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The Tveit Land and Cattle Company, Culbertson and Fairview, has earned top honors this year in the Sidney Sugars Incorporated annual Top Ten growers list. Brothers Larry and Nolan Tveit brought in an outstanding sugarbeet crop this year which earned them the number 1 ranking in the 50-246 acre category. The Tveits, farming together since they both graduated from high school, have an irrigated farm in Culbertson and a dryland farm between Sidney and Culbertson. With the exception of a two-year hi...
After serving the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project (LYIP) for 17 years, Manager Jerry Nypen will retire effective Feb. 17 to pursue other interests. “I’ve been at this type of work for nearly 40 years, and I decided it was time to try other things,” Nypen remarks. “When you work for wages, there’s no reason to do the same thing your entire life.” Nypen began his duties with LYIP in January 1995, bringing with him 21 years of prior experience gained from different irrigation districts. “I man...
We all remember West Nile, a virus passed to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. Because this disease was new to the human population, we did not have antibodies for it. Some people caught the virus and never knew it as their bodies could handle it; others became mildly ill, and a few people who caught the virus became quite sick. A handful of people died from this disease. Well, it is now the turn of our canine companions to go through the same process. Canine influenza is spreading...
Boys never grow up; their toys just get bigger and more expensive. Or so says Dave Vanek, Billings, who delights in acquiring old tractors and then restoring these antiques to working condition. Vanek recently sold one of his three restored ‘toys’, a 1912 Case Steam Traction Engine, to Jerry Satra, Crane. “I bought this Case Steam Traction Engine (tractor) in 1987 from a family estate sale near Medicine Hat, Alberta,” Vanek remarks of the tractor now in Crane. “I restored it in 1989 and took...
This year’s 59th Annual National Hard Spring Wheat Show will once again offer an outstanding informative event that will provide important, timely information to area Ag producers. This year’s educational portion of the show, scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the Williston Airport International Inn, will offer attendees information and updates on a wide variety of topics, including market information, precision farming, soil health and ecology, cropping practices, and best management practices. Peo...
Sidney Sugars Incorporated held its annual Top Ten Grower award luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to honor those growers who brought in an outstanding crop. Russ Fullmer, Sidney Sugars agriculture manager, congratulated the top ten growers and pointed out that they, along with the rest of the Valley, faced a lot of challenges this year. “Last year, we came off a bad winter to start the growing season,” Fullmer noted at the luncheon. “We had a huge amount of snow, then spring came and it rained and...
The Tveit Land and Cattle Company, Culbertson and Fairview, has earned top honors this year in the Sidney Sugars Incorporated annual Top Ten growers list. Brothers Larry and Nolan Tveit brought in an outstanding sugarbeet crop this year which earned them the number 1 ranking in the 50-246 acre category. The Tveits, farming together since they both graduated from high school, have an irrigated farm in Culbertson and a dryland farm between Sidney and Culbertson. With the exception of a two-year hi...
6J Farms, Terry and Vicky Cayko, with essential help from Toby Miller and Cayko families Jacquelyn and Chris Free and Jessica Cayko and her two boys, East Fairview, earned top spot this year in the 246+ acre category of Sidney Sugars Incorporated’s annual top ten recognition awards. Cayko, who has farmed all his life, has been in the Top Ten six times, and has earned top spot twice. Cayko admits the year looked dismal at the start, but as the season progressed, his crop responded to sun and m...
The MonDak Area Stockgrowers Association, in cooperation with the Yellowstone Livestock Company, 720 10th Ave. SE, Sidney, will host a fundraising event for the All American Beef Battalion, an organization dedicated to supporting our troops fighting the global war on terror. The fundraiser, scheduled for noon on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at the Yellowstone Livestock, will consist of auctioning off a calf to the highest bidder, then auctioning off that calf again and again and again for as many times as...
With the return of January, every publication in creation tackles the subject of New Year’s resolutions. When the new year dawns bright and fresh, writers, figuring this is a good way to fill blank pages, devote a lot of space discussing how and why to make resolutions, how to keep them, tricks and hints on how to follow through on those well-meaning resolves, and a host of other spin-offs on the subject of resolutions of all sorts. Personally, I shake my head at all this hoopla, and I g...
January generally ushers in the coldest month of the year. Daytime highs plummet to subzero temperatures for weeks at a time, winds howl, people only venture outdoors for short periods and only when bundled up in heavy coats, mittens, and warm boots, and those with wood stoves keep the fires stoked and blazing hot all day long to chase the gloom and cold. Animals hunker down as well, as domestic animals stay in their coops or shelters and the wild animals burrow deep into their dens or dense...
Remember when we had strength in our fingers and wrists? Peanut butter jar lids opened easily, bottle caps twisted off with a flick of the wrist, and we figured we could conquer any lid or bottle cap that passed our way. Not so, my friends. I spend more time now trying to open some jar lids than I do vacuuming the floor. Lids can present formidable problems, refusing to budge a millimeter regardless of how many little tricks I try or handy gadgets that I use on them. Sometimes this unmoving lid...
The tavern has always been an important social aspect of American life. Knowing that my great great grandfather operated a tavern/rest stop for travelers over a century ago, the history and information concerning these watering holes has always interested me. Therefore, when I saw the book, America Walks into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies, and Grog Shops, written by Christine Sismondo, I couldn’t resist reading it. The book did not disappoint me. Sismondo p...
After serving 38 years as agronomist, plant breeder and director of the Montana State University’s Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) in Sidney, Dr. Jerry Bergman has retired from the MSU university system effective Dec. 31, 2011. Bergman has accepted a permanent position with the Williston Research Extension Center (WREC) as director of the facility, a position he has held on a part time basis for the past 18 years. Bergman began his duties with WREC on Jan. 1, 2012 and will oversee d...
Ag in the Classroom, traditionally a part of the Ag Days event, will once again be part of this year’s MonDak Ag Days. However, this year Ag in the Classroom will hold its educational sessions at the Sidney High School, not at the Richland County Fair Event Center as it did last year. Organizers decided to return the classroom Ag activities to the Sidney High School and hold it on Friday, Jan. 13 during regular school hours. “We’ve made the decision to return Ag in the Classroom to the Sidney Hi...
Most of us are all too familiar with the infamous 2006 study that declared domesticated livestock produces 18% of the world’s anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The report also fingered runoff from pastures for creating dead zones in the ocean, where aquatic life can’t survive because unicellular organisms proliferate from the extra nutrients, die, and decompose. The big problem with all this, of course, is that the report is not accurate, but the livestock industry has been dealing wit...
This year’s MonDak Ag Days Trade Show, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Jan. 12-13 at the Richland County Fair Event Center, has a dynamic line-up of trade show businesses that will showcase new products and provide information about these agricultural innovations and improvements. With over 50 booths filled by area businessmen, attendees will have a marvelous opportunity to see a great mix of products and learn new information about agricultural products including seed products, i...
This year’s MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Jan. 12-13 at the Richland County Fair Event Center, has a good mix of educational sessions and trade show displays, with something to interest everyone. The show will provide agricultural presentations dealing with a wide range of relevant information, and a trade show that highlights new ideas and technology within the field of agriculture. “I invite people to mark this year’s Ag Days on their calendars,” says Ti...
Many factors influence field efficiency: heat of the day, tire pressure, type of fuel, idling the tractor, tire size, ballast, and a host of other possibilities. To discuss these many influences that impact field efficiency, the MonDak Ag Days committee has invited Lawrence Papworth, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Ag Tech Center, to speak at Ag Days. Papworth will discuss field efficiency with an emphasis on tractors at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13 at the Richland County Fair Event...
The MonDak Ag Days Committee is pleased to announce that Trent Loos, an extremely entertaining man who always give his audience their money’s worth, will serve as the Thursday night, Jan. 12 Ag Days after dinner speaker at their banquet to be held at the Richland County Fair Event Center. Tickets are now on sale at Stockman Bank and the Richland County Extension office for $30 each. Loos, a 6th generation rancher who cares about agriculture and passes this message along in an interesting m...
Lamb prices have reached a historic high, so now may be the time to increase sheep numbers. To explore increasing sheep production and to explain the Two Plus growth program advocated by the American Sheep Industry Association, the Ag Days committee has invited Larry Pilster, a second generation sheep producer from Alzada to speak at Ag Days. Pilster will discuss the Two Plus flock increase program in detail at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Richland County Fair Event Center. “Sheep n...
This year, to kick off the MonDak Ag Days presentations, organizers have set aside Thursday morning, Jan. 12 to present four sessions of general interest to everyone. These four family-oriented morning sessions begin at 8 a.m. and run until 11 a.m., with topics including decluttering the house and office, managing tax records, the use of hoop houses and high tunnels to extend the gardening season, and a session dealing with probate and other property transfer issues. “Although this is billed a...
Improper settings on a harvester can negatively impact harvest results. With this in mind, the Ag Days committee has asked Kelly Sharpe, GK Technologies, to demonstrate the proper settings and setup of a beet harvester. Sharpe will work on an actual harvester and will give his demonstration at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13 at the Richland County Public Works Shop, 2140 W. Holly St., just west of the Richland County Fairgrounds. “I will walk people through the process of how to set up a harvester f...
Until very recently, we’ve considered the MonDak a pastoral area, with agriculture playing the major role in the economics of the region. That has all changed in the blink of an eye, as oil continues to make larger and larger inroads in this formerly rural culture. With two very different industries, oil and agriculture, both using the land, problems can arise. Oil and agriculture don’t always cohabitate peacefully; misunderstandings arise, spills and accidents may happen that contaminate wat...
This year’s 59th Annual National Hard Spring Wheat Show will once again offer an outstanding informative event that will provide important, timely information to area Ag producers. This year’s educational portion of the show, scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the Williston Airport International Inn, will offer attendees information and updates on a wide variety of topics, including market information, precision farming, soil health and ecology, cropping practices, and best management practices. Peo...
