2018 MonDak Ag Days March 1-2 in Sidney

The MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show Committee and the Sidney Chamber of Commerce's Agriculture Committee have joined forces to bring you what we think is a great lineup of educational sessions, banquet entertainment, and trade show vendors.

Ag Days will kick off at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 1 when the doors open for the trade show. After listening to suggestions from our ranching community, it was decided to push back the start of the educational sessions, so the first session will begin at 10:00 when Bridger Feuz gives his cattle market outlook. That will be followed at 10:45 when Hudson Hill leads a discussion on tools for monitoring and managing nutrition in the beef cow herd. After a break, Bridger Feuz will be on again to discuss economic ranch tools and risk management and that will be followed by Barton Stram's talk on what tools are available to build a range management plan. All of these previously listed talks are part of a complete program offered by the University of Wyoming Extension professionals and they are coming to Sidney because of a grant they received from the USDA Risk Management Association.

At 2:30 that afternoon Jim Beck, who used to work for the Montana DNRC, will talk about the form every landowner got from the DNRC in regards to water rights. If you got one of these letters but are not sure whether or not you need to do anything, you should come and find out. Thursday's educational portion will end at 3:45 with an update on crop insurance from Gary Hellig who is the Vice President and Northwest Division Manager for Rain and Hail. After last year's drought and lack of crop production, insurance really saved some people and may be something to look into for 2018.

Thursday evening's events will begin with a social sponsored by Prewitt and Company, the Sidney Livestock Market Center, and Yellowstone Bank. These businesses ensure that, when you purchase a ticket to the banquet, you will get a ticket for a free drink at the social. Speaking of the banquet, it will begin at 6:00 and will feature a steak dinner, awards from the Richland Conservation District and entertainment from Jerry Carroll. If you're not sure who Jerry Carroll is, you will want to visit his website which is http://www.thejerrycarroll.com. Be prepared to laugh. Tickets to the banquet are $40 and can be purchased at the Richland County Extension Office, the Sidney Chamber of Commerce, Stockman Bank in Sidney, or Tri-County Implement in Sidney.

Friday's events will start with the annual Sidney Chamber Breakfast starting at 7:00 a.m. The trade show will once again open at 8:00 and then the educational portion will begin at 9:00. The first talk on Friday will be Richland County's own Chet Hill discussing Narrowleaf Hawksbeard and Marestail. If you are not familiar with these weeds, you will want to be as they are increasingly becoming problematic in Northeastern Montana. Chet's talk has been awarded 1 point for commercial and private pesticide applicators.

Following Chet's talk, Ed Usset will be at the event to give his popular presentation on 5 common mistakes in grain marketing. It is truly an honor to have Ed coming to Sidney as he is very well-respected in the marketing community and actually will be coming to Sidney directly from the Commodity Classic which is an event that brings farmers from all over the U.S. and Canada to Los Angeles for a large trade show and educational programs. Ed's program is sure to be thought provoking and worthwhile.

The event will wrap up with the final educational program starting at 1:15 when Patrick Gilchrist from the National Weather Service office in Glasgow will give as much of a weather prediction for 2018 as he can.

The 2018 MonDak Ag Days and Trade show is top-to-bottom one of the best programs put together in some time and it would not be possible without the generous support of Stockman Bank, Tri-County Implement, the Sidney TBID, Sidney Sugars, Richland County Farm Bureau, Farm Bureau Financial Services in Sidney, Northern Pulse Growers Association, C&B Operations, and the USDA Risk Management Agency. On behalf of the committee, we hope that you can attend.