Sorted by date Results 26 - 43 of 43
Wednesday is “Sale Day” in Sidney. For many, many years Wednesday was the day to come to town, go to the livestock sale and then shop and conduct other business, before enjoying a great dinner and heading home. With the purchase of Yellowstone Livestock, Prewitt & Co. is hoping to bring those days back to Sidney. The Montana Board of Livestock approved the purchase August 1 and the new Sidney Livestock Market Center, LLC held its first sale August 8. Tim and Kristin Larson will manage the Center, while Christy Albin will stay as office man...
The Montana Make It With Wool contest is coming up soon! The contest’s objectives are: to promote the beauty and versatility of wool fabric and yarns, encourage personal creativity, recognize creative skills and develop life skills. Make plans now to enter this exciting contest. The District 5 contest will be held in Sidney, MT on Thursday, October 18. The contest is open to everyone living in District 5 and includes the categories: Pre-Teen – 12 and under, Juniors – 17-24, Adults age 25 and older, Made for Others (any age), Wearable Acces...
One of the greatest attributes of a general farm organization such as Farm Bureau is that it represents farm and ranch families who raise all different types of food and fiber. At the same time, one of the biggest challenges facing a general farm organization is that it represents farm and ranch families who raise all different types of food and fiber. This summer’s drought brought that fact clearly into focus. For the third time in four years, corn prices have topped $7 a bushel. This year, the price has shot past $8. Livestock farmers and r...
The proposed farm bills (with one exception) for the 2013-17 period are languishing in Congress and have a hole in the safety net. It would take a few years to expose the hole and odds now seem low that it would occur, but it is there just waiting. The main safety net is crop insurance, with revenue insurance being the most popular type of policy. It accounted for 85 percent of the 189 million acres of corn, soybeans and wheat that were insured this year. Revenue insurance uses average production history (APH) yield multiplied by price and...
Back in the 1940s, Danny Beery probably never intentionally set out to start a family tradition that would stretch not only across the vast Montana farm lands, but also across generations. Yet, a half-a-century later, the Richey farmer is the second of four generations proud to call themselves farmers and ranchers. Today, the Beery family is still farming the same soil, combining the same fields and running cattle through the same pastures as their family has done for generations. The Beery’s f...
Warm temperatures may have helped this year’s grain harvest, but those temperatures also may have created conditions that can cause stored grain to deteriorate. “Harvested grain temperatures of about 100 degrees are being reported,” says Ken Hellevang, a North Dakota State University Extension Service agricultural engineer. The optimum temperature for insect infestations and mold growth is about 80 degrees. Temperatures below about 70 degrees slow insect reproduction and feeding activity, and insects are dormant below about 50 degrees. Helle...
Montana’s state veterinarian is advising equine owners to consult their veterinarians about West Nile vaccination after two horses turned up positive for the disease. “We have two positives and know there are positive mosquito pools, so it’s prudent for equine owners to consider vaccination,” said Dr. Marty Zaluski, Montana Department of Livestock. Equine owners should also be familiar with clinical signs of the disease, he said, which are variable and may include: Loss of appetite and depression; Progressing lameness and/or weaknes...
With experts predicting Montana’s wildfire season will extend through September and drought conditions in the state expanding, Montana State University Extension is continuing to offer webinar sessions and online resources to assist ranchers, businesses and families struggling with wildfire and drought. The interactive webinars address topics relevant to those impacted by the current fire and drought environment. Archived sessions include: “Minimizing Potential Wildfire Damage,” “Drought Management Strategies for Beef Cattle Produce...
New shepherds will have an opportunity to learn about sheep production and nutrition during a clinic at North Dakota State University’s Hettinger Research Extension Center on Sept. 22. “We are hosting an educational field day for individuals with new sheep flocks,” NDSU Extension Service sheep specialist Reid Redden says. “This program was designed to support the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association’s starter flock program; however, it is open to anyone interested in the basics of sheep production. “Sheep are a good livestock e...
In early October, the Montana Stockgrowers Association will release Big Sky Boots: Working Seasons of a Montana Cowboy, a coffee table photography book featuring the work of MSGA’s multimedia outreach specialist, Lauren Chase. Chase has spent the past year and a half gathering photographs for the book, traveling in sunshine and snow to ranches across Montana. The book takes the reader on a journey through a year in the life of Montana’s cowboys—through calving, branding, and shipping, and every...
The Culbertson FFA Alumni has partnered with Border Steel & Recycling for a fundraising effort. In tough economic times, people want to give to organizations but sometimes it is not feasible in their pocketbook. Now, farmers, ranchers, agricultural businesses, oilfield companies, welding shops or any other business or individual can donate scrap metal, aluminum cans and other recycleables to the Culbertson FFA Alumni. It is an easy way for people to donate all or a portion of their scrap to the program and at the same time, clean out fence...
This year acknowledges the 36th year that the three independent Farm Credit Services associations in North Dakota have donated FFA Handbooks to agricultural students in area schools. This year, approximately eighty high school agriculture education programs in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota will receive over 2,600 of the student handbooks for the start of the 2012/2013 school year donated by the Farm Credit Services Associations in North Dakota. Over the past three and a half decades more than 63,000 of the books have been presented to...
Two entomologists who live out of state but want others to benefit from their careers have donated collections to Montana State University. One collection is the professional library of a world expert on a large family of beetles. The 20-cubic-foot collection includes rare books that few entomologists have the opportunity to consult first-hand. The other collection consists of fabric made with the silk produced by wild moths. It also includes cocoons, unspun silk fibers, artifacts, and written m...
Ag Roundup columnist Ken Overcast will be the featured entertainer at next year’s MonDak Ag Days on Thursday evening, January 10. Ag Days will take place January 10 - 11, 2013. Ken Overcast is the real deal. In this day and age of plastic throw away everything, to find someone that is really genuine is a treat indeed. While many in the performing arts tend towards honing an act that is saleable, Ken strives very diligently to just be himself. His music, writing, and public performances are c...
A female moth sitting on a goal post could attract a male moth on the other end of a football field. And even if she switched her scent over time, the male could still find her because of a mutation to a single gene in his antenna. A team of researchers led by Montana State University entomologist Kevin Wanner identified that gene after seeing how it adapted to even the slightest change in the chemicals female moths emit to attract males. The scientists explained their findings in the Aug. 13...
It had been a good fall, the cattle were all shipped and the cows were in a fresh field with lots of grass, so Dick and Billy got the urge to go elk huntin’. “How ‘bout we load up our horses and some groceries and head up to the Bob Marshall Wilderness?” Dick hiccupped as he finished off his breakfast. (A barley sandwich.) “That’s a heck of a good idea,” Billy belched in reply. “We can take along our fishin’ poles, too. You gather up some grub, an’ I’ll run in the horses. I’m sick o’ fixin’ fe...
Experts on Montana insects, pesticides, rodents and weeds will present half-day and all-day workshops from Oct. 8 to 11 to help residents of 11 south-central Montana counties renew their private pesticide applicator licenses before the end of the year. Individuals who wish to purchase, use or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides on land they own, rent or lease need a private applicator license. Private applicators in Big Horn, Carbon, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Stillwater, Sweetgrass, Wheatland and...
The Montana Farm Bureau Federation is pleased with the progress made to date on the Yellowstone Bison trial taking place in Park County. In a conference call this morning, Hertha Lund, attorney for MFBF, noted three-quarters of the testimony for the trial has been completed, with the final phase scheduled in Park County Nov. 5. The final phase will include two hours of testimony to finish the trial along with hearing a summary judgement motion including MFBF’s challenge that the state didn’t comply with the Montana Environmental Policy Act rep...
