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May Gardening Notes As we begin spring management of our horticultural landscapes, here are a few reminders for the month of May. • Graft fruit trees from mid -April to early May. • Abort crab apple fruit with ethephon or naphthaleneacetic acid. • Prune lylacs right after bloom. • Stems cut off clean are a sign of rabbit damage. Stems cut off ragged are a sign of deer damage. • Electric fence smeared with peanut butter and molasses can deter deer. • Keep raspberry walkway clear of suckers. • Destroy tent caterpillars. • Plant peas and lettuc...
Keep an eye out for Grass Tetany Grass tetany is a metabolic disease of cattle associated with grazing lush, green pasture. The condition is caused by low blood concentrations of magnesium, which is a required mineral for cattle. When pastures are growing rapidly in the spring, grass may not contain adequate amounts of magnesium to meet requirements. High potassium and crude protein concentrations found in rapidly growing forage complicate the grass tetany issue by interfering with the absorption of magnesium from the rumen. Magnesium...
The Chouteau County Soil Moisture Survey was started by Judee Wargo in 1993 to assist farmers with determining recropping potential on cereal grain stubble. After 25 years, the Chouteau County Extension Office continues to compile data for determining recropping potential and providing the state drought committee with soil moisture information. Testing for soil moisture took place in Chouteau County on April 1st-April 2nd. All winter wheat locations exceeded 3.5 feet of stored soil moisture, which is equivalent to approximately 5.25 inches of...
Information from this article comes from Dr. Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester). Dr. Kolb will be presenting on tree management in Fort Benton at the Memorial Ambulance building at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 4th. The public is welcome to attend. During dry and cold winters, evergreen trees growing in windbreaks or other exposed areas are afflicted with a bad case of needle discoloration that ranges from brown to purple followed by needle drop. Often this is most prevalent on the south side or windward side of the tree, and in some cases...
Seventh Annual Chouteau County Agriculture Day for 4th and 5th Graders The seventh annual Chouteau County Ag Days for 4th and 5th graders will take place at the Chouteau County Fairgrounds on April 25, 2019. All 4th and 5th graders in Chouteau County are invited to attend. Home school kids who are interested in participating need to contact the Chouteau County Extension Office at 622-3751. Participants will learn the importance agriculture, which is Montana’s number one industry. In addition, youth will learn why agriculture is important to t...
Peter Kolb (Montana State University Extension Forester) will be teaching gardeners about tree trimming, tree disease management and tree insect pest management on Thursday, April 4th from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Chouteau County Memorial Ambulance Building. The public is invited to attend. Peter F. Kolb is the Montana State University Extension Forestry Specialist and an Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management, housed at the University of Montana in the Department of Forest Management. For the past two decades, Dr. Kolb has...
Montana State University Entomologist will be presenting to Gardeners in Fort Benton Laurie Kerzicnik (Montana State University Associate Extension Specialist and Insect Diagnostician) will be teaching gardeners about Insect Identification on Thursday, March 28, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.at the Chouteau County Memorial Ambulance Building. The public is invited to attend. Laurie came to MSU from Fort Collins, Colo., where she worked at Crop Production Services and Colorado State University. She specialized in integrated pest management (IPM) an...
New Montguide on Bull Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE) The single most important component of a successful breeding program is using fertile bulls that have passed a bull breeding soundness evaluation (BSE). Each bull is expected to contribute to 20 to 50 pregnancies each year. Having a BSE conducted on breeding bulls is crucial to a successful breeding program. The BSE is an exam conducted by veterinarians that includes a physical exam, semen evaluation, and an internal and external exam of the reproductive tract. The BSE should be...
Winter Fertilization Facts Fall and winter broadcast application of urea (46-0-0) continues to take place on various winter wheat farms across Chouteau County. The major concern of broadcasting urea is nitrogen loss through ammonia volatilization. Volatilization results when there is a conversion from dissolved ammonia to ammonia gas. From 2008-2012, Rick Engel and Clain Jones (MSU Soil Scientists) have studied NH3 losses from surface-applied urea. Below are a few conclusions of their research. • Engle’s research (4 years and 20 studies) doc...
Night Feeding or Daytime Calving Information for this article was taken from the February issue of the Cow Sense Chronicle written by Rachel Endecott, MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist. We’ve all experienced that middle-of-the-night calving incident that sure would have been easier to manage if it had happened in the daylight. Some ranchers use an evening feeding strategy to shift more cows to calve during the day. A case study comparing two sets of calving data with different feeding times illustrates this phenomenon well (Jaeger, et al. 2...
Golden Triangle Herbicide-Resistance Meetings February 19, 2019 in Conrad and Fort Benton Golden Triangle MSU Extension agents will be hosting herbicide-resistance meetings on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, in both Conrad and Fort Benton. A special thanks to our sponsors for lunch. Sponsors include Chouteau County Farmers Union, Montana Farmers Union, Corteva, Wilbur Ellis, CHS Cut Bank Group, Cargill and Centrol Crop Consulting. Please RSVP by Friday, February 15 to ensure an accurate headcount for lunch. Due to the increase of herbicide...
Keeping House Plants Healthy During the Winter Many houseplants suffer in winter from too little light. Houseplants need sufficient light to photosynthesize and make sugars and other carbohydrates. Even a south-facing windowsill may not provide sufficient lighting for normal growth. A normal desk lamp or reading lamp puts out about 50-foot candles. That seems sufficient to us, but it may not be for your plants. The aluminum plant, spider plant, Boston fern, Bromeliads, Devil’s Ivy, Watermelon Peperomia, Oval Leaf Peperomia, Painted Drop T...
Management Methods for Cows during the Calving Season Managing cows to rebreed as scheduled is an important practice during the calving season. Below are a few good management practices to remember from the Cow-Calf Management Guide Section CL115. • The above-average milking cow will need about 30 pounds of hay per day. • Ration balancing using the animal’s nutrient requirements and the nutrient composition of the feed resource should be used to determine appropriate ration. The Chouteau County Extension office has an excellent ration balan...
Golden Triangle Herbicide-Resistance Meetings February 19, 2019 (Six Commercial or Private Pesticide Credits Available) Golden Triangle MSU Extension agents will be hosting herbicide-resistance meetings on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, in both Conrad and Fort Benton. A special thanks to our sponsors for lunch. Sponsors include Chouteau County Farmers Union, Corteva, Wilbur Ellis, CHS Cutbank, Cargill and Centrol. Please RSVP by Friday, February 15, to ensure an accurate headcount for lunch. Due to the increase of herbicide resistance in the...
Winter watering is important to evergreens during thawing periods Winter desiccation can be very hard on evergreen trees. Dry soil in winter often cannot replace the moisture trees lose to the cold dry winter air. The symptoms of winter damage and die back may not become visible until spring or summer growth begins. Winter damaged trees may only show a few dead branches or twigs. In most severe cases, the entire tree may die. Evergreen trees are more susceptible to winter desiccation than deciduous trees as the evergreens retain their needles...
Montana’s Next Generation Conference January 25-26 Registration is now open for Montana’s Next Generation Conference, which will take place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25-26, in Shelby. The conference will focus on business planning for the farm or ranch and production workshops. The conference will begin at 11 a.m. Friday at the Shelby Civic Center with Scott Shearer of the Bockorny Group, Inc. Shearer, who has extensive trade and agricultural policy expertise, will speak on the importance of trade to U.S. agriculture. He will provide an upd...
Two Upcoming Winter Beef Symposiums near Havre The Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) near Havre, in conjunction with Hill and Blaine County Extension, will host two beef symposiums in January. The first meeting will take place on Thursday, Jan. 10, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the NARC meeting room. Tim DelCurto (Nancy Cameron Endowed Chair in Range Beef Cattle Production) will share research on weak calf syndrome. Sam Wyffels (doctoral student in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences) will discuss winter feed supplementation...
Gardening tips for the Winter Season January is a time to promote healthy trees and house plants. MSU Extension has a few important recommendations for the cold winter months. • Poinsettias do best when house temperatures are consistent and placed away from drafty doors. • Most house plants tolerate normal temperature fluctuations. In general, foliage house plants grow best between 70 and 80 degrees. Most flowering plants prefer the same daytime range, but grow best at nighttime temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees. Lower night temperatures int...
12 Golden Triangle Cropping Seminar Thanks in Advance to MaxAg for Sponsoring Lunch at the Seminar in Fort Benton Montana State University Extension will host a free, annual cropping seminar series January 7-11 in Fort Benton, Stanford, Havre, Chester, Shelby, Cut Bank, Conrad, Choteau, and Great Falls. Speakers will cover paraquat safety, cropping systems, crop varieties, pest management, integrated weed management, herbicide resistance, marketing, and risk management. A special thanks to MaxAg for sponsoring the seminar in Fort Benton....
Targeted Livestock Grazing to Suppress Cheatgrass Cheatgrass, or downy brome (Bromus tectorum), is an annual, invasive grass reproducing solely by seed. Cheatgrass is a prolific seed producer forming dense monocultures and decreasing biological diversity. Cheatgrass also promotes soil erosion and more frequent wildfires. Increasing fire frequency may remove and exclude all perennial shrubs, forbs, and grasses from a landscape. A targeted grazing prescription is listed below: Grazing Objective: To suppress cheatgrass plant biomass and seed...
Holiday Lesson: Christmas Tree Care There are many “tips” to caring for a Christmas tree that propose to make it last longer or stay greener. In truth, all a tree really needs to maintain freshness is adequate water. This is easily done by using the proper tree stand and keeping the water level in the stand above the base of the tree. The following tips 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...
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...
Annual weed out competing Cheatgrass was recently found in Lewis and Clark County Ventenata (Ventenata dubia (Leers) Coss. Family: Poaceae) is commonly known as wiregrass or North African grass. Ventenata is a non-native winter annual grass that has recently spread from Western Montana into nearby Lewis and Clark County. Ventenata is relatively new to Montana and has the potential to impact range, pasture, wild lands, and annual crops. Its low forage value and shallow root structure can lead to decreased agricultural production and increased...
Fall is a Great Time to order Shelterbelt Trees The Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery (MCSN) is already receiving orders for shelter belt plantings. Rocky Mountain Juniper is the most popular windbreak species, and is sold 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...
Paraquat mitigation measures approved by EPA Information for this article came from Cecil Tharp, MSU Pesticide Education Specialist. The complete article is located at http://www.pesticides.montana.edu/documents/mt-pesticide-bulletins/2018_Fall_IPM.pdf. The active ingredient paraquat (i.e. dichloride salt of paraquat, ortho paraquat CL, paraquat dichloride) was first registered in 1964 for weed control and crop desiccation and is widely used across Montana; however, it is categorized as highly toxic through all routes of exposure by the...
