The North Dakota State University Williston Research Extension Center (WREC), Montana State University Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab in Sidney are partnering once again to showcase agricultural research underway in eastern Montana and western North Dakota.
The 2nd annual MonDak Ag Research Summit will be held on Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mountain Time at the Richland County Event Center in Sidney.
The summit was established last year and is a collaborative effort among the three research stations to encourage interaction between farmers and researchers. It features scientists from all three facilities reporting on current research projects of interest to farmers, ranchers and residents of the MonDak.
In addition to the research talks, the event allows for one-on-one and small group discussions with scientists, providing producers the opportunity to share their questions and research needs and ideas directly with the scientists. The summit is free and lunch is provided courtesy of the Northern Pulse Growers Association. Other sponsors for the event include the City of Williston, Sidney Sugars, Inc., Montana-Dakota Beet Growers Association, Agri-Industries, Dawson County Implement, Cargill and Tri-County Implement. More than 120 people participated in this event in 2017.
This year’s program schedule is as follows and begins with a special guest speaker addressing emerging and persistent weed issues in this region.
Morning topics and speakers:
*Weed control of horseweed, narrowleaf hawksbeard, kochia, Russian thistle and others – Guest Speaker Brian Jenks, NCREC, Minot, ND
*Rangeland and aquatic weed update – John Gaskin, USDA ARS
*Integrating biocontrol into your weed management plan – Natalie West, USDA ARS
*A fungus bait formulation for grasshopper, Mormon cricket control – Stefan Jaronski, USDA ARS
*The effect of tillage and rotation on rhizoctonia root and crown rot – Audrey Kalil, WREC
A morning poster session will also give attendees time to browse more than twenty additional research projects and speak with the scientists doing the work. After the poster session, the morning program will continue with the following presentations:
*Effect of tillage, irrigation, and nitrogen on sugarbeet yield and sugar content - Chengci Chen, EARC
*Tillage vs no-till effect on corn, soybean, barley and sugarbeet yield (Nesson) and water use efficiency under irrigated conditions - Bart Stevens, USDA ARS
*Economics and soil health of sustainable cropping systems – Don Tanaka, WREC
*Dryland pea production and water use affected by tillage, crop rotation, and cultural practice – Upendra Sainju, USDA ARS
A free lunch sponsored by the Northern Pulse Growers Association will be served at the conclusion of the morning session. Brian Gion, Marketing Director of NPGA is our guest lunch speaker.
The afternoon program will feature small-group discussions where attendees can meet with scientists by subject area to discuss current industry topics. The discussion groups will run concurrently with another series of research talks of interest to area producers. Attendees will be able to move back and forth between the afternoon talks and discussion group tables as desired.
The afternoon talks include:
For those interested in horticulture, Kyla Splichal, WREC horticulture specialist, will present on high tunnel use and construction.
For those interested in cover crops, Brett Allen, USDA ARS will discuss cover crops as replacement for fallow in semi-arid durum cropping systems.
For those interested in variety selections, Yesuf Mohammed, EARC, will discuss pulse crop variety selection and performance, and Justin Jacobs, WREC will discuss spring wheat and durum irrigated varieties.
New to our discussion groups this year is the presence of an area producer at some of the small group tables who will discuss their experiences working with local scientists and what they’ve both learned in that partnership.
Everyone interested is encouraged to attend. Again, the summit is free, but preregistration is encouraged for determining a meal count. You can preregister online at https://tinyurl.com/mondaksummit18 or contact Beth Redlin at 406-433-2020, or by email at [email protected].
Note, too, that approvals for Montana pesticide applicator points and certified crop adviser continuing educator units are pending for this event.
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