Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 211
From my observations both here in Virginia City and from when I still lived in Crane, my generation continually proves to the younger set that although our hair has grayed and our hearing apparatus may not work quite as well as it did a decade ago, we still continue to perform amazing feats and to lead full, active lives. Contrary to some of the ads we see, most of us oldsters do not require lift chairs to get up; rather, a good many of us have more stamina than do people half our ages. The...
Farming and ranching built Sidney and have played a crucial role in the health of the community for the past 100 years. The faces of farming and ranching have changed in that time period, particularly the farming aspect of agriculture. Farming made an abrupt shift about 50 years ago when it moved from a resource and tradition enterprise to a science-based business. The science based aspect of farming has led to more reliable production and larger harvests, which translates to better food...
I attended the meeting regarding Intake Dam and the fish bypass last Thursday evening at the Sidney High School, and I left that meeting shaking my head in disgust. The pallid sturgeon mess is just one more project in a long series of events that seem designed to ensure the extinction of one more species in our country: the American farmer. The American farmer is supposed to step aside for everything and anything: the farmer is to take a back seat for the pallid sturgeon, the American farmer is expected to step aside while Mt Fish and Game...
Water on demand has made all the difference in the world to farmers in the Yellowstone Valley. This water on demand, provided by the 54,000 acre Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project (LYIP), that includes the 830 acre Intake unit and the 2300 acre Savage unit, has allowed farmers to grow high value crops, such as sugarbeets, for the past one hundred plus years. The ability to grow high value crops has greatly increased the economic viability of farmers throughout the valley for over a century, so...
Most readers know that the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project's (LYIP) main canal suffered a 45 foot wide washout in late June near the Marlow Iversen farm south of Savage. Readers also know that this washout disrupted irrigation for many farms during the time span it took for crews to repair the blowout, refill the canal, reprime the laterals, and reschedule water deliveries. What many readers may not realize, however, concerns the hard work, long hours, and dedication to restoring water deli...
A lifelong love of the Richland County Fair has allowed a local young lady to continue the 4-H tradition from a new perspective. Katelyn Dynneson, a ten year veteran of 4-H, has stepped in to fill a void left by Juli-Ann Snedigar, the former Richland County extension agent whose responsibilities included 4-H activities and the organization of these activities for the Richland County fair. Dynneson spent the month of July organizing and preparing for the 4-H portion of the fair, which ensures...
Every summer, area extension offices along with the Williston Research Extension Center and the Eastern Agricultural Research Center host field days so agricultural interests can learn what researchers and others have learned about crop varieties and crop management techniques. Growers can observe for themselves which crop varieties perform best under local environmental conditions and how well these same varieties perform under experimental conditions. The tours also provide disease management...
For those who missed the pesticide container recycling truck present at the USDA/ARS field tours at Froid and at Sidney last month but who have #2 high density polyethylene plastic pesticide containers for recycling, the Eastern Agricultural Field Day (EARC), scheduled for July 19 in Sidney, will offer participants the opportunity to recycle these containers. Ron Ahlgren, Pesticide Container Recycling Technician with the Montana Department of Agriculture, will have his truck and grinder on...
Dr. Joyce Eckhoff, local agronomist and interim superintendent of the Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) in Sidney, has released a new durum variety, which she has named Silver. The new variety, released in January, features day length insensitivity, a trait that will enable growers all over the country to use this variety. “Other durum varieties are day length sensitive, which means they need a longer day to mature,” Eckhoff explains. “The further south you go, the longer it takes...
This year the Williston Research and Extension Center (WREC) has chosen to hold its dryland field day and its irrigated field day in conjunction with the West Energy event. Calling the combined field days the MonDak Ag Showcase, Dr. Jerry Bergman, Director of the WREC, hopes to highlight the importance of agriculture to those in the energy industry. “The MonDak Ag Showcase is designed to acquaint energy interests with the potential in agriculture,” Bergman comments. “Following the WREC dryla...
Nothing tastes quite as scrumptious as a homemade pie, one with flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastry and filled to bursting with some sort of fruit or custard filling. Pie smells delectable, makes one’s mouth water just by looking at it, and usually a homemade pie, when placed on the dinner table, disappears in the blink of an eye. I used to bake a lot of pie. I mixed the pastry, rolled it out, and fit it into an appropriate pie pan. I cut or sliced the fruit and added the necessary additional i...
Magic, illusion, multiple people with unique and wondrous talents, and a love story as well all intertwine in the book The Night Circus written by Erin Morgenstern. The best way to describe this delectable read is to call it an adult fairy tale, or to classify it as fantasy. The people who populate this book for the most part have an extraordinary talent of one kind or another, and yet they remain believable, likable people. Morgenstern explores the fine line between reality and illusion; what i...
Summer brings with it all sorts of exciting activities, including rodeo. One of the largest and most popular rodeos in our area, the Wolf Point Stampede, will celebrate its 89th year this year and will include the traditional mix of rodeo, carnival, art in the park, and a variety of other activities designed to entertain the entire family. The celebration begins on Wednesday, July 11 with the carnival opening at 5 p.m. and the KVCK Texaco Country Showdown beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Wolf...
Every summer, area extension offices along with the Williston Research Extension Center and the Eastern Agricultural Research Center host field days so agricultural interests can learn what researchers and others have learned about crop varieties and crop management techniques. Growers can observe for themselves which crop varieties perform best under local environmental conditions and how well these same varieties perform under experimental conditions. The tours also provide disease management...
This year the Williston Research and Extension Center (WREC) has chosen to hold its dryland field day and its irrigated field day in conjunction with the West Energy event. Calling the combined field days the MonDak Ag Showcase, Dr. Jerry Bergman, Director of the WREC, hopes to highlight the importance of agriculture to those in the energy industry. “The MonDak Ag Showcase is designed to acquaint energy interests with the potential in agriculture,” Bergman comments. “Following the WREC dryla...
For those who missed the pesticide container recycling truck present at the USDA/ARS field tours at Froid and at Sidney last month but who have #2 high density polyethylene plastic pesticide containers for recycling, the Eastern Agricultural Field Day (EARC), scheduled for July 19 in Sidney, will offer participants the opportunity to recycle these containers. Ron Ahlgren, Pesticide Container Recycling Technician with the Montana Department of Agriculture, will have his truck and grinder on...
Hot summer days generally bring with them dwindling appetites, no desire to cook a large meal, and the constant struggle to find something nutritious to eat without overburdening the digestive system. Delectable chilled fruit salads and cold drinks go a long way to satisfying the need for food on a hot day, but protein requirements force us to look for adequate main dishes that don’t require a lot of effort to cook, but that fill us up. The following main dish salads fulfill that requirement. I...
Dr. Joyce Eckhoff, local agronomist and interim superintendent of the Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) in Sidney, has released a new durum variety, which she has named Silver. The new variety, released in January, features day length insensitivity, a trait that will enable growers all over the country to use this variety. “Other durum varieties are day length sensitive, which means they need a longer day to mature,” Eckhoff explains. “The further south you go, the longer it takes...
In spite of yo-yo weather that keeps us guessing at tomorrow’s temperatures, sugarbeets have grown well in the past month, and Russ Fullmer, Sidney Sugars agriculture manager, expects this year’s crop will do better than last year’s. “Beets are growing pretty well,” he remarks. “They took off in the warm weather, but they are a little dry. It’s been tough to keep up with the watering with all crops, but the shifts in temperatures haven’t hurt us.” He adds, “A few fields last week got over an in...
Summer brings with it all sorts of exciting activities, including rodeo. One of the largest and most popular rodeos in our area, the Wolf Point Stampede, will celebrate its 89th year this year and will include the traditional mix of rodeo, carnival, art in the park, and a variety of other activities designed to entertain the entire family. The celebration begins on Wednesday, July 11 with the carnival opening at 5 p.m. and the KVCK Texaco Country Showdown beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Wolf...
For those of us who like to bike, summertime brings ample opportunity to enjoy sunshine, warm breezes, and get our exercise all atop a two-wheeled conveyance pedaled by manpower (or womanpower, as the case may be). People use bikes not only for recreation and exercise, but also as a means of transportation to get from one place to another quickly and cheaply. Bicycles, like every other piece of equipment, evolved through the years from unwieldy, uncomfortable rides to today's sleek, efficient...
After serving Richland County for twenty two years, MSU's Family and Consumer Service Extension Agent Judy Johnson will retire from her position effective the end of June. Johnson's duties as consumer service extension agent included family financial management, food and nutrition issues, food safety, human development, and housing and environmental quality. Johnson's responsibilities have changed somewhat through the years, as Extension always seeks to educate and provide services where little...
Rhubarb grows well in most farm gardens and has a special spot in town gardens as well. This tart, tasty vegetable (yes, botanists consider rhubarb, as a member of the garden sorrel species, a vegetable) makes excellent muffins, cakes, tortes, jellies, and juice, and when surrounded by delectable flaky pastry, rivals any fruit pie in flavor and taste. Rhubarb, grown in the ancient world as a medicinal plant, arrived in Maine in the early 1800s, when one enterprising farmer imported seed and plan...
Retirement often offers the opportunity to participate in leisure activities that people never find time to do while they remain in the work force, a fact that Ardean and Donna Skogen, Cartwright, discovered to their joy. After retiring, the couple purchased a thirty foot RV and have enjoyed camping, fishing, and related activities on a regular basis ever since. The Skogens did purchase a small Corsair camper in 1978, but they used it as living quarters for a period of time rather than as a recr...
Timely, adequate rainfall may have changed a looming high dollar loss into a positive gain, not just for beet growers but for farmers throughout the area. "This rain will really help," says Sidney Sugars Agriculture Manager Russ Fullmer. "The first rain cost us a million; this one gives us a million. Every crop needed water, especially in the south, so this rain gives us a breather." He continues, "The first rain gave us enough moisture to sprout the beets but not enough to keep them going. Hot...
