MonDak Ag Days Promises Education, Comedy March 7 & 8

The annual trade show and education forum MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show is set for Thursday, March 7, and Friday, March 8, at the Richland County Event Center in Sidney.

An effort of the Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce, Ag Days brings "the latest and greatest in ag production technology, both for livestock and crop producers," said Tim Fine, Richland County Extension Agriculture Agent.

The event combines a trade show full of local agriculture and livestock-related vendors with learning sessions on the latest hot topics in the field. This year, session topics will include a Farm Bill and FSA update, farm insurance and financial planning, and a weather outlook update, among other topics.

The first session, at 9:00 a.m. on the 7th, will be an introduction to growing hemp, a recently legalized program through the Montana Department of Agriculture. "We expect this to be pretty informative and something our growers are looking to really getting into," said Fine.

On the livestock side, Smitty Smith from the Dillon, Montana-based technology consulting firm RanchHacks will be speaking about using technology on the ranch. RanchHacks educates and trains livestock producers to effectively leverage technology in their operation. The two-part session begins at 9:45 a.m. on the 8th, and continues at 11:15.

The trade show opens at 8:00 a.m. on both Thursday and Friday, and closes at 5:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively. Lunch will be provided by the Sidney FFA alumni. Friday, March 8th opens with the Sidney Chamber Breakfast, sponsored by Advanced Communications, at 7:00 a.m.

MonDak Ag Days closes with the annual banquet. "We're switching up the whole event a little bit. It's been for the past five or six years it's been a Thursday/Friday event, with the banquet on Thursday. We're changing the banquet to Friday to increase attendance," said Fine.

Comedian Chad Prather will return to entertain the banquet crowd with his fast-talking comedic family stories. Prather is described as "the modern day Will Rogers", and is known for his viral fast-talking rants on his Facebook page "Political Cowboy". The cowboy hat-wearing native Texan has also made appearances on Fox News and The Blaze, and has hosted his own wildly successful TV shows and has toured nationally. Visit http://www.watchchad.com for more information on Prather.

The banquet social begins at 5:00 p.m. at the Richland County Event Center. The program begins at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the Sidney Chamber, Tri County Implement, Stockman Bank, and at SidneyMT.com. Banquet tickets include one free drink during the social hour, dinner and entertainment.

The trade show is free to attend. MonDak Ag Days is sponsored by C&B Operations, Stockman Bank, Tri County Implement, and the Sidney TBID. For additional information, visit http://www.sidneyMT.com.