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If we know one thing in District 2, it's the meaning of hard work. Cold days, late nights, long hours, the value of a dollar ... My life's work has been in journalism and media. This career path meant telling the truth, giving a voice to those who were unheard, researching complex issues, and keeping our elected officials in check. We are now at an important crossroads in North Dakota. So many are disheartened with the establishment and seeking a better future. We are all frustrated but resolute...
More money for less work simply doesn't sound American. But when it comes to conservation practices, offering an incentive to give the plowshare a break can be a profitable investment for everyone involved. Jamie Selting, District Conservationist at the NRCS in Sidney, is helping local farmers utilize two programs which provide a monetary incentive to try economically viable stewardship practices. "In the past there's been a customary way of farming which involves a lot of tillage," Selting...
The old idiom of "too much of a good thing" rings especially true for salt. From kitchen tables to water tables, it is present nearly everywhere you look. Human bodies need it to survive, and french fries wouldn't be the same without it. But, just as doctors have told us for years, it can be harmful in high concentrations. Jane Holzer, Director of the Montana Salinity Control Association, recently returned from an annual meeting which addresses soil salinity in Eastern Montana. "I was letting...
Oil spills are easy to see, but psychological wounds are completely invisible. Landowners across the Bakken are being affected by brine spills, oil spills, and pipeline projects in ways we are just beginning to understand. Dr. Tom DeSutter, Associate Professor of Soil Science at North Dakota State University, has been researching soil issues associated with the oil and gas industry. Typically, those studies focus solely on the ground itself. "We're trying to work closely with land owners and the...
It's been said that two's company, but three's a crowd. While this old aphorism may be true in some circumstances, it fails to hold as much water in regards to irrigated crop rotation in sugarbeet fields. Dr. Bart Stevens, Irrigated Systems Research Agronomist/Research Leader at the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, has been studying a three-year crop rotation system alongside a number of other experts. With the aid of Montana State University and North Dakota...
More money for less work simply doesn't sound American. But when it comes to conservation practices, offering an incentive to give the plowshare a break can be a profitable investment for everyone involved. Jamie Selting, District Conservationist at the NRCS in Sidney, is helping local farmers utilize two programs which provide a monetary incentive to try economically viable stewardship practices. "In the past there's been a customary way of farming which involves a lot of tillage," Selting...
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Antonio Stradivari made the famous violins which now fetch upwards of $15 million dollars at auction. By combining beauty and performance to make a truly lasting item of worth, Stradivari was a legend for making a violin rather than playing one. Some people simply make things better than others. Steve Meyer falls into the same category as Stradivari, but his instrument is built to call in a large tom turkey rather than join an orchestra. Meyer has made 30...
On Thursday evening, a packed house at the Elks Lodge witnessed the three Mayoral candidates engage in a lively question and answer session. Mayor Rick Norby, Serina Everett, and Debra Gilbert fielded questions regarding the future of Sidney and their potential methods of leadership. The forum was created by the Sidney Young Professionals and the candidates were not given the questions to review beforehand. This led to some very genuine, and often comical but good-natured, answers. While the...
Most 22 year olds want to stay as far away from their elders as possible, but Michaela Lofthus is not your typical millennial. As the owner of Simply Scrumptious, now located on the corner of Main and 2nd Street in Sidney, Lofthus is developing the business into one which harkens back to the glory days of local bakeries and morning coffee hot-spots. "We're everyone's home sweet home and we really want to embody that," Lofthus said. "We want to have everyone feel at home here, and I think we achi...
Traditions always have a special reason for their being, but the Swank Variety Plot Tour has several. On the sprawling Swank Farm north of Poplar, local farmers and leaders in the field of agricultural research gathered to discuss wheat, as well as share some steaks with a side of a special potato salad made from the recipe of the 93 year old Swank Family matriarch, Pearl. Mark Swank, Pearl's son, was smartly outfitted with an umbrella on the hot, hazy, cloudless afternoon. Despite the lack of...
Gone, but not forgotten, is the blight of the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum which happened last year. In the wake of this rainy-day loving fungus, many questions cropped up which Plant Pathologist Dr. Audrey Kalil is now answering. From the laboratories and test plots at the North Dakota State University Williston Research Extension Center, Kalil has been intentionally planting seed which was infected with F. graminearum. This type of "scabby" seed is contaminated with a mycotoxin called...
