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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...
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...
