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Attention Big Sandy Producers: In an effort to provide greater outreach to Big Sandy producers, Barbie Martin at the Big Sandy Conservation District is now certified to do nitrate testing on hay. Thanks to Barbie and the Big Sandy Conservation District for taking this project on. Nitrate testing is still available at the Extension office in Fort Benton. We are located in the green building next to the courthouse. Items to Consider for Cow Herd Winter Readiness. Information for this article was taken from the Cow Sense Chronicle written by...
Bear Paw and Highwood Mountain Land Owners Should Scout for Dying Fir Trees In October of 2017, the Bear Paw Mountains were buried with three feet of snow. Along with the snow came severe damage to many Chouteau County conifers. After the damage was completed, the Douglas-Fir Beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae) moved into damaged tree locations where they reproduced and rapidly built up their numbers. In the spring of 2018, D. Pseudotsugae adults moved from the damaged trees to neighboring large trees. First the needles turned yellow, and then...
Soil Acidity Round Table Discussion in Fort Benton “What did we learn in 2018” Producers, Educators and Agri businesses are invited to attend a soil acidity round table discussion on November 7 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Community Bible Center located at 1600 Main in Fort Benton. All present will have the opportunity to share what they have learned about soil acidity and soil acidity management in 2018. Chouteau County Conservation District will provide coffee and cookies. New Herbicide-Resistant Russian Thistle Montguide Available Inf...
MSU Forage Specialist to Speak at Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association Meeting in Fort Benton on Alfalfa versus Sainfoin for Forage Production The annual Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association meeting will take place on Thursday, November 15th at 3:00 p.m. at the Clubhouse 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 receive notice on how many people will be attending. This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Emily Meccage...
MSU Extension will offer 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...
MSU Extension will offer Fumigant Training Dec. 18 near Havre Montana State University’s Pesticide Education Program will offer a training to assist applicators in effectively managing pests with phosphine fumigants while using the fumigants safely. Phosphine gas applicators may attend a fumigant training session on Dec. 18 in Havre. The half-day session will focus on managing rodents with fumigants and managing insects in agricultural structures. Presenters are Stephen Vantassel, Montana Department of Agriculture vertebrate pest specialist, a...
Sorghum Sudangrass and Alfalfa Q &A to the Chouteau County Extension Office Citations come from Emily Glunk/Meccage (MSU Extension Forage Specialist) and Dennis Cash (Retired MSU Extension Forage Specialist). When is it safe to hay or graze my alfalfa in the fall? Harvest or graze the alfalfa after several days of consecutive killing frost, once the plant is dormant and will not be attempting to regrow before the winter (Glunk, 2017). What does it take for a killing frost in alfalfa? Usually it takes about 3 days of less than 24 degrees to get...
Tree Q & A per the Chouteau County Extension Office • Why did two of my cottonwoods turn yellow in late July? According to Eva Grimme (MSU Plant Disease Diagnostician), symptoms are consistent with Marssonina leaf spot. Symptoms include dry, brownish lesions with yellowing borders. Margins are often irregular, indistinct, and not restricted by leaf veins. Infection is favored by wet weather, especially at the time when the leaves emerge from buds. Management includes pruning out, discarding, raking and destroying affected leaves. Water adequate...
Pre-seeding fertilizer tips for farmers Clain Jones, MSU Extension Soil Fertility Specialist Presented at the Montana Agricultural Business Association last winter in Great Falls. The majority of the presentation contained a variety of fertilizer tips to help producers prepare for the upcoming seeding season. In addition, information for this article was taken from the Fertilizer Guidelines for Montana Crops (EB161), which is available at the Chouteau County Extension office. • MSU Extension has an on-line tool designed to assist producers i...
MDA will hold Waste Pesticide Disposal Events in September The Montana Department of Agriculture’s annual Pesticide Disposal Events will be held in several locations across Montana during September. The collection events will be held September 18 in Havre; September 19 in Great Falls; September 20 in Bozeman; and September 21 in Columbus. The annual events have collected more than 586,860 pounds of waste pesticides since it began in 1994. The program was designed to help individuals dispose of any pesticides that are unusable as originally i...
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 entire plant...
New Herbicide-Resistant Downy Brome (Cheatgrass) Montguide Available Information for this article comes from Montguide MT 201814AG. Authors include Dr. Prashant Jha from MSU Southern Agricultural Research Center and a group of County Extension Agents from Montana The complete document is available online or at the Chouteau County Extension Office. Our office is located in the green building next to the courthouse. Herbicide-resistant plants often develop from repeated use of a single mode of action herbicide. Plants can develop resistance to ad...
Alfalfa Longevity is Increased by Harvest Management It is recommended to allow a minimum of 30 days between the last harvest and the first killing frost in the fall to allow alfalfa plants time for sufficient carbohydrate accumulation. It is important to know the average date of the first killing frost in your area when determining the last harvest date. It is equally important that a stand is healthy, with adequate soil nutrient reserves, entering winter. The healthier the stand, the lower the chance of winter injury and/or winterkill...
Horticultural Tips for August I hope our Chouteau County gardeners have had a productive year growing vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs. Below are a few tips for 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 indet...
Top Yielding Winter Wheat Varieties for Chouteau County MSU Agriculture research centers have three test plots for winter wheat in Chouteau County. Research plots are managed by MSU Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) south of the Knees, MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) north of Loma and MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) west of Geraldine. A special thanks to John Miller (WTARC agronomist), Peggy Lamb (NARC agronomist) and Pat Carr (CARC superintendent) for establishing and maintaining the...
Summer Pneumonia in Beef Calves Summer pneumonia in nursing beef calves is not uncommon, but occurs with low frequency. A wide variety of risk factors for summer pneumonia exist including relative success of colostrum antibody transfer, commingling of groups, weather changes, nutrition changes or deficiencies, pathogen exposure, handling stress, calving difficulty, and operation-specific risk factors like lack of labor. The immunity a calf receives through colostrum is called passive immunity, and is the major source of immune function in the n...
Gardening Tips for the Month of July Below are a few tips which will assist gardeners with summer management of their landscapes. Additional gardening information is available at the Chouteau County Extension Office located in the green building next to the courthouse. • Plants use in our landscapes is up to 2.5 inches of water per week. • 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...
New Herbicide-Resistant Kochia Montguide Available Information for this article comes from Montguide MT 201806AG. Authors include Dr. Prashant Jha from MSU Southern Agricultural Research Center and group of County Extension Agents from the Golden Triangle. The complete document is available online or at the Chouteau County Extension Office. Our office is located in the green building next to the courthouse. Herbicide -resistant plants often develop from repeated use of a single mode of action herbicide. Plants can develop resistance to...
Sign up now for Marias River Float Trip and Weed Tour Registration forms are now available to sign up for a float trip on the Marias River to learn more about noxious weed management and watershed conservation problems. The Marias River Basin Weed Control Association and Marias River Watershed Group are hosting the trip on Thursday, July 12th. This year’s float will take us from the Moffat Bridge below Tiber Dam, downstream 11 miles to the Circle Bridge south of Chester. Participants will meet at the Tiber Marina on Lake Elwell, above Tiber D...
Recommendations for Reestablishing Crested Wheatgrass A long, cold, icy winter in 2017-2018 was very harmful to crested wheat grass. Although snow amounts were record-setting in some locations around the state, crested wheatgrass died in areas where wind kept areas free of snow cover. Where crested plants had little residual stubble, the wind and cold temperatures killed the buds. In other areas, thick sheets of ice covered crested plants, and especially where residual stubble was limited, the ice exacerbated the cold temperatures and killed...
Tree watering rules of thumb • Water trees three times a month in addition to watering your lawn. • Deep watering to a depth of 12” inches below the soil surface is recommended. Saturate the soil around the tree within the “dripline” (the outer edges of the tree’s branches) to disperse water down toward the roots. • For evergreens, water 3’-5’ beyond the dripline on all sides of the tree. • The objective is to water slowly, dispersing the flow of water to get the water deep down to the trees roots. Watering for short periods of time onl...
Field days near Loma, Turner and Chester on June 27 and June 28 MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) and MSU Extension will be hosting two field days near Loma and Turner on Wednesday, June 27 and another field day on Thursday, June 28 near Chester. The Loma field day will begin at 9:00 a.m. north of Loma near the Lyle McKeever farm at 1494 McKeever Road. The Turner field day will begin at 5:00 p.m. near the Max Cederberg farm north of Turner. A barbecue hosted by CHS Big Sky will follow the Turner field day. The Chester field day...
Highwood Bench Soil Acidity Management Field Day MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) and MSU Extension will be hosting a field day on the Highwood Bench on Wednesday, June 20, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The field day will take place approximately one mile east of the Long farm on 1221 Shonkin Road. The field day will begin with a tour of the CARC cereal, pea and canola plots, which have been seeded in low pH soil to determine tolerance to soil acidity. Dr. Jamie Sherman (MSU Barley Breeder) will cover barley varieties at the test plot...
Lawn Management Information The Master Gardener program provides research based information for gardeners. Below are a few notes taken from the turf management portion of the program. • Rough bluegrass is probably the best grass in Montana for shady areas. • Kentucky bluegrass is the best grass for open sunny areas with well-drained soil. • Annual ryegrass can be used as a cover crop following vegetable production. • The standard lawn mix is 60% Kentucky bluegrass, 30% creeping red fescue and 10% annual ryegrass. • Zoysiagrass does not grow...
11 Knees Area Field Day will feature Group 1 Tolerant Winter Wheat MAES-MSU Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) and MSU Extension are hosting a field day in the Knees area on June 6th at 9:00 a.m. The event will begin approximately ½ mile north of J & A Farms. J & A Farms is located at 2226 Knees Church Road. Ed Davis (MSU Specialist in Cropland Weed Research) will show producers a test plot of CoAxium winter wheat which is tolerant to a non-selective group 1 graminicide, Agressor. Agressor can be sprayed on the winter...
