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January 20th is Shelterbelt Tree Ordering Day The MCSN in cooperation with the Montana Extension Service, local Conservation Districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, offers low-cost tree and shrub seedlings for use in conservation plantings. MCSN seedlings are for conservation practices and cannot be used for ornamental or landscape plantings. Landscape plants can be purchased at your local private retail nursery or garden center. The Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery (MCSN) will begin taking orders for shelterbelt trees...
Golden Triangle Cropping Seminar in Fort Benton on January 6th Montana State University (MSU) Extension will host its annual cropping seminar series January 6-10, 2025, in the Golden Triangle area. Speakers will cover noxious weeds, pulse insect management, pesticide updates, and winter barley. The Fort Benton seminar will take place on Monday, January 6 at the Ag Center, 1205 20th Street. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the seminar will begin at 9:00 a.m. A special thanks to MaxAg of Montana for sponsoring the lunch. Montana’s c...
Utilizing Snow as a Water Source for Wintering Cattle Careful management of snow fed cows is essential in cattle management in Montana. Consider the following points from the Manitoba Department of Agriculture and Resource Development. The complete article is located at bit.ly/3mmm88F. • Snow as the only water source is not recommended for lactating cows, those in poor body condition, cows on less than optimum feeding programs, or for those who are sick or unhealthy. • An alternate water source must be in place and immediately available in cas...
Think Twice About Spreading Manure on Your Garden During my tenure as your Agricultural Extension Agent, I have observed five gardens in Chouteau County where gardens produced no vegetables. Plants that did emerge were stunted and did not produce. The cause of these devastated gardens is usually one of two things. Either pesticide contaminated manure has been applied to the garden, or too much manure has been added to the garden. One issue that can result from a manure application is pesticide contamination. Do not use manure from animals that...
Christmas Tree Care There are many recommendations online for Christmas tree care that promote longevity. In truth, all a tree really needs to maintain freshness is adequate water. Longevity is easily achieved by using the proper tree stand and keeping the water level in the stand above the base of the tree. The following research-based recommendations will help to maintain the freshness and aroma of a live Christmas tree this holiday season. Use a tree stand that holds enough water for the size of the tree. The rule of thumb is one quart of...
Grain Storage Inspections Should Begin Close to Thanksgiving Inspecting grain bins for pests on or before Thanksgiving is a great rule of thumb for Chouteau County producers. The Lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica is one of the most injurious beetles known to attack stored grain. The Lesser grain borer belongs to the Bostrichidae family of beetles, which are mostly wood boring insects. R. dominica causes major physical and off-odor damage to grain in storage. Identifying Characteristics: Adults are dark reddish-brown to black in color, and...
Estimating Hay Needs The following article was written by Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist. The article addresses some basic rules of thumb to follow when determining the hay supplies ranchers will need to sustain the cow herd over the next few months. 1. Determine your average mature cow size. This can be done by weighing your 4 – 7 year old cows and calculating the average weight. From mature cow size, approximate the amount of forage dry matter cows needed to consume per year or per day. F...
Lawn and Garden Advice for November Managing horticultural landscapes and house plants in November is important for healthy production during the growing season. Below are a few recommendations for Chouteau County gardeners. • Apply protective mulches to perennial beds. • Use a humidifier to maintain humidity for houseplants. • Prune out dead limbs of woody ornamentals. • Do not fertilize or transplant anything after Columbus Day. • Continue to water landscape plantings (trees, shrubs, and perennials) until the soil freezes. • Apply winte...
Wheat Stem Sawfly Best Management Practices The Chouteau County LiA new publication is available at the Chouteau County Extension office titled Wheat Stem Sawfly Best Management Practices (EB0244). The bulletin was written by Dr. David K. Weaver, Professor of the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. Other authors include Susan M. Tallman at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Tyler J. Lane from MSU Extension Chouteau County. Currently, no insecticides provide successful control of...
Dr. Sam Wyffels to Speak at Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association The Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association annual meeting will take place on Thursday, November 14th at 3:00 p.m. at the Club House in Fort Benton. A social will follow the business meeting at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00. Please RSVP Buck Goldhahn at 622-5572 so the cooks can have notice on how many people will be attending. This year’s guest speaker is MSU Beef Specialist, Dr. Sam Wyffels. The presentation will be fall grazing of annual forages and...
Conifers Shed Most Inefficient Needles in the Fall The article below is a portion of an article written by Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester). The article is available in full at the Chouteau County Extension office. The article explains the natural phenomenon of fall needle drop, insect management, and proper watering techniques for pine and spruce trees. Every fall a lot of concern arises when conifers such as pines, spruces and firs start to drop their older needle cohorts in preparation for winter. This is essentially an energy...
Growth Through Agriculture Grant & Loan Program Requesting Proposals The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) is announcing the opening of the FY2025 funding cycle for the Growth Through Agriculture (GTA) Program. Montanans interested in innovating or expanding agricultural businesses are invited to apply for funds through the state grant and loan program. “The Growth Through Agriculture program continues to help Montana businesses and agricultural operations add value, scale up, and access new markets,” said MDA Director Christy Clark. “I...
Shelterbelt Workshop on October 9th in North Chouteau County A shelterbelt workshop has been scheduled for October 9th from 9-12 a.m. at the Bob and Becky Bronec Farm in north Chouteau County. The address is 3000 Ames Ranch Road. Our guest presenter will be Dr. Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester) Dr. Kolb has extensive knowledge with trees and shelterbelts and will cover techniques for growing and maintaining trees (including pruning and pest management) in prairie ecosystems. Please bring a sack lunch with you. Drinking water will be provided...
Foot Scoring Beef Cattle MontGuide is Available at the Chouteau County Extension Office A new MontGuide (MT2024AG) has been created by Taylre Sitz, MS in Animal and Range Sciences from MSU: Tim DelCurto; MSU Professor and Endowed Chair, and Megan Van Emon, MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist. There are some great photos of claw scores and pastern angles that may be helpful when culling or selecting breeding livestock. Due to various selection pressures, beef cattle have been transformed in size and shape over the last 75 years. Increased deman...
Thanks to Our Chouteau County 4-H Club Organizational Leaders and FFA Advisors The Chouteau County Fair concluded for the 4-H and FFA members on August 18, However, the work continues for our Chouteau County organizational leaders and FFA advisors. Chouteau County MSU Extension would like to give special recognition to our 4-H organizational leaders for guiding and preparing our 4-H youth through meetings, competitions, workshops and the fair. The Chouteau County 4-H club organizational leaders include Kelly Crowder (Arrowhead), Jordee...
September Horticulture Management Managing horticultural landscapes in September is essential to healthy production during the growing season. Below are a few recommendations for Chouteau County gardeners. • The average first frost is September 15 (Carter), September 18 (Kenilworth and Highwood), September 20 (Big Sandy), September 25 (Fort Benton) and September 28 (Geraldine). All fruit and vegetables should be harvested before temperatures drop below 40° to 50°F. • Ripen tomatoes in a paper bag along with an apple, or hang the entire plant up...
New Montguide (EBO191) Provides Information on Nutrient Uptake Timing by Crops Timing nutrient applications so they are available before peak crop nutrient demand is critical. Adequate nutrients early in the growing season are necessary to maximize yield and ensure nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are especially available for good grain or seed fill. EBO191 provides information on nutrient uptake curves for selected Montana crops (small grains, oilseeds, corn, and sugar beet) to help growers and their advisers optimally time fertilizer...
8 Pesticide Waste Disposal Program Will Be in Central Region in September The 2024 Montana Department of Agriculture Waste Pesticide Disposal Program will be in Havre on September 17 followed by Great Falls on September 18, Lewistown on September 19, and Columbus on September 20. Participants must pre-register their unusable pesticides with the Montana Department of Agriculture before the disposal event. Acceptances for these events occur on a first-come, first-served basis and early registration is encouraged. The 2024 deadline to register...
Horticultural Tips for August Below are some rules of thumb when tending vegetables, lawns, flowers and trees during the month of August. • Renovate strawberries by mowing a minimum of every three years. Some people mow their strawberries every year following fruit production. Be sure to set the mower high enough to mow the leaves. Mowing too low may damage the crowns and kill the plant. • Topdress strawberries after harvest with a complete fertilizer like 16-16-16. • Pinch the tops of indeterminate tomatoes and reduce watering to promo...
Top Yielding Winter Wheat Varieties for Chouteau County MSU Agricultural Research Centers have one test plot for winter wheat in Chouteau County which is managed by MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) north of Loma. A special thanks to Peggy Lamb (NARC agronomist) for establishing and maintaining the Chouteau County test plot. The Extension office would also like to thank the McKeever family for donating the use of their land for MSU research. NARC (Loma area) top three yielding winter wheat varieties (10-year average yield) from...
Gardening in July Below are a few recommendations per July horticultural management. Additional gardening information is available at the Chouteau County Extension Office located in the green building next to the courthouse. • In our landscapes, plants use 2.5 inches of water per week during the hot summer days. • Harvest broccoli while heads are tight. • Pick shell peas when the seeds are fully developed but before ripening. Harvest edible pod peas when the seeds are barely visible inside the pod. Allow snap peas to reach nearly full size, but...
Hailed Out and Emerged Volunteer Wheat Should be Sprayed Immediately after Harvest Information for this article was compiled from a Kansas State University Press Release in 2016. Producers often wait several weeks after harvest before making their first herbicide application to control volunteer wheat,” said Dallas Peterson, K-State Research and Extension Weed Management Specialist. “This allows as much volunteer as possible to emerge before spraying it or tilling it the first time. Often, a second application or tillage operation will be neede...
New MontGuide Available on Nutrient Uptake Timing by Crops A new MontGuide is available to assist producers with fertilizing decisions. The guide was written by Clain Jones, Extension Soil Fertility Specialist and Professor, Kathrin Olson-Rutz, former Research Associate, and Pariera Dinkins, former Research Associate. Timing the application of nutrients so that they are available before peak crop nutrient demand is critical. Adequate nutrients early in the growing season are necessary to maximize yield and ensure nitrogen (N) and phosphorus...
Summer Agricultural Field Days in the Golden Triangle The Montana State University College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Stations will once again host a series of field days at Havre, Moccasin, and Conrad. “We look forward to our field days every year because of the opportunities they create to interact and share research results with agricultural producers and friends around Montana,” said Sreekala Bajwa, director of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Stations and the college’s dean. “Getting to share and receive feedbac...
