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The Montana Farm Bureau hosted the Young Farmers and Ranchers Ag Tour on June 1-2 in the Richland County area. Taking a tour of local points of agricultural significance, a group from around the region learned more about local food and natural resource production and consumption. The Roundup spoke to the Montana Farm Bureau Director of Membership Relations, Sue Ann Streufert, who also serves as the Young Farmer and Rancher Coordinator, about the importance of the event. Streufert said, "The...
On Monday, July 9, the Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture will host the Annual Ag Appreciation Golf Tournament at the Sidney Country Club. Golfer check-in and breakfast starts at 7a.m. and play begins at 9 a.m. with a scramble start and ends with awards at 4 p.m. For the 19th year, the tournament pairs businesses with farmers and ranchers for a day of fun and golf. Farmers and ranchers participate for free and businesses that sponsor the tournament, a team, or a hole, play a round...
My flowers and vegetables are growing nicely with the regular rain. The weeds are doing well, too, so I needed to clean up my gardens recently. I pulled weed after weed that had sprouted in my planters, raised garden beds and ground-level garden patch. These opportunistic green invaders were hiding under flowers and foliage and in the crevices by the raised beds. Why didn't all my plants grow as well as the weeds? I tried to make it fun by playing "name that weed." No, that wasn't a fun game at...
The average net income of farms in the North Dakota Farm Business Management Program dropped 30 percent to $88,026 in 2017, compared with $126,752 in 2016, according to Andrew Swenson, North Dakota State University Extension farm and family resource management specialist. In 2017, one-half of the farms had net farm income less than $50,996, compared with a median net farm income of $83,683 in 2016. In 2017, the average farm size was 1,937 crop acres and 490 pasture acres, the age of the...
North Dakota Stockmen Association (NDSA) members of district five will be hosting a NDSA Spring Roundup on Tuesday, June 12th at the Rough Rider Center in Watford City, North Dakota. The event will start with a local brand inspection meeting at 5:00 pm, a social at 5:30 pm, supper at 6:30 pm, followed by a program at 7:30 pm, and lastly nominating committees will be collecting candidate names for the NDSA board of directors. At the 2018 NDSA District Five Spring Roundup, the NDSA President will...
Corey Rieker and his soon to be wife Margo Lawler, raise purebred show and meat rabbits in the Sidney, Montana area. Rieker started raising rabbits in northern Colorado at age 11. He retired from raising rabbits at the age of 19 and later moved to eastern Montana to work in the oilfield. After meeting Lawler, Rieker decided to buy a chunk of property and raise rabbits again. Since then, Lawler and Rieker have created a strong working herd of quality purebred rabbits. "Our goal is to...
As part of Montana State University's yearlong celebration of its 125th anniversary in 2018, June will highlight Extension, the outreach arm of the land-grant university. With agents and specialists working on campus in Bozeman and in communities across the state, Extension regularly offers programming in four broad areas: community development; agriculture and natural resources; family and consumer sciences; and youth development. Events this June are geographically and topically diverse,...
Tent Caterpillars Galore Over the last week, there have been many unknown visitors in local trees. Tent caterpillars, both Eastern and Forest, have made a large appearance this year in Williams County. Although they are around every spring, I haven’t seen this many out and about the past few years. Tent caterpillars feed on tree leaves; they like the following trees; ash, aspen, basswood, birch, chokecherry, cottonwood, elm, maple, pin cherry, poplar and other hardwoods. These caterpillars o...
With the 2018 farm bill being critically important to Montana’s farmers and ranchers, the Montana Farm Bureau was extremely disappointed that H.R. 2 failed by a 198 for and 213 against vote. The failure to pass this farm bill was a vote against the country’s hard-working farmers and ranchers. “The House version of the 2018 Farm Bill is good for farmers, ranchers and rural Montana. It protects key features of federal crop insurance, improves commodity programs, and streamlines conservation programs in ways that are good for producers and the env...
MSU Extension and Sidney FFA members held their Ag in the Classroom day at the Richland County Event Center for Richland County elementary students on April 30. Students from Brorson, Liberty Christian, Horse Creek, 2nd & 3rd graders from Fairview, East Fairview and West Side as well as home schooled children listened to presentations on a variety of agriculture topics....
Williston, Sidney, and Froid have held annual Field Day Tours for many years to showcase their involvement and research with agriculture. The primary purpose of Field Days is to inform and make the public aware of what the research centers around the MonDak area are performing and accomplishing. It is now that time of year where research centers are planting seeds in the ground and getting ready to present new ideas and studies for the public to analyze. The Williston Research Extension Center...
Signup Begins June 4 for Livestock Indemnity Program and Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin accepting disaster assistance program applications on June 4 from agricultural producers who suffered livestock, honeybees, farm-raised fish and other losses due to natural disasters. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reopening the application period for two disaster assistance programs in response to statutory changes made by Congress earlier this year. “When dis...
Many invasive trees can be found around the Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota area. Although there are few invasive tree species, they can still cause significant problems. So in order to help land managers target control methods for these invasive tree species, John Gaskin researches and studies genetics of plant invasions at the USDA Agricultural Lab located in Sidney, MT. Gaskin (botanist/research leader) and a group of scientists and technicians at the USDA Agricultural Lab work to so...
Raising your own herd of pigs and showing them around the United States is not something that every 13-year-old gets to the opportunity to do, but Cooper McNally definitely has. McNally has been a member of the Forever Buds 4-H club for the past four years where he currently serves as the Historian (chapter office where responsibilities include keeping a record of the club's accomplishments and activities for the year, collecting pictures of the club and its members, and organizing a scrapbook t...
The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project Summary Judgment hearing was held April 26 in Great Falls. Over 250 people watched the proceedings. After the hearing supporters of LYIP posed for the photo above. LYIP provides irrigation water to a large portion of eastern Montana extending into western North Dakota. These farming operations form the economic base for the region. District Court Judge Brian Morris will decide if the numerous claims by the Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources...
Last year's drought dried up many ponds and dugouts or compromised the quality of the water in them, forcing North Dakota livestock producers to haul water or install an alternative water source. Producers in many counties reported going into the winter of 2017-18 short to very short on available surface water, according to surveys North Dakota State University Extension agents conducted. "Providing adequate water to livestock is critical for animal health and production," says Miranda Meehan, N...
The Fairview FFA chapter held their annual Fairview FFA Banquet on April 23rd at the Double Barrel. This banquet is held each year to give awards for competitions or accomplishments, recognize new officers, and thank local helpers. Awards for competitions including Career Development Events and the John Deere Ag Expo were given out, and six members received new degrees. Greenhand degree recipients were Ashley Karst, Blake Patten, J.J. Klein, and Landin Skov. Chapter degree recipients were...
Starting today, agricultural producers who have lost livestock to disease, resulting from a weather disaster, have an additional way to become eligible for a key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance program. USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey announced an administrative clarification nationwide to the Livestock Indemnity Program. In the event of disease, this change by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) authorizes local FSA county committees to accept veterinarian certifications that l...
The public is invited to attend free annual field days across Montana to tour and learn about the people, places and projects involved with agricultural research at Montana State University's College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station or MAES. Seven research stations across the state and a local Bozeman campus farm will each host a field day this summer. Field days include facility tours, explanations of research projects and results and a chance for citizens, producers,...
Farm Stress Recently in North Dakota newspapers Inforum and the Bismarck Tribune, there have been some articles about farmer suicide rates. Farming and ranching is a high stress job, as there are many aspects that need to be managed at one time. According to the 2016 study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who work in farming, fishing and forestry were 3.4 times more likely than other American workers to die by suicide on the job. Sean Brotherson, NDSU Extension...
Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project held its annual meeting last Friday with the main theme of attending the hearing in Great Falls on April 19th. Several speakers highlighted how important it is for farmers, business people and the community at large to attend the hearing to demonstrate to Judge Morris how critical reliable irrigation is to the area. Encouraging farmers to take a break from planting, Steve Pust said that planting will be underway April 19th and that is a priority. But, if irrigation is shut down, farmers won’t have to w...
Wyn and Pete Reimann, with the help of their two daughters, Cassie and Livvy and Wyn's dad, Bob Walker, maintain a herd consisting of 95 Suffolk/Hampshire cross ewes and 21 registered boer does. Their operation is located just five miles west of Richey, Montana. They started the club lamb and kid business four years ago. "I started this as a great resource for our children. We had several kids in the area that were looking for competitive lambs at a reasonable price," said Wyn Reinmann. The...
North Dakota's drought-stressed pastures, especially pastures stressed during the fall of 2017, should receive special care this spring to help them recover from the drought, North Dakota State University Extension Service grazing experts advise. "It is critical that these pastures are given adequate time to recover," says Miranda Meehan, livestock environmental stewardship specialist. "Grazing too early in the spring can result in decreased total forage production for the entire grazing...
More than a decade ago when Montana's pulse crop industry was a sliver in northeastern Montana and there wasn't much money to fund alternative crop trials, a Montana State University agricultural faculty member was planting the future. Chengci Chen, superintendent of the MSU Eastern Agricultural Research Center in Sidney has spent the last 12 years developing pulse crops specifically adapted to Montana's growing conditions. One successful green pea variety with high yield and protein, currently...
