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Jacynta Bomgardner of Chouteau County wins the Montana Certified Lamb Carcass Contest Jacynta Bomgardner of Chouteau County received the top placing in the carcass division of the 2022 Montana Certified Lamb contest. She will receive her award at the Montana Wool Growers Association banquet on December 3rd in Billings. The breeder of the lamb is Patty's Club Lambs out of Missoula, Montana. Congratulations to Jacynta for a job well done. The Montana 4-H and FFA Certified Fair Lamb Contest is...
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,...
Cropping Questions and Answers to the Chouteau County Extension Office I have a prickly lettuce problem in my farm ground. Is it an annual? Prickly lettuce is a biennial and a winter annual. Do we have herbicide resistance in prickly lettuce in Chouteau County? Tim Siepel, MSU cropland weed specialist has tested prickly lettuce that is 2,4 D resistant. The plants came from the Geraldine area. He has seen glyphosate resistance in the greenhouse. Greenhouse plants are soft plants and will take in herbicides much more readily than a plant growing...
Montana State University Extension will host a free, annual cropping seminar series January 9-13 in Great Falls, Choteau, Conrad, Cut Bank, Shelby, Chester, Havre, Fort Benton, and Stanford. Speakers will cover cereal grain varieties, pea and lentil management, soil fertility management and estate planning. Cereal grain varieties update will be presented by Dr. Jed Eberly from MSU Central Agricultural Research Center, Peggy Lamb from MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center and Wyatt Medina from Western Triangle Agriculture Research Center....
New Tree and Shrub Pest Diagnosis Guide Available from MSU Extension Montana State University Extension has a free, color booklet (EB0235). The booklet is a great resource for helping identify and manage pests and problems in ornamental trees and shrubs in Montana. The 240-page guide is intended to help MSU Extension agents, arborists and those in nursery and landscape trades identify and diagnose tree and shrub issues and to help with decisions for treatment based on integrated pest management concepts. A section on woody plant identification...
Dr. Jeff Mosley to Speak at Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association The Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association annual meeting will take place on Thursday, November 17th at 3:00 p.m. at the Vets Hall in Geraldine. 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 Dr. Jeff Mosley (MSU Extension Range Specialist). Dr. Mosley will share range management practices d...
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 or on the website. 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 conservation mechanism for surviving the...
Lawn and Garden advice for October and 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....
Lentil Yield and Nitrogen Fixation Response to Inoculant and Fertilizer Lentil production has grown dramatically in the northern Great Plains over the past 20 years. In Montana and North Dakota, planted acreage of lentil has increased from 67,000 in 2000 to 585,000 in 2022 (USDA-NASS, 2022. Lentil is capable of biological nitrogen (N) fixation, a process in which rhizobia bacteria in legume root nodules convert N gas into N that is available for plant uptake. This makes lentil an attractive option for producers wanting to decrease fertilizer N...
October is a Great Time to Order Shelterbelt Trees The Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery (MCSN) will be receiving orders on October 1st 2022. Rocky Mountain Juniper is the most popular windbreak species and sells out quite quickly. If you are interested in ordering Rocky Mountain Juniper for your shelterbelt, please place your order as soon as possible. Shelterbelt plans should be approved by the MSU Extension Chouteau County agent, Conservation District or MCSN staff. Seedlings are sold on a first come, first serve basis. Please order earl...
Fall Management of Cheatgrass in Fallow Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), also commonly called downy brome, is a problematic weed in winter wheat and in rangeland throughout Montana. Cheatgrass typically germinates in the autumn, overwinters, and produces seed by mid-summer. The cheatgrass life cycle is similar to winter wheat. Cheatgrass is an abundant seed producer. Seed is only viable for one to two years in the seedbank and can be killed under drought conditions. Cheatgrass germinates from late August to early October and matures in early...
Six 4-H and FFA Youth Meet Excellence Criteria for Livestock Carcass Quality The 2022 Chouteau County 4-H and FFA livestock carcass contest took place at Pioneer Meats in Big Timber. A total of 60 Chouteau County animals were evaluated for carcass quality by Steve Williams from Midland Bull Test. The purpose of the carcass contest is to teach youth how to correctly select, feed and finish livestock based on carcass data. If carcass criteria are met, youth can be confident they are producing a quality product that is safe, nutritious and good ta... Full story
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 in (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 entir...
Emerging Winter Wheat, Grasshopper Pests and Systemic Seed Treatment The following information was prepared by Kevin Wanner (MSU Extension Entomologist). Emerging winter wheat can be particularly vulnerable to damage by grasshoppers. The larger adult stage grasshoppers are difficult to control and move into emerging winter wheat fields from surrounding grassy areas. Grasshopper treatment thresholds for emerging winter wheat are 3-7 per square yard within the field, or 11-20 per square yard around the margin. Populations in these ranges will...
Thanks to our Chouteau County 4-H Club Organizational Leaders and FFA Advisors Before the Chouteau County Fair begins next week, Chouteau County Extension thanks our 4-H organizational leaders for guiding and preparing our 4-H youth through meetings, competitions and workshops. The Chouteau County 4-H organizational leaders include Kelly Crowder (Arrowhead in Highwood), Jonna Bogart (Stitch ’N’ Stirrup in Fort Benton), Mary Ophus, Kristie Rutledge and Misty Lefurgey (Sunshine Snippers in Big Sandy), Alex Reid and Angie Hucke (Willing Wor...
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...
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 to 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 promote ripen...
Hailed out and emerged volunteer wheat should be sprayed immediately after harvest Information for this article was taken from a Kansas State University Press Release, which was released in 2020. 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 operat...
CUTTING HAY FOR HORSES – WATCH OUT FOR POISONOUS BLISTER BEETLES Several blister beetle species feed on alfalfa, including the ash-gray blister beetle, black blister beetle and striped blister beetle. Adult blister beetles are easy to recognize due to their large size (½ to 1½ inch), soft bodies, short wing covers, long legs and a neck-like appearance between head and prothorax. Most blister beetle species have one generation per year. Adults become active in early to mid-summer and females lay eggs in the soil. Eggs hatch in about two wee...
Winter Canola Research at Montana State University Decision time is fast approaching for winter canola seeding. Genetic technology has improved and some producers in Montana are having success with winter canola. Dr. Perry Miller, Cropping Systems Professor at MSU has been researching winter canola. Below are a few of his thoughts. For additional questions, please reach out to Dr. Miller by email (pmiller@montan.edu) or call (406-994-5431) • Yield: Winter canola is a fragile system that is a game-changer when all the pieces line up c...
A Special Thanks in Advance to our Chouteau County 4-H Fair Superintendents 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA. Cooperative Extension serves every county and tribe in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3000 local Extension offices. Research-based, hands-on experiences develop young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices, and two times more likely to be civically active. T...
How Farmers, Gardeners and Insecticide Applicators Can Reduce Risks of Honeybee Injury When Spraying for Grasshoppers Because of the increase in grasshopper pests this year and last year, many folks are spraying insecticides to save their crops and landscapes. The following article comes from the University of Nebraska and is available at: https://bit.ly/3vQPhuz. Do not treat fields in bloom. Be especially careful when treating crops, such as alfalfa, sunflowers and canola, which are highly attractive to bees. Insecticide labels carry warning... Full story
Adam Sigler (MSU Extension Water Quality Specialist), Marley Manoukian (MSU Extension Agent in Richland County) and Megan Van Emon (MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist) have written a useful resource for livestock producers. This MontGuide is available at the Chouteau County Extension office or online at https://bit.ly/3Mq4Hyn. Fresh, clean water is a daily requirement of all classes of livestock. Water requirements vary greatly depending on several factors including temperature, animal size, production stage, and moisture content of the...
According to Laurie Kerzicnik (Montana State University Entomologist), grasshoppers continue to be an issue for several areas in Montana. Grasshopper infestations will continue to extend into the fall. High grasshopper populations this year could be due to a couple of factors including an abundance of a yellow sweet clover in 2019 and a cold, wet spring in 2019 where grass was abundant and rising grasshopper populations were tolerated and mostly not managed. Most grasshoppers overwinter in the egg stage in the soil. After egg hatch in mid to la...
6 Knees Area Field Day is Scheduled for July 13 MAES-MSU Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) and MSU Extension are hosting a field day in the Knees area on July 13th at 9:00 a.m. Dr. Jamie Sherman (MSU barley breeder) will share research-based information on barley varieties for the Knees area. In addition, Dr. Jason Cook (MSU spring wheat breeder ) will update producers on spring wheat varieties in the test plot. In conclusion, Tyler Lane (MSU Extension Chouteau County) will talk about winter wheat varieties and Justin...
