County Agent Update

Educational Opportunities

There will be a Winter Grazing forum Nov. 4-5 in Streeter, ND. This will be held at the North Dakota State University Central Grasslands Research Extension Center with a hotel available at the Quality Inn in Jamestown. This forum will include topics on; winter grazing of cover crops, soil health, swath and bale grazing, livestock nutrition, case studies, integrated systems, manure distribution and water quality. There will be NDSU staff there to provide information and to answer any questions farmers and ranchers have. On Nov. 4, the program will begin at 9 a.m. There will be a sponsored banquet dinner on Nov. 4 with keynote speaker, Bart Lardner, Western Beef Development Centre Saskatchewan.

The next opportunity is here in Williston, the 25th Annual Income Tax Management for Ag Producers. This will be an interactive video program to assist farmers with year-end farm business decisions and retirement planning. This will be Nov. 18, 2015 from 9 a.m. - noon. The location will be at Broadway Commons, 302 E Broadway in Williston. Program topics include; federal income tax update, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Reporting, ACA and the Small Employer, Identity theft and Scams of Tax Information, Proper Handling of CCC Loans, Repair Regulation Update, Succession and Estate Planning, Proper Entities for USDA Payments, Farm Income Averaging, and Tax planning ideas for 2015 and beyond. Seating is limited, the cost of the program and materials is $15 per person. If you are interested, please call the NDSU Extension Service in Williams County. We will send you a registration form that will get mailed into Fargo.

Killing Frost

With the cold nights among us, now is the time to remove all winter squash and apples. Killing frost is at 28 degrees Fahrenheit. When dealing with winter squash, light frosts will not harm the fruit. Removing before the killing frost is desired, when harvesting leave a few inches of the stem attached. Except for acorns, cure in a warm (80 degree F) spot for 10 days for long term storage. Apples can tolerate temps approaching 25 degrees Fahrenheit before freeze damage occurs. If your apples do freeze, wait for them to thaw before picking and use promptly.