Want to see how your yields compared to National/State/County Averages?

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which is a division of the USDA, has a very good and interactive web site that anyone can access to get a wide variety of reports. A sampling of information you can obtain from this site is crop progress reports; average yields for crops in the United States, Montana, or Richland County; national, state, and county rankings in specific crops and much more.

There is so much valuable information included on this site that it would be hard to list all of the reports you can find. To access the site, simply log onto http://www.nass.usda.gov/. Once there you will want to click on the data and statistics tab and the reports are fairly easy to find from there.

Weed Control Guides and Weed Identification Resources

As temperatures start to warm up and the mind turns to planting season, you may be thinking about your pre-plant weed control options. To help with decisions on which products to use and when, I have several copies of the 2010 North Dakota Weed Control Guide available for anyone who would like one to come in and pick up. If you would like one, come in and see me or send an email to tfine@montana.edu and I will do my best to get one to you.

For a complete list of weed identification sites and weed control issues for Montana, please visit http://www.ipm.montana.edu/CropWeeds/index.htm

Farm Management web site helps in making many decisions

Decisions regarding what to plant, how much to rent acreage for, whether to buy or lease equipment and the like are almost always the most difficult decisions for a farmer/rancher to make. To help make those decisions just a little bit easier, a web site has been created with downloadable software that producers can manipulate to input numbers that are unique to their operation.

There are too many spreadsheets to mention them all, but basically they fall under the categories of: Financial Management and Analysis; Machinery Management; Crop Production, Finance, and Marketing; Livestock and Forage Production, Finance, and Economics; Marketing; and Enterprise Crop Budgets.

All of the programs are free to download and use. To find them, visit http://www.montana.edu/softwaredownloads/

Recognition should be given to Duane Griffith, Extension Economic specialist, and the many other contributors for creation of the workable documents and web site.

Initial Pesticide Applicator Training

On March 25, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm, there will be a pesticide certification class for new applicators at the Nemont Friendship Room in Scobey, Montana. This will be an initial training for producers who are not licensed, as well as a chance for licensed private applicators to obtain 6 recertification credits. Commercial credits have been applied for, but confirmation of credits is still pending.

For more information, or to pre-register, please contact the Daniels County Extension Office at 487-2861 or email Nicole Winkler at nwinkler@montana.edu. A complete agenda may be viewed at http://www.pesticides.montana.edu/PAT/2010/Region4.html.

USDA/ARS Webinars

The Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney, Montana, will host three webinar sessions in the coming weeks. Dates and topics include:

• March 4 @ 12:00 noon-Dr. Daniel Papaj, Professor in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson will provide insight into the "Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on Learning in Bees and Butterflies".

• March 25 @ 12:00 noon- Dr. Moran Segoli, a postdoctoral researcher and Jay Rosenheim, both from the UC Davis Department of Entomology will focus their webinar on "The importance of Predation in Shaping Desert Communities and Trophic Levels".
  

• April 1 @ 12:00 noon-Dr. Alexandra Klein, a professor at the University of Luneburg in Germany will discuss "Can Wild Pollinators Contribute, Augment, and Complement Almond Pollination in California?".

All of these webinars are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Beth Redlin at the USDA/ARS in Sidney at 406-433-9427.

USDA/ARS Brown Bagger Series

The United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Station's (USDA/ARS) Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory (NPARL), located in Sidney, Montana has been hosting a brown bagger lunch series of informational topics and research updates for the public. While most of the sessions have concluded, there are still a few more that all are welcome to attend, they are.

• Friday, March 12-Andy Roberts ARS Research Animal Scientist-Physiologist from the ARS Rangeland and Livestock Research Laboratory in Miles City will give a presentation on "Restricted feeding/limited diets in cattle."

• Friday, March 19- an Irrigation "mini-workshop" will be held with Tyler Tjelde and Robert Evans. Tyler is the irrigation specialist at the Williston Research Extension Center and Robert conducts research at the NPARL in Sidney.

• Friday, April 9- Robert Lartey, Research Plant Pathologist at the NPARL, will present "Influenza virus and Turnip vein clearing tobamovirus: Mystery of viruses resolved!"

There is no cost or registration required to attend the brown bagger series. All presentations will be held at the USDA/ARS in Sidney, beginning at 12:00 noon. For more information, contact Beth Redlin at 406-433-9427.

New Website launched to help with Farm/Ranch Transition

The Center for Farm Financial Management, which includes Extension Agents and specialists from several states, has developed a web site to help farmers and ranchers create a plan to transfer their business to the next generation.

The Ag Transitions web site is maintained by the University of Minnesota's Extension department but, because the contributors to the Center for Farm Financial Management are located in various states across the United States, the information is applicable to just about anyone.

Farm estate planning is becoming an increasingly important topic for our farmers and ranchers and although this site may not provide every answer to every question you have, it certainly will be a good starting point. For more information about the Center for Farm Financial Management, click here.