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To help teachers obtain needed continuing education credits and at the same time educate them on area history and heritage, the Montana State University Extension Services will offer a two day teacher training workshop in Sidney that will explore pioneer life, agriculture as it was a century ago, and what farm children learned in school. Participating offices include Culbertson, Scobey, and Sidney. "Teachers need to accumulate credits over a period of time, and this workshop is a way of doing...
According to recently enacted legislation, by the year 2020, the US must have 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels in the market with 21 billion gallons made from advanced biofuels. Advanced biofuels produce 50% less carbon emissions as compared to petroleum-based fuels, and it appears that energy beets meet this advanced biofuel requirement. North Dakota State University (NDSU) recently concluded a lifecycle analysis of energy beets, and found that energy beets do meet this classification. An...
This has certainly been a strange weather year, with no winter to speak of, very dry conditions, and unusually warm temperatures this spring. Tanja Fransen with the Glasgow weather office reports that we can expect the odd weather to continue. “The latest Climate Outlook isn’t showing anything special in May (equal chances of above or below normal temperatures and precipitation),” she said in her newsletter. “The ones that did catch my eye were the probability of below normal precipitation for M...
Sugarbeet season started up in earnest for the season with the arrival of water in the irrigation canal. Extremely dry conditions prompted many growers to wait until irrigation water became available before they began the process of planting this year’s crop. “I thought we’d see an early planting year this spring, but we didn’t,” says Russ Fullmer, Sidney Sugars Agricultural Manager. “Growers waited for water before planting because the crop will need watered up. We really need rain; every...
If we stop and think about it, we all realize the value of agricultural research. Studies show repeatedly that federal and state funding for agricultural research and development produces high returns for the money spent and it also ensures a safe, abundant food supply for Americans. However, politics dictate the amount of money spent for agricultural research. Some politicians who have no understanding of agriculture still feel qualified to make decisions regarding this vital industry, and...
In recent years we’ve heard a lot about the green movement, or attempts to conserve natural resources and to find suitable alternatives to oil. Growing crops to determine their worth as a biofuel has become a focus for scientists and likely will continue to take precedence in the coming years. A group of researchers at the USDA/ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab in Sidney will collaborate on a long term study that will look at rotations using oilseed and pulse crops in rotation w...
Now that spring has come, those of us who like to hunt for wild asparagus will soon be rewarded for our efforts. These tasty, nutritious spears generally grow along ditch banks, and for those of us who have discovered where these tender shoots like to grow, we are ready to brave ticks and other insects in order to pick these luscious vegetable morsels. Wild asparagus looks like its cultivated counterpart; it simply grows wild without any cultivation efforts. Sprouting in early spring, this...
For many people, the approach of summer brings the anticipation of time spent on or near the water, seeking to snag that perfect specimen catch. Fishermen and women of all ages love the thrill and the challenge of reeling in a fish. Whether these fishing enthusiasts stay on shore or whether they cruise the waters in a boat, sportsmen enjoy this peaceful pastime spent out of doors in pursuit of fish of all types and sizes. Avid fisherman and fishing guide Scott Sundheim of Sioux Pass can’t i...
A former colleague made a comment a few months ago that brought to mind this joke: An old dog got lost in the African wilds. As he searched for his way home, he spied a young lion creeping up on him. Knowing he was no match for the lion, the dog thought furiously, spied some bones on the ground, and got an idea. The dog nonchalantly turned his back on the lion and began munching vigorously on the bones. At the moment the lion was poised to pounce, the old dog licked his chops and loudly...
After serving Sidney Sugars and the community for nearly ten years, Steve Sing, Sidney Sugars General Manager, will retire effective the end of May. During his tenure, Sing has seen many changes at the factory and he has helped initiate and implement goals for the sugar plant to meet. "We've made changes at the factory in efforts to improve the processing as much as possible," Sing remarks. "We always strive to be more efficient at what we do." Sing has emphasized safety procedures and training...
Easter arrives early this year. We will celebrate the occasion on Sunday, April 8, which doesn't leave a lot of time for those who like to plant their potatoes on Good Friday, as one tradition suggests that we do. The date falls in early April this year because Easter, unlike most of our other holidays, has no specified date; rather, Easter always arrives according to the moon phase. We celebrate Easter the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. Spring equinox fell on...
Crane Creek has several tributaries that feed it, and the little streams or runoff areas that I walk by on almost a daily basis always seem to call to me, inviting me to splash through the water and see what natural sights may present themselves. I've had a hankering to walk along or through two of these tributaries for the past several years, and this spring I finally made the trek. The easy stroll I anticipated did not materialize. First of all, I encountered far deeper water in spots than I...
Spring brings with it the chances for thunderstorms, and often these storms have the potential to produce dangerous lightning strikes. Most of us tend to look at lightning as a harmful side effect of storms, but in reality these bolts of electricity provide benefits to our planet. These benefits include assisting farmers by helping plants grow. Lightning, generally a negatively charged burst of energy, ziz-zags from cloud to cloud or from cloud to ground. The ground has a positive charge, so...
What a difference a year can make. Last year at the start of the planting season, sugarbeet growers worried about excessive moisture, a cool spring, flooding, and their ability to get a crop planted in time. This year they face opposite conditions, with unusually warm temperatures and very dry conditions the norm. If these conditions persist into the near future, many growers will begin planting sugarbeets earlier than usual. "In a normal year, growers start planting by the 20th of April," says...
High tunnels, or large hoop houses that provide seasonal extension for growing plants and herbs, have generated a lot of interest in our region. These tall structures covered with strong weatherproof plastic can extend a growing season an extra two to four months, giving users the opportunity to try diverse crops and to add value to a farming operation. "These high tunnels are just big hoops covered by plastic," says Bruce Smith, Dawson County extension agent. “These structures can range from 1...
The MonDak has always stood out as an agricultural area, which is the prime reason many of us chose to make this region our home. We liked the farming way of life and preferred the peace of the country to the bustle of commercial centers. Well, our cherished way of life has practically vanished as agriculture and its lifestyle has had to move aside for the oil industry. The oil boom continues to trump agriculture in numerous ways and many area farmers feel that in the coming years, agriculture i...
Sometimes a person can realize two goals by building a structure that satisfies a need and a want all at the same time. We already had a one-car garage attached to the house, but we wanted a second shelter to protect our other vehicle from the weather. As well, I’ve always dreamed of building an upper level deck on my home, with access only through an interior upstairs door. Last summer, we began working on a project that will give us not only an enclosed space for a vehicle but that will ultima...
From Thursday through Saturday, March 24-26, Sidney will host a three-day learning session for this year’s Leadership Montana class. Leadership Montana, a state-wide intensive nine-month program, attracts participants from all walks of life and from all points in Montana. These participants join together to learn leadership skills that each individual can use in his or her respective community to help improve and strengthen that locality. The group visits different Montana towns throughout the n...
I guess there is a reason why I ended up putting words on paper for a living. Word games, puns, anagrams, palindromes and pencil puzzles that require unscrambling letters or phrases and turning them into a readable form that makes sense have always intrigued me. I can create a multitude of variety word puzzles, but I won’t even attempt palindromes, so I admire those people who have minds that can create these words, phrases, or sentences that read the same forwards or backwards. The classic p...
My eyes have never provided me with crystal clear sight, and even as a child, darkness and shadows presented problems. I had difficulty distinguishing objects in the dark, and I tended to crash into whatever happened to be in my path rather than have the ability to successfully maneuver around these obstacles. Judging distances after sunset also could not be called one of my strong points. Now that I am a woman of a certain age, the situation has gotten completely out of hand. In spite of...
As we age, we realize the importance of our roots: where we came from, and what forces and events shaped us into who we are today. The sense of heritage and the desire to honor those who came before us can express itself in everyday life, as Carmen Roberts, Sidney, discovered. Roberts wanted to resume her hair styling career and she decided to build a shop on her property to accommodate the business. However, in the process she also wanted to honor her ancestry and to remind people of the early...
Every issue has its positives and negatives. Oil has changed the face of the MonDak region forever, it has caused serious problems with housing, infrastructure, the ability of natives to conduct daily business, and it has forced people to rethink individual values and priorities. For those farmers without mineral rights, farming only gets more and more difficult as input costs soar and the available land becomes increasingly more expensive to buy or to rent. However, those farmers who do have...
Every year we celebrate National Ag Week to recognize the huge contribution agriculture makes in our lives, to understand how farmers produce food and fiber, to remind ourselves that without a strong agricultural base the economy and the security of our nation founders, and to appreciate the safe, abundant food products we enjoy in the U.S. Even though each American farmer feeds approximately 144 people, an increase from 25 people each farmer could feed 40 years ago, many people fail to...
The MonDak has always stood out as an agricultural area, which is the prime reason many of us chose to make this region our home. We liked the farming way of life and preferred the peace of the country to the bustle of commercial centers. Well, our cherished way of life has practically vanished as agriculture and its lifestyle has had to move aside for the oil industry. The oil boom continues to trump agriculture in numerous ways and many area farmers feel that in the coming years, agriculture i...
The 2007 Census of Agriculture pointed out some inescapable facts that will affect the next few generations if we don’t take steps to reverse the trend. According to the Census, “Our agricultural landscape continues to change, but behind the numbers is also a story – a story of stewardship, hard work, and the unending fight to protect the working lands that sustain us. Every minute two acres of farmland are lost to development. Fewer and fewer farmers are able to stay on the land, and farms are...
