Drought and wildfire resources

While the recent drought and related wildfires that have been reported in Montana have not affected Richland County directly, parts of the county are still dry and have not received the rain that the Sidney vicinity has.  Montana State University Extension has created a drought and wildfire resources page that has some great information.

To find it, log onto the MSU Extension homepage (http://msuextension.org) and click on the "Montana Wildfire and Drought Resources logo.  Here is a sampling of the information you can find there.

• Links to the national and regional drought monitors
• Links to information regarding water conservation
• Links to smartphone apps that show where wildfires are currently burning
• Links to prepare your home and property in the event a wildfire is near
• Links to help recover after a wildfire

While that list does not encompass all of the resources available, it does give a fairly good summary.I would encourage anyone, whether they are currently impacted by drought and/or wildfires or not, to check out this invaluable resource.

Alfalfa Weevil a real problem this year

Our warmer-than-normal winter and accompanying spring have allowed the alfalfa weevil population to flourish this spring and early summer.  Here are a couple of websites dedicated to providing options for control.

http://www.ipm.montana.edu/Training/PMT/2006/AlfalfaWeevil.pdf

  

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/entomology/entupdates/ICG_11/10_ForageCropInsects2011.pdf

I wish that I had taken pictures of our alfalfa fields before they were cut but I didn't get it done in time.  Which, in hindsight is kind of a good thing because that means that our producers got their hay cut in a timely manner to try and prevent further damage from this pest. Here are a couple of pictures that I found from various sources that show the damage the weevil does and what the larva and adult look like.

The grayish-white areas in this field are typical of what you would see if driving by an alfalfa field that has been infested.  This picture is courtesy of Iowa State University.  The affected areas show where no treatment was applied.

And here is a picture of the larva courtesy of Oklahoma State University Extension.  This is the growth stage of the pest that does the most damage.

And finally, a picture of the adult beetle, also from Oklahoma State University Extension.