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The Value of Castration for Calves Castration of bull calves prior to marketing has long been encouraged by Extension educators and the recommendation is backed by objective research from multiple perspectives. From a health perspective, calves castrated at less than three months old experience lower stress levels, less sickness, and lower rates of death loss (Campbell). From an animal welfare perspective, older calves experience more stress at castration and a longer period of stress-related impacts relative to calves castrated at birth or at...
Yellow Alyssum is Becoming a Problem in lawns As a result of drought conditions, large patches of yellow alyssum are turning up in lawns across Chouteau county. Yellow alyssum (Alyssum alyssoides) is native to northern Africa, eastern Europe, and western Asia. The weed was brought to North America for medicinal purposes because it was said it could cure hiccups, mental illness, and rabies. Yellow alyssum is an annual forb belonging to the Mustard family (Brassicaceae). Plants are relatively...
Watch for Anthracnose in Lentils Anthracnose, a lentil disease caused by the pathogen Colletotrichum truncatum, has been detected in 16% of lentil seed lots tested in the Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Lab this winter. While levels of this seed-transmitted pathogen are low, the widespread presence of the pathogen in seed lots indicates that growers should be consistently monitoring their lentils this growing season, particularly if environmental conditions are favorable for the development of Anthracnose. Favorable conditions include abundant...
Lawn Management Information The Master Gardener program provides research based information for gardeners. Level 1 Master Gardener will take place next March. Please contact the Chouteau County Extension office at 406-622-3751 and get signed up. 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 veget...
Are Your Pine Needles Brown, Red or Purple? It Could be Winterburn. Information from this article comes from Dr. Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester). 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 only last year’s new needles are impacted and in other cases most of the older needles are d...
Recropping Potential is Poor to Fair for All of Chouteau County The Chouteau County Soil Moisture Survey was started by Judee Wargo in 1993 to assist farmers in determining recropping potential on cereal grain stubble. After 30 years, the Chouteau County Extension Office continues to compile data for determining recropping potential and provide the state drought committee with soil moisture information. Testing for soil moisture took place in Chouteau county on April 10-12. The only winter wheat plots that scored in the good range were two...
Alfalfa Seeding Q&A How important is it to have a firm seed bed? “Packing the seed bed has become a standard component of establishing perennial forages.” (Dave Wichman, 2016) What is the recommended seeding rate for dryland alfalfa? “In numerous dryland trials across Montana, no yield or stand advantage has been documented at planting rates higher than 5 pounds of pure live seed (PLS) per acre. Five pounds of PLS equates to approximately 23 seeds per square foot. Heavier seeding rates will lead to over-competition during estab...
Tree and Shrub Grafting Class at Fort Benton Library The Fort Benton garden club is hosting a tree and shrub grafting class at the Fort Benton Library at 12:15 on April 19. Those who attend will learn how to make unproductive apple trees and rosebushes productive thru the grafting process. In addition, there will be a hands-on grafting demonstration where gardeners will get to practice. Please bring a grafting knife, paring knife or a carpet knife. Branches, tape and wax will all be available. The class is free and open to the public. In...
Initial Private Applicator Pesticide Training in Stanford MSU Extension Judith Basin County will be offering a Private Pesticide Applicator Initial Training on April 6,2023 in Stanford. The training will take place at the Stanford City Hall located at 102 Central Ave. New applicators will need to fill out a new applicator permit with $60 fee (if within District 5) and mail to Montana Department of Agriculture. Please register by April 5th (walk-ins are welcome). For further questions, please contact the MSU Extension Judith Basin County office...
MSU Extension Forester will teach Shelterbelt Management near Loma Peter Kolb (Montana State University Extension Forester) will be teaching shelterbelt management on Thursday, April 13th from 3:30 p.m-5:00 p.m. at the Terry and LeRita McKeever residence. The address is north of Loma at 2088 Houston road. 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...
Tenth annual Chouteau County Agriculture Day for 4th and 5th Graders The tenth annual Chouteau County Ag Day for 4th and 5th graders will take place at the Chouteau County Fairgrounds on April 20, 2023. 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. Youth will learn why agriculture is important to their health, home a...
The 4-H Shooting Sports 2023 Chouteau County Invitational Shoot was held February 25th in Fort Benton with 64 members registered to shoot. Participants were mostly from the Golden Triangle Counties. Other counties participating were Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Wheatland and Gallatin. Medals went to the following Chouteau County participants: REGULAR TARGET Name Division Award Score Brentlee Bomgardner Primitive Bow (ages 13-14) silver 215.04 Brentlee Bomgardner Bare Bow (ages 13-14) gold 198.02 Jacynta Bomgardner Bare Bow (ages 15-18) gold...
Urban Pesticide Education Tour: April 20, Great Falls The MSU Pesticide Education Program is offering an urban pesticide training on April 20 in Great Falls to assist homeowners, gardeners, and other urban pesticide applicators in understanding the basics of using pesticides. Program topics include how to select the proper pesticide, reading and understanding the pesticide product label, how to manage pests, calibrating sprayers properly, pesticide safety, and avoiding non-target impacts. The training will offer private and commercial...
MSU Extension Hill County to hold a bull selection workshop in Havre A bull selection workshop is scheduled for March 1, 2023 at 5:30 pm in the 4-H Chuckwagon in Havre. MSU Extension Agent, Colleen Pegar, will walk participants through bull sale catalogs to discuss the differences between breed associations and what the numbers actually mean. Expected Progeny Differences or EPDs can be confusing to understand unless you are around them daily or have taken a cattle genetics class. Attendees will gain confidence on what EPDs are and how they are...
Many Reasons Why Deciduous Trees Should Not Be Topped Topping is the drastic removal or cutting back of large branches in mature trees. The tree is sheared like a hedge and the main branches are cut to stubs. Many homeowners top trees when they reach heights considered unsafe fearing a strong wind might blow large trees over. However, the extensive root system of a healthy tree provides adequate support for the tree. Below are a number of reasons why deciduous trees should not be topped. Starvation: Trees need leaves to manufacture starches...
Top Yielding Spring Wheat Varieties for Chouteau County MSU Agricultural Research Centers have one test plot for spring 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...
MSU Extension Chouteau County Has Hay Probe and Nutrition Decision Software Sampling of hay is essential to livestock management. Hay sampling is best accomplished with a hollow core probe consisting of a stainless-steel tube and a sharp cutting end. The Chouteau County Extension office has a hay probe available for check out. One core should be sampled from at least 20 bales from a lot of hay. A lot of hay is defined as hay harvested from a field of uniform maturity within a 48 hour period. Generally a lot should not exceed 200 tons. Poor...
Grasshopper Management Q&A I hear ranchers can get assistance from the USDA in grasshopper spraying. Who do I contact? Contact Eric Norderud at 406-449-5210 or erik.d.norderud@usda.gov. Please have a breakdown of private acres and government acres before you contact Eric. Will the cold temperatures increase grasshopper egg mortality? The answer for 2023 is probably not. In Canada, few grasshoppers hatched following a winter with temperatures at negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit (Riegert, 1967). However, Canada had little snow cover during the time...
New informational Guide on Noxious and Invasive Weed Management A new informational guide EBO242 is now available at the Chouteau County Extension office. It is titled Revegetation Guidelines: Considering Invasive and Noxious Weeds. The guide was created by Noelle Orloff, Jane Mangold and Jerry Marks from Montana State University, Monica Pokorny from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Bryce Christiaens and Steffany Rogge from the Missoula County Department of Ecology. Revegetation, the intentional planting of desired species,...
Gardeners Wishlist nformation for this article came from the 2023 Urban IPM Calendar which was created by Montana State University Integrated Pest Management. Calendars are still available at the Chouteau County Extension Office. If you still have some gift money from the holidays and you are looking for ways to make your gardening easier, you may consider purchasing one or two items from the following list. • Attracting Native Pollinators: The Xerces Society Guide, Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies • solitary bee house • members...
Dry Matter Losses of Hay from Field to Feeding This article was written by Dennis Cash, retired MSU Extension Service forage specialist. Winter feeding is likely your single largest ranch expense. Reducing hay waste can save you money. Hay losses at feeding on most ranches averages about one fourth, but can easily approach half. During good haying conditions and with proper storage, most losses to alfalfa or alfalfa-grass hays can be minimized. Dense large round or rectangular bales are widely used, but significant losses occur when these are s...
Deer Need a Little “Tough Love” in Winter Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently sent out a warning to Montanan’s that it is illegal to feed deer under Montana law. Jim Knight, MSU Extension Wildlife Specialist (retired) explained a 2003 article why feeding deer is a poor practice The compete article is available at https://bit.ly/3uU6JRa. Feeding deer hay or corn can be deadly because deer cannot always digest new feed. Deer digestion involves protozoa and bacteria that help break down food. Different micro-organisms help digest diffe...
MSU Extension Cropping Seminar Scheduled for January 13 in Fort Benton Montana State University Extension will host a free, annual cropping seminar on January 13 at the Ag Center located at 1205 20th Street. Three commercial or private pesticide licensing recertification credits will be available. A special thanks to Max Ag for sponsoring the lunch in Fort Benton. Cereal grain varieties update will be presented by Dr. Jed Eberly from MSU Central Agricultural Research Center and Peggy Lamb from MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center....
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...
Christmas Tree Care hen it comes to Christmas tree care during the holidays, the best strategy is to keep it simple. 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 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 water per one...
