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Bozeman - Montana youth swine exhibitors and breeders have been recognized by the Montana Symbol of Excellence program. The program annually honors both 4-H and FFA youth and swine breeders who raise market swine that meet quality standards and show a commitment to producing quality pork products. The Montana Symbol of Excellence program evaluates carcass and ultrasound data on swine from across Montana, with 32% qualifying in 2022 to be Symbol of Excellence swine, according to Rose Malisani, MSU Extension agent in Cascade County and Montana...
Bozeman - Montana State University is recruiting elementary school teachers for a summer program that offers hands-on research experiences and fresh ideas for bringing science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, into their classrooms. Teachers will also gain skills in developing curriculums that combine STEM with Montana's Indian Education for All mandate. In the National Science Foundation-funded program, called Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering, participants work alongsid...
Bozeman - Montana State University Extension is reminding Montanans to open a Medical Care Savings Account or make deposits into their accounts before Dec. 31 to save money on Montana income taxes. An MSA is an account used to reduce the cost of saving for medical expenses and long-term health care. According to Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family economics specialist, an MSA offers several benefits, including a reduction on state income taxes. For example, if a person has taxable income over $21,600, they could save approximately $304 in...
Bozeman - Programs promoting precision agriculture, youth development, agriculture scholarships and the state’s farm and ranch heritage will all benefit from a newly announced $10 million gift to Montana State University. The anonymous donation will establish a series of endowments focused on programs based in the MSU College of Agriculture and MSU Extension. The largest portion of the gift, $5 million, will endow a dedicated faculty chair in precision agriculture who will lead development of new technologies and their data-driven a...
Bozeman - The College of Agriculture at Montana State University is accepting applications for a new leadership program focused on sustainable agriculture and agritourism. The Montana Agritourism Fellows Program: Developing Leaders to Advance Sustainable Agritourism is designed to establish and train leaders who will communicate and promote sustainable agriculture topics to farmers, ranchers, professionals and communities. The inaugural cohort will consist of 12 fellows, and applications are...
Bozeman - Montana State University's Steer-A-Year program is seeking donations of steers and feed as well as financial support for the 2022-23 academic year. A student program in MSU's College of Agriculture combining academic courses with hands-on, technical experience, Steer-A-Year involves students in multiple aspects of raising cattle. Students spend the academic year feeding and managing steers, caring for them through the winter and spring, collecting data on feed efficiency and weight...
Bozeman - Montana State University will partner with area organizations to host a free webinar series focused on techniques to mitigate predator-livestock conflicts. The series, Pathways for Practice Implementation: Non-lethal Predator Management through EQIP – Environmental Quality Incentives Program – will take place from noon-1:30 p.m. on the following Tuesdays: Aug. 23, Sept. 20 and Oct. 18. It is targeted to producers and local conservation district practitioners. In 2020, a team working in lands conservation across the West - including Ja...
Bozeman - As winter wheat harvest in Montana comes to a close, producers may be thinking about fertilizer decisions for upcoming winter wheat seeding. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and chloride should all be considered in fertility programs, according to Clain Jones, Montana State University Extension soil fertility specialist and Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences professor in the College of Agriculture. Phosphorous and potassium Phosphorus and potassium are immobile nutrients in the soil and tend to be...
Bozeman - Montana State University Extension and USDA Agricultural Research Service will host a free, two-hour workshop, "Grasshopper Outbreaks and Management Options in 2022," at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 29. The event will be held in-person at the Richland County MSU Extension conference room in Sidney and will also be viewable online. ]Over the last year, eastern Montana and western North Dakota farmers and ranchers endured the second-largest grasshopper outbreak in the last 35 years. Annual...
BOZEMAN — Montana State University Extension recently published five new or updated MontGuides on a variety of topics to provide unbiased information. As part of their outreach efforts, MSU Extension specialists and agents write MontGuides with information gathered during their research and outreach work throughout the year. The fact sheets are designed for all Montanans, including agricultural producers, home gardeners, families, landowners and other groups. New and existing MontGuides are located online at store.msuextension.org, where t...
Bozeman — The Golden Triangle Barley Conference, a triennial event featuring updates about the barley industry, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in Conrad. The event is hosted by Montana State University Extension and its partners and will take place from 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. at Pondera Shooting Sports Complex, 972 Granite Road. Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. Speakers from MSU will include Pat Carr, Central Agricultural Research Center, Moccasin, barley breeder Jamie Sherman, Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, and Justin Vetch f...
Bozeman - Montana State University Extension will offer a remote work certification course every month in 2022 except July and December. Registration for the next class closes Feb. 2. The course provides knowledge and skills for individuals who would like to transition to work from home so that they can potentially access higher paying jobs while remaining in their communities. More than 50 Montanans have taken the month-long course since it was first offered last May. Participants learn online tools common to remote work as well as skills...
Bozeman — Registration is now open for the 2022 Montana and Wyoming Sugar Beet and Malt Barley Symposium, which will be held Jan. 12-13 at Billings Hotel and Convention Center, Billings. The event is hosted by the Mountain States Crop Education Association, or MSCEA, which is comprised of industry representatives as well as Montana State University Extension faculty members. The first day of the event will focus on barley production. Presentations will cover topics including precision agriculture and disease, nutrient and weed management. F...
Bozeman — Registration is now open for the 2022 Montana and Wyoming Sugar Beet and Malt Barley Symposium, which will be held Jan. 12-13 at Billings Hotel and Convention Center, Billings. The event is hosted by the Mountain States Crop Education Association, or MSCEA, which is comprised of industry representatives as well as Montana State University Extension faculty members. The first day of the event will focus on barley production. Presentations will cover topics including precision agriculture and disease, nutrient and weed management. F...
Bozeman — Registration is now open for the 2022 Montana and Wyoming Sugar Beet and Malt Barley Symposium, which will be held Jan. 12-13 at Billings Hotel and Convention Center, Billings. The event is hosted by the Mountain States Crop Education Association, or MSCEA, which is comprised of industry representatives as well as Montana State University Extension faculty members. The first day of the event will focus on barley production. Presentations will cover topics including precision agriculture and disease, nutrient and weed management. F...
Bozeman —The Montana State University Pesticide Education Program, with assistance from the Montana Department of Agriculture, is offering a pest management tour for pesticide applicators at 10 locations across eastern Montana from Oct. 4-8. Those in the state’s Private Applicator Training District 4 need to earn six private applicator credits before Dec. 31 to avoid losing their certification, according to MSU Extension Pesticide Education Specialist Cecil Tharp. District 4 includes Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, McC...
Bozeman —The Montana State University Pesticide Education Program, with assistance from the Montana Department of Agriculture, is offering a pest management tour for pesticide applicators at 10 locations across eastern Montana from Oct. 4-8. Those in the state’s Private Applicator Training District 4 need to earn six private applicator credits before Dec. 31 to avoid losing their certification, according to MSU Extension Pesticide Education Specialist Cecil Tharp. District 4 includes Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, McC...
Bozeman — Montana State University Extension has a new, free, color booklet available about identifying and managing pests and problems in ornamental trees and shrubs in Montana. The 240-page guide is intended to help MSU Extension agents, arborists and those in nursery and landscape trades identify and diagnose tree and shrub issues and to help with decisions for treatment based on integrated pest management concepts. “The first step in an (integrated pest management) approach is to correctly identify pests to determine how best to manage them...
Bozeman - Due to the extended drought in Montana, water availability in many areas has become severely limited. Reservoirs have dried up and are becoming covered in weeds. Montana State University Extension educators are cautioning livestock managers to evaluate weed feed and grazing land for nitrate toxicity during drought. "Due to the severe drought, weeds have become prevalent across pastures and many producers are limited in their cattle movement this year," said Custer County Extension Agen...
Bozeman - The Montana State University College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station have announced the dates for their annual agricultural field days, which will return as in-person events after being hosted virtually in 2020. “We are so excited to be bringing back our in-person field days this year,” said Darrin Boss, Department of Research Centers head and Northern Agricultural Research Center superintendent. “These events are always a highlight for all of us, because they offer one of our best chances to meet with...
Bozeman — Montana State University Extension in Pondera County and Purdue Extension-Bartholomew County will offer a webinar series this month to help improve agricultural storytelling and communication skills. Adriane Good, MSU Extension agent in Pondera County, and Cora Carter, Purdue Extension educator in Bartholomew County, coordinated the series. “We noticed that many agricultural producers want to engage with the public and share their story but have difficulties doing so. This series aims to help producers with skills to communicate eff...
Bozeman — Ranchers wanting to hone their grazing management skills are encouraged to register for this year’s 406 Grazing Academy. The three-day, hands-on workshop is offered cooperatively by the Rangeland Resources Program in the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Montana State University Extension and MSU’s Dan Scott Ranch Management Program in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences in the College of Agriculture. Participants in the workshop will gain practical information designed to help make strategic decisions...
Bozeman - Montana Council on Economic Education, a partner program with Montana State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, recently recognized student teams from high schools around the state for their success in an annual business simulation game designed to promote financial literacy and business sense. The Big Sky Biz Sim by First Interstate Bank, which ran from early February through last week, is an in-class business simulation in which students make operating decisions for a business they devise to produce, s...
Bozeman — Montana State University Extension will host a new series of meetings across the state geared toward comprehensive education on drought and its implications for Montana agriculture. The meetings are free and open to the public, no registration required. The series will begin on April 26 with a meeting in Sidney, and sessions will also take place in Miles City, Havre, Lewistown and Dillon. The first meeting in Sidney will also be live streamed via Webex. All in-person meetings will follow social distancing guidelines. The meetings a...
Bozeman - Montana State University Extension, in partnership with the MSU Alumni Foundation, will offer a five-part webinar series on estate and legacy planning. Thoughtful Thursdays will run from 10-11 a.m. beginning April 15-May 15. In the first session, viewers will learn how to pass property without probate while saving more money for their heirs. The Montana Legislature has provided payable-on-death designations, transfer-on-death registrations and transfer-on-death deeds, and according to Emily Standley, MSU Extension Fergus/Petroleum...
