Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 205
BOZEMAN – Researchers will be using a mailed survey in Richland County, Montana, and McKenzie County, North Dakota, to collect data to better understand the local community benefits and costs of oil and gas development. The survey asks businesses and landowners about how recent oil activity affected their businesses and farm and ranch operations. The post-boom timing of this study makes it notable as little hard data exists about communities after peak drilling activity, according to Julia Hobson Haggerty, project director and assistant p...
BOZEMAN — This year’s Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum, “Challenges and Opportunities of Cow Herd Expansion,” will be held April 19-20 in Bozeman at the GranTree Inn, 1325 N. 7th Avenue. Speakers will cover a wide variety of topics, including the US cattle cycle and cattle prices, reproductive management considerations for herd expansion, heifer development, cattle temperament, the veterinary feed directive for feed-grade antibiotics, and approaches to animal health in a limited antibiotic environment. A panel discussion on herd...
Montana State University Extension has released the two latest editions in its MontGuides series on crop-damaging insect pests, covering the cereal leaf beetle and the pea leaf weevil. The new guides contain essential information that producers need to manage these insect pests, including identification, biology, life history, types of damage and management recommendations. These publications are the first MontGuides to be released in a new single-page format, called pest fact sheets. The new...
Montana State University Extension, in cooperation with Northwest Farm Credit Services, will host the Montana broadcast of the fifth annual Women in Agriculture Conference on Saturday, March 19. This one-day webinar is presented remotely by Washington State University Extension and takes place simultaneously at 31 locations throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska. The conference is interactive and was developed to empower women in agriculture to achieve goals and manage risk...
BOZEMAN — Opening a Montana medical care savings account by Dec. 31 to help with medical expenses not covered by a health insurance policy or flexible spending account can help individuals save on taxes, according to Marsha Goetting, a family economics specialist with Montana State University Extension. Up to $3,000 of a deposit into the account, per taxpayer, is deductible from an individual’s 2015 Montana adjusted gross income, thus reducing taxes, Goetting said. “This tax advantage does not apply to your federal income taxes, however, and s...
Registration is now open for the Montana State University Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology’s crop and pest management school. The workshop, which will be held Jan. 5-7 at MSU, will focus on forage and pulse crops. The 2½-day workshop will feature three guest speakers. Earl Creech, assistant professor of agronomy at Utah State University, will present two lectures on forage crop management; Pierce Paul, associate professor of cereal pathology from Ohio State University, will present two lectures on disease epidemiology and ma...
BOZEMAN — Opening a Montana medical care savings account by Dec. 31 to help with medical expenses not covered by a health insurance policy or flexible spending account can help individuals save on taxes, according to Marsha Goetting, a family economics specialist with Montana State University Extension. Up to $3,000 of a deposit into the account, per taxpayer, is deductible from an individual’s 2015 Montana adjusted gross income, thus reducing taxes, Goetting said. “This tax advantage does not apply to your federal income taxes, however, and s...
Montana State University’s new Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory in Bozeman offers several diagnostic tests on seed samples to check for pulse crop diseases. The tests cost $200 per sample and screen for seven important fungal diseases of pulse crops, which include ascochyta blight, anthracnose, fusarium wilt, botrytis, gray mold, and stemphylium blight. Another test, known as the smart package, costs $400 per sample and includes the seven fungal diseases and two virus tests: Pea seedborne mosaic virus (PSbMV) and Pea enation mosaic v...
Montana State University has completed an agreement to license more than 700 developmental lines of durum wheat to Montana-based Northern Seed, LLC. “Northern Seed is very excited to strengthen our relationship with MSU through this durum license and continued collaboration on behalf of Montana producers,” said Ryan Holt, Northern Seed vice president of supply chain and markets. “The addition of these Montana lines to our existing durum program will only strengthen our ability to discover and develop new durum varieties. We look forward to th...
BOZEMAN – A new publication from Montana State University Extension is designed to help identify invasive exotic thistles and verify those that are native to Montana. People often think that the only good thistle is a dead thistle. While this can be true for well-known invasive exotic thistles like Canada or musk thistle, some thistles are Montana natives and better off alive than dead due to their beautiful flowers and foliage and the habitat they provide for wildlife. Five exotic thistles a...
BOZEMAN - Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), will visit Montana State University in July. Ramaswamy's visit includes a question and answer session that is free and open to the general public. Ramaswamy's visit is hosted by the MSU Office of Research and Economic Development and the MSU College of Agriculture. It will include meetings with MSU faculty, who will share current research on pest management,...
BOZEMAN – Montanans who battle wheat stem sawfly now have a new weapon to consider using. Over the next four years and possibly longer, wheat producers will be able to use a granular insecticide against the No. 1 small grain insect pest in Montana. The insecticide, Thimet 20-G, must be incorporated into the soil at least 85 days before harvest. “This is big news because it’s something that works,” said Montana State University Cropland Entomologist Kevin Wanner. “For the first time, producers will have a pesticide as an option.” MSU Pestici...
BOZEMAN – The Museum of the Rockies will offer a June 2 seminar on heritage fruit trees in Montana on Tuesday, June 2, from 6-8 p.m. at the Museum of the Rockies. The talk by Toby Day, MSU Extension horticulturist, will discuss the state’s rich history with fruit production, including apples, pears, apricots, plums and cherries. The cost is $5 for Museum members and $8 for non-members at the door. Historically, orchards grew up after being planted by orchardists and homesteaders trying to make a living. Although the orchardists and hom...
BOZEMAN – Montana State University Extension has a new 24-page booklet for sale about wildlife damage control for organic farmers. Organic farmers of any size production can have challenges without using chemicals for wildlife or pest control. This color booklet was created to provide alternative controls appropriate for both traditional and organic farming. Written by retired MSU Extension wildlife specialist Jim Knight, the book describes how specific traps, methods and timing of control can be more efficient and cost-effective than the t...
BOZEMAN – Montana State University’s Schutter Diagnostic Laboratory has been receiving numerous samples of wheat plants that have yellow, or yellow and brown spotted, lower leaves. Given the spring weather, as well as a lack of diagnosed disease in many of these samples, experts at MSU believe frost damage, drought stress and nutrient deficiencies are likely culprits. Nutrient deficiencies may seem unlikely for those who used starter fertilizer, but plants need water to take up nutrients, and many areas of the state received well below nor...
Montana State University officials announced this week that Chengci Chen, professor of cropping systems for the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and MSU College of Agriculture, has been appointed the new superintendent of the Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) in Sidney. As superintendent, Chen will be responsible for management of the center's irrigated and dryland farming research profile, including research on sugar beets, barley, durum, winter and spring wheat, oil...
BOZEMAN - A group of scholars and agricultural specialists who are considered some of the world’s top experts on food production, food safety and solving hunger across the globe will gather in Bozeman April 9 and 10 when the United States Agency for International Development‘s (USAID) Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) meets at Montana State University. MSU President Waded Cruzado, a member of the board appointed by President Barack Obama, will host the meeting of fellow board members. This is only the second tim...
Montana farmers know well the “shoulder seasons” – those few months before summer and during fall, when predicting the weather is a guess at best and harvest might be a gamble. For many of the state’s commercial vegetable growers, unpredictable weather during these months can damage produce and threaten a farmer’s seasonal income. That’s when high tunnel greenhouses prove beneficial. The free-standing greenhouses have frames, ground posts and plastic walls that protect crops for early or late season production. High tunnels – which differ...
Robert E. “Bob” Lee, a rancher from Judith Gap and respected leader in the agricultural community, will receive an honorary doctorate in animal and range sciences from Montana State University during the university’s spring commencement, set for May 9. Lee will deliver the charge to graduates at both the morning and afternoon commencement ceremonies. Lee and his wife, Kathy, own and operate the Robert E. Lee Ranch Company, a diversified cattle and grain operation located in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in central Montana. The ranch has...
Montana State University debuted a new institutional spot that highlights the work of MSU Extension and its impact on all Montanans. “We Work Together to Grow a Better Montana” premiered during the telecast of the MSU-UM football game. The 30-second commercial features the Schutter Diagnostic Lab on the MSU campus. It highlights the cooperative nature of the lab, ranging from the learning opportunities it offers to MSU students, the work done there by MSU Extension faculty and county agents and disseminated around the state by Extension age...
Montanans can now sign up for “MSU Urban Alert,” a new system to rapidly share information about plant disease, insect and weed issues in urban settings. “Landscapers, gardeners, homeowners and managers of parks or nurseries might be among those interested in receiving the free emailed alerts,” said Mary Burrows, plant pathologist with Montana State University Extension and director of the Schutter Diagnostic Laboratory at MSU. “The MSU Urban Alert works the same as MSU AgAlerts, but the new system focuses on issues in homes, gardens,...
Montana State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics and MSU Extension will host an annual Agricultural Economics Outlook Conference Friday, Nov. 7. This year’s conference, “Montana Agriculture: Current Issues and the Role of Agriculture Research,” will run from 8:30 a.m.-noon in the Procrastinator Theater in MSU’s Strand Union Building. The program will feature MSU faculty experts on agricultural policy, the Montana economy and livestock and grain markets. The conference’s keynote speaker, Philip Pardey, will addres...
Montana State University’s College of Agriculture will hold its annual Celebrate Agriculture Weekend Nov. 7-8 in Bozeman. All events are open to the public. Events will include an agricultural outlook seminar, presentations, tours, a classroom dedication and recognition of the Outstanding Agricultural Leaders Don Burnham and Sky Anderson and Monica Switzer. “This event is one of the most important events our college does annually,” said Glenn Duff, interim dean of the College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. “It’s...
Lance McNew, a new faculty member in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at Montana State University, will be honored Oct. 26 in Pittsburgh at the 21st annual conference of The Wildlife Society. McNew was lead author of a scientific article selected as the 2014 outstanding article in wildlife publications. It ran in the Journal of Wildlife Management and described findings about greater prairie-chickens, an indicator species for tallgrass prairie in North America. The Wildlife Society publishes more than 200 articles each year in its...
Montana State University closed out another strong year of research successes with significant work in energy, agriculture, health and biomedicine, and the environment leading the way. The university’s overall research enterprise did $109.6 million in work for the fiscal year ending June 30. That includes $90.5 million in competitively won federal funds, as well as $1.6 million in gift funds for research. It also includes $15 million in state and $2.6 million in federal funding both largely for agricultural research through the Montana Agricult...
