and riders.

And of course, local scanner traffic included the usual calls for motor vehicle accidents, traffic stops, and traffic complaints, but in Grand Island, police arrested Ignacio Contreras for threatening to kill five people with a stick. On Wednesday night, around 7 44 p.m., police received a call at West Phoenix Avenue for a man threatening to kill five people. Contreras was arrested for felony terroristic threats, misdemeanor third-degree assault, and five misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace.

For these stories and more, be sure to follow us at Panhandle Scanner on Facebook. Also follow PanhandleScanner.com on the web for our full news page with various articles, not just the ones you see on Facebook.

Severe weather is predicted for Saturday, so just a heads up there. We'll have more on Panhandle Scanner, so be sure to follow us.

That's going to do it for today's scanner news.

Listen is as the late Howard Hale interviewed Steve Sward on his use of John Israel bits.

The dialogue discusses the use of different crops in agricultural rotation, focusing on the cultivation of cover crops like rye. Rye is noted for its benefits in w**d control and soil management, providing a tap root that helps fracture soil to enhance water holding capacity. This is contrasted with wheat, which has a root ball and may not offer the same soil benefits as rye. The agricultural practice under discussion involves planting rye as a cover crop after soybeans, with periodic spraying for w**d control.
There are geographic variations in agricultural practices; for example, while rye is commonly used as a cover crop in northeast Kansas, it is less common where the speaker is currently located. The region no longer cultivates cotton, focusing instead on soybeans and rye rotations.

Call Brian today at 941-942-4361 for a FREE INTERVIEW on the radio!

Scanner traffic indicated a grass fire just around midnight, County Road 26, County Road S, Minatare. Several pages went out including a request for mutual aid from Scotts Bluff Rural Fire Protection District.

Speaking of fires, a lot of cities have made decisions on the fireworks ban for this year, although some cities and counties have not yet posted their decisions. Those we do know about that have said no, for sure, to fireworks this year are Crawford, Hemingford, Harrison, Gordon, Alliance, and Kimball. For sure, at this time, there may be more. Check our page to find out more as that list grows. Some cities and counties, like Rushville in Sheridan County, have not put out any information yet. We expect to see something from all of the counties very soon.

If you're a fan of the Pony Express, stay tuned to Panhandle Scanner for the exact time in which that rider and pony will be at the Scotts Bluff National Monument in Gearing. Anticipated arrival time is 4 p.m., but there is a GPS tracker live on the horse, and you can track them on their way. Visit our page at Panhandle Scanner and click the tab Resources for that Pony Express tracker.

The Gering City Band will be playing tonight as well at 7.30 p.m. in the Gering City Park. Be sure to go enjoy some relaxing music from the Gering City Band tonight at 7.30 p.m.

Two big events coming up July 17th and 18th, that's Tabor Days July 17th and 18th, and then July 18th, the Cheyenne County Fair begins. Lots on our calendar for the future, so stay tuned to Panhandle Scanner for more.

Now, here's more with Buster McLaury.

"I don't know anything about it. I don't know what a horse whisperer is. But he said, I do know the horse is screaming all the time. Nobody's listening."

That's an interesting way of putting it, and I think you're absolutely right.

"Yeah, the horse tells us, you know, how he feels about things. And they have the same emotions we do. They get sure and unsure and sick and well and hot and cold and brave and afraid. So if we just learn to read the horse through his body language, you kind of tell us what he's all right with or not or where he needs some help and when he understands and when he doesn't. It's pretty obvious once you kind of learn to look. You know, each horse is an individual. But how you get there, there's got to be just a little difference on each one of them. And that's the interesting part."

Buster McLaury with the late Howard Hale on Horseman's Corner Radio.

Co-host David Woodruff has Slick Sanders on the phone. David had just asked Slick about how things turned out.

"This is probably the best year we've had in several years."

So that's for cotton or for everything?

"Well everything's been pretty good. I mean as a whole even the dryland milo made a little bit. Irrigated milo was good and a lot of these farmers they're starting to plant, keep them stubble, keep the stalks, the milo stalks and they spray it and keep it clean and those hold moisture if we get any snow if we do. And then they'll plant cotton in that stubble just like we do cutting wheat. We leave stubble and they'll plant cotton in that stubble. That cotton is protected from the weather and it keeps the ground from blowing. But they're finding that planting cotton in milo stalks they're getting two or three hundred pounds more lint by doing that. And I don't know why the reason other than the protection and maybe something to do with all the nodules and the roots of the milo keeps the ground a little softer. I don't I don't know but there's there's some benefits and they're seeing it and they're starting to do that. But when you plant that milo in a cover crop like that I mean the cotton when it's little it needs protection from the weather and the wind and it tries to grow really fast to get to the top of that cover crop so it can get to the Sun. So it speeds up the growing process of the cotton."

That's interesting.

"In places where they don't grow wheat much they can grow milo and use that for cover."

Floydada, Texas Custom Harvester, Slick Sanders.

Co-host David Woodruff has Slick Sanders on the phone. Let's see how Slick's doing with the wheat rat report.

How are things down there?

"We're through with pretty much all the milo harvest and corn harvest and basically almost all the cottons out of the field. They're still ginning on it. That's what we're doing right now, just hauling cottonseed."

You pick cotton, do you?

"No, sir. We just haul the cottonseed from the cotton gins to the oatmeal. Then they take the oil out of the seed? Yes, sir. They press that seed and get the oil out and they get more lint off the seed and they turn that cottonseed into cottonseed meal and then they take the cottonseed hulls.

That's all for cattle, you know, and so they use a lot of the cottons. So that cottonseed meal, that's a protein supplement, is that right? I believe so. I mean, they mix it in feed and the hulls as well and they feed raw cottonseed to cattle.

That's good protein feed too. So do you have any idea what the protein content is?

"No, I don't. I really don't. We just haul the seed to the oatmeal basically and then a lot of seed goes to dairies and flat storage, you know, to sell out later in the summer to dairies and feedlots and what have you. I got an idea that the protein in the meal will be a little bit higher than in the seed because of what they've taken out of the seed. Well, it's my understanding too, and they take the meat out of the cottonseed and they do something, cook it, I guess they make flour out of it or what, you know, but of course the oil, you can actually buy the oil from the oatmeal there for cooking oil."

Floydada, Texas Custom Harvester, Slick Sanders.