Sorted by date Results 1238 - 1262 of 2265
Square Foot Gardening Gardening has been a great outdoor activity for many for years, but there is a new trend in gardening that is allowing those with little room to have successful gardens. Many of us love to have fresh produce every summer, but some that live in an apartment or confined spaces might have some difficulties. Square foot Gardening (SFG) is a trend that we are seeing pop up more and more. Square foot gardening is a method of intensive gardening, which is very practical for...
Sometimes beef producers overlook the obvious: bulls. If the bulls are not in a separate pen, now is the time to separate them from the cow herd and take a good look at their condition. Bulls actually enjoy a solitary life, absent from all the comings and goings in the cow herd. Bulls in a bullpen are much easier to monitor and watch while feeding, lest one of them decides to challenge you at the feed bunk. Bull docility often is mentioned as a critical talking point when bulls are bought, but it’s often simply accepted once they are unloaded a...
As stakeholders and supporters of agricultural research in general, and our research here at Sidney ARS in particular, our goal is to keep you informed of items affecting the lab and its research programs, as well as reporting on research accomplishments. Consequently, we want to let you know about proposed changes for Sidney ARS in the President’s budget for FY2017. In that budget, ARS as a whole has received a $17.5 million increase from FY2016 totals, a 1.5% increase over last year. At the same time, ARS has been asked to redirect $66.3 m...
Sidney resident Karli Johnson just returned from four days in Washington D.C. as part of REAL Montana (Resource Education and Agriculture Leadership). REAL Montana is comprised of twenty of Montana’s emerging and established leaders. The participants were competitively selected from a pool of qualified candidates representing a wide variety of agriculture and natural resource industries across the state to take part in Class II of REAL Montana. For Karli and other members of REAL Montana Class II, this was the fourth seminar in their t...
The MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show, Thur., March 3 and Fri., March 4, will hold educational sessions at the Richland County Event Center featuring the latest and greatest information and developments for Agricultural producers. Topics on Thursday include UAV/Drone usage in crop production, cover crops, Glyphosate Resistant Marestail, GMO’s, sugar beet disease, optimum sugar beet health strategies, and sugar beet weed control, beginning at 9 a.m. The afternoon educational sessions held on March 3...
Reynolds Market will be holding a beef cutting demonstration as part of Ag Days on Friday, March 4, at 11 a.m. in the Reynolds meat department. Reynolds will be taking part in Ag Days for the first time, giving people a better understanding of the processing aspect of the beef industry. "Farming and ranching are huge part of Eastern Montana and have been the backbone of our business," said Reynolds meat dept. manager Josh Reynolds. Reynolds, who is the fourth generation to be involved with the...
Tom Peters, a Sugarbeet Weed Specialist and Assistant Professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Plant Sciences, will be at the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show March 3 to discuss sugarbeet weed control at 4 p.m. Peters earned his BS degree in agronomy and soil science from the University of Minnesota, his MS in agronomy, specializing in weed science, from the University of Nebraska, and his Ph.D in agronomy, specializing in weed control in the sugarbeet, from NDSU. Most of...
James Brower, Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project Manager, discussed the projects they completed over the last year, as well as what has been going on with the LYIP. They have recently begun a lawsuit against the environmentalists for not having enough research on the pallid sturgeon. They have also hired an independent company called Tetra-Tech to help them study all options that have been acquired over the years. Brower also discussed the complications with installing pumps in the...
R-CALF USA may be defined as a non-profit producer organization, but our work benefits anyone who eats meat and lives in an economy that includes agriculture. We’re more than a producer organization; we’re your organization. R-CALF USA formally requests a Senate investigation into potential antitrust and anticompetitive conduct in the U.S. cattle and beef markets. R-CALF USA is asking the Senate committee to investigate 13 specific issues including the cause for the dramatic, unprecedented collapse of U.S. cattle prices in 2015; whether the...
Rhonda Steiger, who attended the University of Wyoming and got her degree in Agriculture, will be discussing the importance GMOs at the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show on March 3 at 1 p.m. Steiger grew up on a farm in South Central Montana and her favorite times of the year include beet harvest and calving season. She currently lives in Clark Fork Valley with her husband, Cliff, and their two children. They grow sugarbeets, malt barley, cattle, corn and alfalfa. They also have a few pigs that...
On Thur., March 3, at 11 a.m. Richland County Extension Agent Tim Fine and Extension Weed Specialist Fabian Menalled out of Bozeman, MT will be holding an educational session on Glyphosate Resistant Marestail or Horsetail. Conyza Canadensis, or marestail, was first found in Richland County in the spring and summer of 2015. In a month's time, three producers brought Fine samples of the weed, reporting that they couldn't identify it or control it. Shortly thereafter, it was determined that it was...
Great Falls- Montana Farmers Union Board Secretary-Treasurer Erik Somerfeld visited with staff from all three of Montana’s delegates in Washington D.C. this week regarding Canada’s current wheat grading system. This comes on the heels of a letter Senator Tester sent to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman requesting the ambassador address the issue with the Canadian government. Under the current system, when Montana wheat crosses the border it is automatically downgraded to feed, the lowest quality designation. However, the United Sta...
Perhaps it is time to be countercultural. Perhaps most would associate counterculture with lifestyles and the ever-changing human mood, which bring a raised eyebrow from the grandparents. The countercultural mood, however, is slowly creeping into the beef business, which has morphed into a high-input, market-trend business. The dilemma is that traditional producers face a countercultural role. The traditional thought process embedded in generations of beef producers would not acknowledge the...
Dr. Mark Petersen will be discussing his research done on livestock water quality at the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show at 10 a.m., Fri., March 4. Petersen is currently the research leader at USDA-ARS Fort Keogh Livestock & Range Research Labratory. There, his responsibilities are to conduct range and range livestock research, supervise personnel and over all operations. He received his BS in Animal Science/Zoology from the University of Hawaii, his MS in Animal Science from the University of...
Dr. Justin D. Derner, a rangeland scientist and Research Leader for the Rangeland Resources Research Unit of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, will be discussing the theories of adapting cropping and livestock systems to a changing climate. He will be speaking at 9 a.m. on March 4 for MonDak Ag Days. Dr. Derner received his Ph.D in Rangeland Ecology and Management in 1996 from Texas A&M University. He leads a a team of scientists developing and providing land managers the necesary tools...
Montana State University Extension has released the two latest editions in its MontGuides series on crop-damaging insect pests, covering the cereal leaf beetle and the pea leaf weevil. The new guides contain essential information that producers need to manage these insect pests, including identification, biology, life history, types of damage and management recommendations. These publications are the first MontGuides to be released in a new single-page format, called pest fact sheets. The new...
Kate Vogel, an accomplished business owner with her husband, Marcus Vogel, will be speaking on the importance of cover crops at this years 2016 MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show. Kate Vogel and her husband believe that cover crops have multiple benefits and can be designed to fit various goals of individual producers. Some of these goals and benefits include weed suppression, nutrient cycling, enhanced biological activity, residue building, reduced compaction, improved soil structure, increased...
March 3 at 3 p.m. during the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show, Dr. Mohamed Khan will be discussing his thesis on optimum sugar beet health strategies. Dr. Mohamed Khan is responsible for developing, conducting, and evaluating educational programs that will improve sugarbeet production practices in North Dakota and Minnesota and is currently Extension Sugarbeet Specialist for North Dakota State University and the Univeristy of Minnesota. Dr. Khan is also the secretary of the Sugarbeet Research and...
Extension Plant Pathologist Jessica Rupp will be discussing sugar beet diseases as one of the educational sessions to be held on Thur., March 3, during Ag Days in Sidney. She will be presenting diseases of concern for 2016 and their management as well as 2015 research compiled by Dr. Barry Jacobsen and Dr. Ken Kephart. Rhizoctonia Crown and Root Rot and Cercospora Leaf Spot are at the center of concern for Montana growers. Both diseases are caused by fungal organisms and Rhizoctonia Crown and...
Brandon Ewen, a professional land surveyor with over 10 years of experience, will be speaking at 9 a.m. at the MonDak Ag Days in Sidney, MT, Thurs., March 3. Ewen will be discussing the use of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)/drone in crop production. Brandon Ewen has conducted many presentations about UAVs in agriculture and surveying, and has provided companies and farmers with the capability to produce infra-red imaging, precise survey data, and even aerial imagery. Brandon Ewen is considered...
Terry Murphy, a Richland County Compliance Officer since 2012, has some interesting theories when it comes to the Pallid sturgeon. Murphy spends two weeks on in Sidney, MT as the Richland County Compliance Officer and two weeks off at home in St. Ignatius, MT, and enjoys the many recreational opportunities that Eastern Montana has to offer. One of these activities is fishing in the Yellowstone River and the Missouri River. This past year, Murphy has been able to catch two pallid sturgeons. The...
Rod Prewitt has been involved in the cattle industry all of his life. He grew up on a ranch and his father had a sale barn and traded cattle. Today, Prewitt is one of the owners of Prewitt Trust; he also owns Valley VU Feedlot, is one of the owners of Sidney Livestock, and is partial owner of Prewitt & Company along with his two partners Tim Larson and Mike Yore. Prewitt operates a ranch ten miles north of Sidney and four miles west of Fairview, which was established in 2003. It is a family oper...
The vast majority of farmland in America will change hands in the next twenty years as farmers age and retire. While many states are worried about how this will affect their communities, one new resource is helping Montana buck that trend by making new farmers better prepared to take over. Farm Link Montana is a comprehensive online clearinghouse for beginning farmers and ranchers. The project seeks to provide new producers with the resources and tools to start successful, sustainable businesses. “We see a lot of new farmers getting started w...
This week, the Montana Department of Revenue began mailing over 12,000 forms to owners of irrigated land. Montana law allows owners to deduct electrical and fuel costs in the calculation of value for irrigated land for the purpose of determining property taxes. Providing the information is optional for land owners, but it will help the department correctly value the irrigated land for the 2017 property reappraisal. The forms are due by July 1. Owners should complete the forms with the 2015 energy costs they incurred in their irrigation...
One of the fundamental concepts of economics is opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of a choice is the forgone benefit of the next best alternative. A common agricultural example arises when a landowner decides to farm or rent his or her cropland. If the land is farmed, rent no longer can be charged. That forgone rent is the opportunity cost of farming the land. Estimating the opportunity cost of a choice can be challenging. You have to identify major considerations and then value them. Many choices have nonfinancial dimensions that can be...
