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Drought conditions across North Dakota have created major issues for livestock and crop producers. Many are facing poor grazing conditions, reduced hay production, limited stored forages and anticipated poor grain yields. Producers have begun harvesting corn for forage instead of grain. Drought-stressed corn will vary in forage quality based on grain fill, plant height and maturity across fields. Limited grain fill means the forage will contain less starch, greater crude protein and fiber with...
Fred Barkley When Fred Barkley and his family arrived in Sidney in 1976, they thought I had found Eden. The town was so clean, with well manicured lawns and parks and the people were so friendly and kind." Barkley said. As the new 4-H agent, Barkley found that the program was well grounded with a strong nucleus of dedicated volunteer leaders. In his 28 years as 4-H Extension Agent Barkley saw a lot of changes and growth in the 4-H program. The first Fair he took part in had no market livestock...
As a kid, my first memories of the Richland County Fair started in the dining room where I grew up 8 miles west of Sidney. From early in the summer, the dining room table stayed occupied by the big seed picture being worked on by the Mount Pleasant Homemakers Club. This was followed by a flurry just before the fair when sheaves of grain were arranged just perfectly, plates of tomatoes and parsnips, bouquets of flowers, canned pickles and freshly baked bread were all being prepared for competitio...
Sidney, Montana's Young Professionals chapter put on a conference to showcase their town. Here's what we learned from showing up. Editor's note: As part of MTFP's Long Streets Project, reporter Eric Dietrich spent a few days in early June on the road in eastern Montana. This is his dispatch. It's a Thursday afternoon in Sidney, the 6,400-resident city on the plains along Montana's border with North Dakota. I'm sheltering from a passing tornado inside a boutique cookware shop, staring at a wall...
Sidney - After more than 40 years of dedicated service to the community and Stockman Bank, Garth Kallevig will be retiring March 31. Kallevig began working for Stockman Bank in 1981. His early years at the bank included capacities in customer service, real estate, and commercial lending. Kallevig then began his role as Sidney Market President in 2006. A native of Sidney and long-time resident, Kallevig studied at the University of North Dakota-Williston and Montana State University. He has been...
I am happy to say that I am surviving anther month of March and its unpredictable weather as we transition from winter to spring. In my opinion, March provides us with the most fickle weather of the year. Its unpredictable days may give us a massive blizzard, along with bone chilling cold, and in that same 31-day period we can enjoy balmy spring-like days that allow us to work outside in a T-shirt. Both extremes mean March, neither is unusual in the least during the third month of the year, and we accept these wild rambunctious swings as part...
MonDak Ag Days is an annual event sponsored by Sidney Chamber Ag Committee. It provides educational opportunities for MonDak area farmers and ranchers and showcases the latest in agriculture related equipment and technology. This event is traditionally held in person, but due to circumstances related to COVID-19, it will be offered in a hybrid virtual/in person format. To attend virtually, attendees can use this link: https://montana.webex.com/montana/j.php?MTID=mde8774804e41...
MonDak Ag Days is an annual event that brings together the agriculture community to celebrate the industry. It provides educational opportunities for MonDak area farmers and ranchers and showcases the latest in agriculture related equipment and technology. This event is traditionally held in person, but due to circumstances related to COVID-19, it will be offered in a hybrid virtual/in person format. "This year's event will be very different from the "traditional" MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show....
On Friday, March 5, at 1:30 p.m. MST, Dr. Dave Branson will be speaking at MonDak Ag Days on grasshopper problems in 2020 and a grasshopper outlook for 2021. For over 20 years, Branson has been a research entomologist at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Sidney. Here he is a part of Pest Management Unit; he studies the biology and ecology of grasshoppers to find ways to manage outbreaks without chemical pesticides. Scientists that are a part of this unit are also researching the benefits grasshoppers can provide. Prior to working at...
Thursday, March 4, at 12:30 p.m. MST, Dr. Tatyana Rand will be discussing alfalfa weevil and wheat stem sawfly identification, research and management. Dr. Rand is a research ecologist, in Pest Management Research Unit, at USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab, Sidney. She received a PhD in biology from Brown University, Providence, RI, and joined ARS in 2009, following postdoctoral positions at University of Goettingen, Germany, and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She said, “My postdoctoral work focused on understanding...
Dr. Uta McKelvy will be giving a virtual presentation on small grain disease identification, control and efficacy of seed treatments on Friday, March 5, at 12:30 p.m.. McKelvy is the associate extension specialist for Plant Pathology and assistant research professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology at Montana State University, Bozeman. She earned her PhD in plant pathology from Montana State University in 2020, where she worked on the dynamics of the wheat streak mosaic di...
Dr. Brian Jenks, NDSU weed scientist, will provide training on how to identify weeds that are likely to be present in the MonDak area on Friday, March 5, at 9:30 a.m. MST. Jenks has conducted research in most crops grown in western North Dakota and eastern Montana since 1997. He said, “My goal is to find ways to help farmers control weeds more effectively to increase their crop yields and seed quality.” The objective of the weed identification training is to help farmers and agronomists identify weeds when they are small (1 to 3 inches tal...
North Dakota growers continue to be the No. 1 producers of sunflowers in the U.S., harvesting 715,000 acres of the crop in 2020. Sunflowers are harvested for oil, confection uses and bird food. Each sunflower variety has distinctive agronomic characteristics that producers should consider when selecting a hybrid to grow. "Choosing a hybrid and using proper agronomic practices are important decisions a producer makes in raising a successful crop," says Hans Kandel, a North Dakota State...
MonDak Ag Days is an annual event that brings together the agriculture community to celebrate the industry. It provides educational opportunities for MonDak area farmers and ranchers and showcases the latest in agriculture related equipment and technology. This event is traditionally held in person, but due to circumstances related to COVID-19, it will be offered in a hybrid virtual/in person format. "This year's event will be very different from the "traditional" MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show....
MonDak Ag Days is an annual event that brings together the agriculture community to celebrate the industry. It provides educational opportunities for MonDak area farmers and ranchers and showcases the latest in agriculture related equipment and technology. This event is traditionally held in person, but due to circumstances related to COVID-19, it will be offered in a hybrid virtual/in person format. "This year's event will be very different from the "traditional" MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show....
Irrigation provides more consistent crop production on a year-to-year basis, allows growth of longer-season crops, diversifies the farm enterprise and provides a consistent supply of forage for animal operations. "However, managing an irrigation system around variable rain events can sometimes be a challenge for busy farmers," says Tom Scherer, North Dakota State University Extension agricultural engineer. To provide producers with some assistance, NDSU Extension is holding a virtual irrigation...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's North Dakota State University (NDSU) Williston Research Extension Center (WREC) Dryland and Irrigated Field Days will be conducted online. NDSU WREC staff members have prepared short pre-recorded videos that include information on dryland and irrigation research being performed at the research center. These videos will be available for viewers to watch on July 8 at www.ag.ndsu.edu/willistonrec. Researchers will be discussing a variety of topics during th...
The Peterson Farm Brothers entertained Central Elementary students in Sidney March 13. Popular social media stars and farmers Greg & Kendal Peterson performed some of there parodies of pop chart hits....
The Peterson Farm Brothers are set to entertain at this year's MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show. The two-day event will be held at the Richland County Fair Event Center on March 12-13. The trio will make their appearance during the annual banquet on Friday, March 13. Tickets for the banquet include (1) free drink during the pre-banquet social, dinner and the great show from The Peterson Farm Brothers. The brothers are from Kansas where their family lives the farm life. They are known for their...
Can we extend our cattle-grazing season in eastern Montana through the winter and reduce our need to feed hay over the winter and save on fuel costs and labor for the producer? That is the question that local producer Marlin Johnson and the Sidney NRCS staff were asking in the fall of 2016. After researching ideas, the group decided to do a demonstration project on what crops to utilize in this grazing plan and what the process is for feeding the livestock. It was decided that corn would be used...
On Thursday, March 12 at 9 a.m., Dr. Chengci Chen, cropping systems agronomist and superintendent at the Sidney Eastern Agricultural Research Center, will be informing MonDak Ag Days attendees on producing hemp. Industrial hemp farming has become increasingly popular in Montana; farmers that are growing hemp are seeing both a demand and profit increase, while farmers who have never grown hemp before are rushing to plant it in their fields. The production of industrial hemp in the United States...
Starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 13 at the Richland County Event Center, Ron Hanson, agribusiness professor emeritus, University of Nebraska, will be speaking about "Farming and Ranching Succession - in the Shark Tank of What If." Hanson has been a college professor for 46 years; throughout his teaching career he has earned 31 university and national award recognitions. These honors include: being the first Nebraska professor to receive the USDA Excellence in University Teaching Award,...
Dr. Marsha Goetting, professor and extension family economics specialist, will be discussing estate planning in Montana, during the MonDak Ag Days event at the Richland County Event Center Friday, March 13 at 9 a.m. Dr. Goetting will be discussing how the development of an estate plan can benefit just about anyone. Young or old, wealthy or middle class, an estate plan can reduce the taxes and expenses of an estate, simplify and speed the transfer of assets to the next generation and help ensure...
The Peterson Farm Brothers have been a strong voice for agriculture while entertaining through videos and in concert over the last seven years. They will share their message at this year's MonDak Ag Days' banquet on Friday, March 13. "We will be performing parody music and talk about how we pretty much started promoting farming," leader of the group Greg Peterson said. He said the group has performed in more than 40 states. Their parody videos have attracted more than 100 million viewers on...
