Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 947
While natural insecticides made up of disease-causing soil microbes have been successfully tested against pest grasshoppers in the lab and greenhouse, their success has not always translated to the great outdoors. Why not? Sidney Agricultural Research Service scientist Stefan Jaronski will answer that question during his special BrownBagger presentation this Thursday, Jan. 30, at the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney. The talk is open to the public and runs from noon to 1 pm. The lab is located at 1500...
The conference will focus on prospects for cover crops and soil health improvements. North Dakota State University’s Carrington and Dickinson Research Extension Centers and the Northern Crops Institute on the NDSU campus are sites for the live broadcast of the National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health at 9 a.m. CST on Feb. 18. Attending the nationwide broadcast of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)-sponsored conference in Omaha, Neb., is free of charge. The broadcast is open to anyone who is interested in h...
In recognition of its importance to the state’s economy and to its own mission, Montana State University is elevating its dean of the College of Agriculture to a vice presidential position within the university. The change came in the context of assessing the position as the university conducts a national search for a new leader for its College of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. “We made this change with input from representatives of Montana’s agriculture industry,” said Waded Cruzado, MSU president. “Agricu...
On Jan. 9 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held its oral arguments on the COOL lawsuit. In this lawsuit, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and its meatpacker friends are fighting to get rid of COOL. R-CALF USA along with SD Stockgrowers Assn., Food & Water Watch and Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) are interveners in the case to help protect COOL. During the oral arguments, a number of issues only raised by R-CALF USA and its partners were discussed. The battle of COOL is not over and everyone’s help is needed to...
The conference will focus on prospects for cover crops and soil health improvements. North Dakota State University’s Carrington and Dickinson Research Extension Centers and the Northern Crops Institute on the NDSU campus are sites for the live broadcast of the National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health at 9 a.m. CST on Feb. 18. Attending the nationwide broadcast of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)-sponsored conference in Omaha, Neb., is free of charge. The broadcast is open to anyone who is interested in h...
In recognition of its importance to the state’s economy and to its own mission, Montana State University is elevating its dean of the College of Agriculture to a vice presidential position within the university. The change came in the context of assessing the position as the university conducts a national search for a new leader for its College of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. “We made this change with input from representatives of Montana’s agriculture industry,” said Waded Cruzado, MSU president. “Agricu...
The USDA-Agricultural Research Service’s Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney will open its 12th winter Brown Bagger series at noon on Friday, Jan. 17th with a special “science travelogue down under” by NPRAL Plant Ecologist Erin Espeland. The event is open to the public. Dr. Espeland’s research is focused on restoration of disturbed lands in semiarid regions of the Great Plains and her talk will focus on the ecology of southwestern Australia and problems in restoration there following a recent visit to that co...
So You Thought You Were Buying the Family Farm - Guess Again! Dr. Ron Hanson, Neal E. Professor of Agribusiness at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be speaking on four topics Thursday morning Jan. 9 at Ag Days in Sidney: 1) You Can Buy Our Family Farm But Remember That I Still Own It 2) How Much Did Your Lawyer Cost Our Family Farm Estate? 3) What If The “What If” Actually Happens In Our Family? 4) Keeping Your Farm In The Family For The Next Generation-Is There A Plan? Dr. Hanson wil...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 31 counties in North Dakota as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by multiple disasters that include spring snowstorms, significant rainfall, unseasonably cool spring, frosts and freeze damage, flooding, ground saturation, severe thunderstorms, hail damage, high winds, weather-related insects and diseases, and mid-summer drought conditions that began Jan. 1, 2013, and continues. Those counties are: Benson, Grand Forks, McLean, Pembina, Bottineau, Grant, Mercer, Pierce,...
Montana State University Extension has released two new publications, one to identify weed seedlings and one to answer frequently asked questions about herbicides and noxious weeds to help Montana’s farmers and ranchers keep weeds in check. The first publication, “Weed Seedling Identification Guide for Montana and the Northern Great Plains,” includes descriptions of seedling shape, leaf arrangement, attachment and surface, as well as identification tips and a picture of the mature plant. “Many weed identification tools focus on conspicuous trai...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 31 counties in North Dakota as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by multiple disasters that include spring snowstorms, significant rainfall, unseasonably cool spring, frosts and freeze damage, flooding, ground saturation, severe thunderstorms, hail damage, high winds, weather-related insects and diseases, and mid-summer drought conditions that began Jan. 1, 2013, and continues. Those counties are: Benson, Grand Forks, McLean, Pembina, Bottineau, Grant, Mercer, Pierce ,...
Montana State University Extension has released two new publications, one to identify weed seedlings and one to answer frequently asked questions about herbicides and noxious weeds to help Montana’s farmers and ranchers keep weeds in check. The first publication, “Weed Seedling Identification Guide for Montana and the Northern Great Plains,” includes descriptions of seedling shape, leaf arrangement, attachment and surface, as well as identification tips and a picture of the mature plant. “Many weed identification tools focus on conspicuous trai...
In 2012, two-thirds of the continental United States was affected by drought. The losses were staggering: $30 billion to agriculture alone and far more when you add the damages to water supplies, tourism, transportation, and near-shore fisheries. Fighting drought-related wildfires tacked on another $1 billion. “Last year, the worst drought in generations devastated farms and ranches across the nation,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said earlier this fall. “But our work isn’t done and we can always better prepare for the future.” Drought will like...
Bruce Nelson, state executive director for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Montana, urges Montana honey producers who want to purchase 2013 coverage through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so before the sales closing date of Dec. 3, 2012. NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields/grazing loss, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to normal disasters. Honey is the only 2013 Montana NAP crop with a Dec. 3, 2012 sales closing date. All other NAP crops (except...
So You Thought You Were Buying the Family Farm - Guess Again! Dr. Ron Hanson, Neal E. Professor of Agribusiness at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be speaking on four topics Thursday morning Jan. 9 at Ag Days in Sidney: 1) You Can Buy Our Family Farm But Remember That I Still Own It 2) How Much Did Your Lawyer Cost Our Family Farm Estate? 3) What If The "What If" Actually Happens In Our Family? 4) Keeping Your Farm In The Family For The Next Generation-Is There A Plan? Dr. Hanson will...
Montana State University is set to begin a national search for a dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and director of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. A 22-member committee has been formed to conduct the search. Brett Gunnink, interim dean of the College of Engineering, is the search committee’s chair. The committee will be assisted by Greenwood/Asher & Associates, an executive search consulting firm. Members of the search committee are listed below by name and title in alphabetical order: Shannon Arnold, assistant professor, D...
For centuries, mankind has battled insect pests with varying levels of success, and today is no different. While the advent of new chemical controls in the past century has aided management, concern for its impact on the environment and other desirable species means scientists are still searching for better, safer and more effective options, some of which even include turning a pest into a product. Come discover new high-tech options emerging to manage age-old insect pests, and others not so lofty (like eating them!) in the second of two...
Large scientific concepts like evolution and molecular biology (DNA) may seem far removed from our everyday lives, but in agricultural research those ideas have become invaluable tools in the scientist’s arsenal. And not just high tech tools harnessed in the modern age, but everyday tools that have been used for more than a century. Come discover the secrets of evolution and DNA this Thursday (Nov 14) at 7 pm in the first of two special, family-friendly talks planned by the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in S...
The USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with two special talks and related activities to be held at the lab on successive Thursday evenings, Nov. 14 and 21st. These family-friendly talks, presented in plain language and designed for upper elementary students through adults, will not only touch on science’s contribution to agriculture in the past 50 years, but also look ahead to new frontiers in the future. The presentations will also explain broad scientific concepts a...
USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) Billings Regional Office reminds producers in Montana and Wyoming that the sales closing date for the Pasture Rangeland and for ageinsurance program is November 15. In Montana a gridded rainfall index is used as a proxy for rangeland and forage production, and is intended to reflect how much precipitation is received relative to the long term average for a specified area and timeframe. In Wyoming a gridded vegetation index gathered by satellite is used to observe long-term changes in greenness of v...
Scientists discovered some 70 years ago that they could fight wheat stem sawfly by growing a new type of wheat. The wheat had a solid stem instead of a hollow one, making it harder for females to lay eggs and leaving less room for larvae to grow. Montana wheat farmers still benefit from that breakthrough, and Montana State University now has a new grant that could add weapons to their arsenal, said MSU wheat breeder Luther Talbert. With a five-year $500,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Talbert and his c...
Livestock producers that suffered losses due to natural disaster are urged to keep thorough records of all losses, including livestock death losses, as well as expenses for such things as feed purchases and extraordinary costs because of lost supplies or increased transportation costs. USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Aaron Krauter said that both versions of the pending Farm Bills contain a reauthorization of the lapsed disaster programs such as the Livestock Indemnity Program that are retroactive for losses occurring from...
Bruce Nelson, state executive director for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Montana, urges Montana honey producers who want to purchase 2013 coverage through the Noninsurable Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to do so before the sales closing date of Dec. 3, 2012. NAP provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields/grazing loss, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to normal disasters. Honey is the only 2013 Montana NAP crop with a Dec. 3, 2012 sales closing date. All other NAP crops (except...
The fall project of Sidney FFA and Agriculture Education students came to a completion recently as Marianne Gartner, Ethan Chamberlain and Ryan Steinbeisser put the finishing touches to the receiving center at Richland Opportunity Inc.. Students planned framed, poured and finished large concrete pads that were transported and established on site for employee safety and comfort as they work around the all weather site. The Sidney FFA chapter is embarking on the fourth year of cooperative events...
Livestock producers that suffered losses due to natural disaster are urged to keep thorough records of all losses, including livestock death losses, as well as expenses for such things as feed purchases and extraordinary costs because of lost supplies or increased transportation costs. USDA Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Aaron Krauter said that both versions of the pending Farm Bills contain a reauthorization of the lapsed disaster programs such as the Livestock Indemnity Program that are retroactive for losses occurring from...
