County Agent Update

National Hard

Spring Wheat Show

The 63rd Annual National Hard Spring Wheat Show is coming up quick. This year we have a great line up of speakers for the Feb. 2-4 dates. On Tuesday, Feb. 2, will be the popular “Bread Fair” for area 5th graders. The “bread fair” allows students to learn about where the bread comes from, and how this region is very important for bread making. With many of the supplies being donated, the students are able to make a loaf of bread for them to take home and bake later that night, which works out great because it gives the yeast enough time to rise. Over 350 students will be in attendance throughout the day, making it a great educational “field trip” for them that they will talk about for years to come.

Wednesday, Feb. 3 and Thursday, Feb. 4 will be the two days for farmers and those that work in the agriculture field to attend to gather new ideas, thoughts and educational material for the 2016 season. The committee has put together a great line up with 21 speakers attending, some presenters over those days are; Cliff Naylor, Elston Solberg, and V.J. Smith. Cliff Naylor will be presenting his “Off the Beaten Path” talk during our Wednesday lunch, $10 for a ticket from noon to 1p.m. Our two keynote speakers are Elston Solberg and V.J. Smith. Elston Solberg is the director of Agri-Trend in Alberta, Canada, he will be presenting a few times over Wednesdays schedule. Elston has a wealth of knowledge from past service as Head Cereal Specialist and Research Agronomist with Alberta Agriculture, his presentations will be on; 13 deadly sins of a Farmer, Water drives everything- whether there is too little or too much and the 7 Rs of successful crops- thinking balance, balance, balance. Our second keynote speaker, V.J. Smith is a professional speaker and author of “The Richest Man in Town”, “You Hear What I See?”, and “Jackrabbit Tales”. V.J Smith will be presenting on Thursday Feb. 4, the audience will be organizing the “file folders” of our life and thinking about how the choices we make can affect those around us. Smith will be presenting on Thursday during our lunch, with a $10 ticket, it is open to the public.

Along with the speakers above, we have a few wonderful presenters from North Dakota State University Extension Service, University of Minnesota, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and our commodity groups in Montana and North Dakota. The commodity groups that will be in attendance are; Montana Wheat and Barley committee, North Dakota Wheat Commission, North Dakota Grain Growers, North Dakota Barley Council, and United States Durum Growers Association. Over the next month, I will be mentioning more of the speakers that will be present and more information about the Wheat Show. If you have questions about the 63rd Annual National Hard Spring Wheat Show, please call the extension office at 701-577-4595.