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Bozeman, MT — A group of individuals and organizations from across Montana, led by Montana State University Extension, are collaborating to provide resources and solutions for farmers and ranchers under stress. “We know from various research that there is a high level of stress in life, specifically among farmers and ranchers in rural areas like Montana,” said Michelle Grocke, MSU Extension Health & Wellness Specialist and MSU Department of Health and Human Development assistant professor. A range of issues can cause stress, she said, from comm...
Watford City High School hosted a Career and Technical Education (CTE) eeting Monday, Feb. 24. They celebrated successes of their current CTE program and discussed possible future programs. At the meeting, attendees learned about the current CTE opportunities offered at Watford City High School and Alexander High School, heard from students participating in the CTE program, and learned about a possible future CTE program (including information on the Bismarck Career Academy and how Watford City...
As weeds, disease and pest insects take a bigger bite out of farmer profits, many are looking for new ways to maintain or increase crop production, while reducing input costs for managing those pests. Among the more novel approaches to address pest and productivity issues is the use of intercropping or the planting of two (or sometimes more) crops together in the same field at the same time. Advantages to intercropping can be found in more efficient use of resources (water, nutrients and sunlight) leading to increased net productivity per...
Washington, D.C., Feb. 28 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers. Through WHIP+, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping producers recover from losses related to 2018 and 2019 natural disasters. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will open signup on March 23 for producers to apply for eligible losses of drought (D3 or above) and excess moisture. USDA is also ent...
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,...
As weeds, disease and pest insects take a bigger bite out of farmer profits, many are looking for new ways to maintain or increase crop production, while reducing input costs for managing those pests. Among the more novel approaches to address pest and productivity issues is the use of intercropping or the planting of two (or sometimes more) crops together in the same field at the same time. Advantages to intercropping can be found in more efficient use of resources (water, nutrients and sunlight) leading to increased net productivity per...
Bozeman - A Montana State University student will travel to Washington, D.C. after earning a spot in a selective national program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Natalie Sturm, a senior studying agroecology in MSU's Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems program in the College of Agriculture's Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, was one of 20 undergraduate students selected as part of the USDA's 2020 Future Leaders in Agriculture Program. The goal of USDA program...
USDA Richland County Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds agricultural producers of the following FSA dates and deadlines. • March 16: Last day of 2019 Agricultural Risk Coverage Price Loss Coverage (ARC-PLC) Enrollment and Program Election Period • March 16: 2020 NAP Coverage Application Closing Date for all Spring Crops except Spring-Seeded Canola, Rye, Speltz, Triticale, Wheat and Mixed Forage • March 16: First day of 2020 CRP Spring Managed Grazing Period (prior approval required) • March 16: First day of CRP Grasslands Signup • March 31:...
USDA Richland County Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds agricultural producers of the following FSA dates and deadlines. • Feb. 28: Last day of General CRP Signup • March 2: Deadline for the 2019 Livestock Indemnity Program Application for Payment and all supporting documentation for timely filed 2019 LIP notices of livestock losses. • March 16: Last day of 2019 Agricultural Risk Coverage Price Loss Coverage (ARC-PLC) Enrollment and Program Election Period • March 16: 2020 NAP Coverage Application Closing Date for all Spring Crops except...
Montana livestock producers are reminded to keep updated livestock inventory records. These records are necessary in the event of a natural disaster. The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), administered by USDA Farm Service Agency, provides assistance to eligible producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law. LIP compensates livestock owners and contract growers for livestock death losses in...
Ranchers and rangeland managers fight continual battles with invasive weeds and are always looking for new ways to keep them at bay. USDA Weed Ecologist Matt Rinella has been studying the use of seeding rangeland as a means for managing weeds over the long term. Dr. Rinella will share his findings this coming Friday, Feb. 21 at the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL), Sidney. Rinella is the third speaker in that facility’s annual winter BrownBagger Series. His talk runs from noon-1 p.m. at NPARL, 1500 N. Central A...
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 14 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds agricultural producers interested in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) 2020 general signup to enroll by Feb. 28. This signup is available to farmers and private landowners who are either enrolling for the first time or re-enrolling for another 10-15-year term. “This is the first opportunity for general sign up since 2016, and we want producers and private landowners to know that we have just one month remaining,” FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce said. “It i...
(U.S. Senate) – After a months-long push by U.S. Senator Jon Tester to provide relief for farmers in Eastern Montana, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a disaster declaration for 17 Montana counties, clearing the way for producers to receive critical assistance through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+). The counties affected are Cascade, Choteau, Pondera, Glacier, Teton, Dawson, Prairie, Toole, McCone, Richland, Roosevelt, Wibaux, Daniels, Rosebud, Sheridan, Treasure, and Valley. This disaster d...
Due to recent climate change, increased glacial recession in Arctic climates provides a unique opportunity to study soil formation. The evolution from glacial moraines consists of rocks and other materials deposited by the glacier as it moves. How do soils form and change from this mix as glaciers recede, particularly those developing from volcanic materials such as ash, pumice and dust? What chemical properties are present, and how do they contribute to soil formation, particularly in northern latitudes? These are basic research questions...
A USDA scientist with the Agricultural Research Service’s Mandan, ND lab is studying new ways to harness plant chemicals to improve crop nutrition, soil nutrient cycling, and more. Dr. Andrea Clemensen will be sharing what she’s learned to date as the first speaker in the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab’s winter BrownBagger Speaker Series in Sidney. The 2020 series kicks off this coming Friday from noon-1 p.m. with Dr. Clemensen’s presentation entitled, “Phytochemical links between healthy soil, plants, animals, and human...
Helena, MT – The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) has received a verified petition from 25 Montana oilseed growers to create an advisory committee. MDA will hold a listening session to receive additional grower input regarding the proposal in Glendive on Feb. 14 at the Glendive Agricultural Trade Exposition (GATE). Meeting information details are provided below. Growers will have the opportunity to learn about the process for creating a commodity advisory committee and provide input regarding its composition, crops to be included, and ra...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is opening signup for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on December 9, 2019. The deadline for agricultural producers to sign up for general CRP is February 28, 2020, while signup for continuous CRP is ongoing. Farmers and ranchers who enroll in CRP receive a yearly rental payment for voluntarily establishing long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve wat...
Producers across northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana who are interested in soil health are invited to participate in a workshop on “Changing Dirt in Soil” on December 18, 2019 at the Williston Research Extension Center. The workshop, which will start at 8:30 a.m. Central time, is being sponsored by the Williams County Soil Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service. One of the featured speakers for the workshop will be Jay Fuhrer, Soil Health Specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service. On a S...
(U.S. Senate) – Following two weeks of heavy snow in Northeast Montana, U.S. Senator Jon Tester urged Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to reconsider his decision not to extend disaster assistance to the region’s wheat farmers who were forced to leave their crop in the ground or were left with unsellable product due to excessive moisture this harvest season. “In the last two weeks, Northeast Montana received more than a foot of heavy, wet snow…The Additional Supplemental Appropriators for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (H.R. 2157) extends...
Local research results ready to roll out in your fields will be featured at the upcoming third annual MonDak Ag Research Summit in Sidney, Thursday December 12. But that’s not all. Several outside speakers are also planned to address timely questions producers have on our long term erratic weather patterns (10 inches of rain in September!) and what it means for spring planting, as well as feeding weather damaged grain to livestock, and tips on managing irrigation equipment. Addressing the first two issues is Dr. Kevin Hyde, coordinator of t...
As 2019 nears a close, farmers and ranchers have a lot of questions: What's the deal with this weather? What do we need to brace for next? What can be done with all that damaged grain? What about disease....white mold? Fusarium? And what about new crop options to help battle low prices...Kernza, Hemp? Can these crops be adapted here? How do we manage them, and what about markets? These and many other questions will be addressed during the 3rd Annual MonDak Ag Research Summit to be held...
North Dakota State University Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) are hosting a webinar Thursday, Dec. 5, to provide producers with information on available disaster recovery assistance. The webinar will begin at 2 p.m. Central time. "Because of flooding and the October blizzard which impacted growing and harvesting conditions in the state this year, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue approved a secretarial disaster declaration request for 47 counties...
The 2019 Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections began on November 4, when ballots were mailed to eligible voters. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices, or to be postmarked, is December 2, 2019. County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers and ranchers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support...
As 2019 nears a close, farmers and ranchers have a lot of questions: What’s the deal with this weather? What do we need to brace for next? What can be done with all that damaged grain? What about disease….white mold? Fusarium? And what about new crop options to help battle low prices…Kernza, Hemp? Can these crops be adapted here? How do we manage them, and what about markets? These and many other questions will be addressed during the 3rd Annual MonDak Ag Research Summit to be held Thursday, December 12 at the Richland County Event Cente...
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is hosting a local Farm Bill meeting on November 18, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at the Richland County Extension Office located at 1499 N. Central Avenue in Sidney. The meeting is free and open to the public. Meeting attendees will learn about FSA’s Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs authorized by the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. Learning more about ARC and PLC is important for producers who must make a decision about ARC or PLC election and enrollment options. For more information a...
