Sorry for the hiatus

With the winter season definitely upon us and snow piled in every knook and cranny available, there is not much happening in the agronomic sector of Richland County these days. While looking at the piles of snow everywhere is not my idea of entertainment, some comfort can be taken in the fact that, eventually it will melt and hopefully most of that moisture will be absorbed by the ground and available in the early spring when needed.

To help take our minds off of snow and replace those thoughts with good agricultural-related information, producers should plan on attending the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show. Ag Days will take place on January 13 and 14 at the Richland County Event Center located on the Richland County Fairgrounds. Thursday's lineup of speakers will be geared more towards our ranching friends while Friday's topics will focus on crop production, soil health, and weather.

I will not go into great detail regarding the schedule, but encourage you to check out the web site above. Ag Days will surely be a great event with a vast array of products and services displayed in the trade show area and great information disseminated during the educational sessions.

For more information and details regarding Ag Days, give the Richland County Extension Office a call at 406-433-1206.

The grain may be in the bin, but you're not out of the woods yet

There may be a field of corn or two here and there that may need to come off yet, but for the most part, all of the crops grown in Richland County are either in the bin, in the bunker, or delivered to their final destination. If you have grain that you are storing on your farm, I would encourage you not to forget about it. You may consider periodic checks on your grain just to make sure that everything is exactly as it was when you first put the grain in there. More than likely, you will not have issues if the grain was properly dried an aerated but it is better to find out now rather than wait until you start to unload it for delivery.

Speaking of grain bins, I would encourage you to come and check out the trade show at the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show on January 13 and 14. Not only will there be quite the line up of agricultural products displayed, but there will also be some excellent agricultural and livestock talks given over the two day period. For more information, click on the link above, or give me a call at 406-433-1206 or send me an email.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the headlining entertainment for this year's event. If you are planning on coming to Ag Days, make sure and get your tickets for the Thursday evening banquet. A delicious beef dinner will be served and you will be entertained by none other than Baxter Black. Tickets are on sale now but quantities are limited.

Much to be thankful for as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches

Producers in Richland County have a multitude of reasons to be thankful this season. Harvest (at least the portion of it that is finished) was great, things went smooth for the most part, and the weather was fairly cooperative.

I am thankful to our producers and for our producers and really appreciate all of your efforts in providing a safe, wholesome, product for our dinner tables.

Richland County Crop/Weather report for the week of November 7

Ag Activities- I am not ready to say that we are completely finished with harvest as there are still a few fields here and there that have crops in them, but I think that I can safely say that we will be finished by Thanksgiving. I think the word "tremendous" could be used to explain this years harvest and I look forward to seeing the final reports.

Fall tillage and some fertilizer application are other activities that are keeping producers busy at this time of year.

Weather- While I usually talk about harvest reports as being a mixed bag of results, I would use that phrase to explain the weather these past couple of weeks. We have gone from moderate temps with little to no breeze to rain, to blowing snow, then back to moderate temps again. So far for the month of November, the weather stations have reported anything from little to no precipitation to an inch and a half.

Richland County Crop/Weather report for the week of October 24

Except for corn for grain, soybeans, and some safflower here and there, harvest is complete!! For the most part, producers enjoyed a very timely and productive harvest, thanks to everything falling in line for a great year.

I believe that all of our winter wheat is in the ground now and a majority of that has emerged and is off to a good start. Moisture to get the wheat plant started was not an issue but the cold weather we received earlier this week may have caused some damage to emerging seedlings, time will tell.

Weather-The first measurable amount of snowfall fell earlier in the week. However, the snow fell before we experienced our coldest temperatures (lows around 0 in some parts) so hopefully it provided some insulation.

NOAA Releases Winter Weather predictions

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center has just released their Winter Outlook for the 2010-2011 winter season. To sum up the report, the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Plains regions of the U.S. are expected to see a colder and wetter winter this year.

To read the report in it's entirety, visit http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20101021_winteroutlook.html

Crop/Weather report for the week of October 17

Harvest- Although I am not prepared to say that we are completely finished with our small grains harvest at this point, I would say that we are about as close as can be. For the most part, farmers have completed their harvest but there is still a patch here and there that needs to be taken in. While it is still preliminary and purely word-of-mouth, what I have heard are reports of above average yields with below average protein levels. Although, as can be said about most years, there are also reports of below average yields and higher protein levels.

Sugarbeet harvest is also in the wrap-up stages. This being the first year for me actually seeing sugarbeet harvest I have nothing to compare it to. With that being said though, there are several people who have mentioned that this year's harvest has been tremendous.

Safflower harvest is probably over the 75% mark, corn harvest for grain is just in the beginning stages, and I have not seen any soybeans that have been combined yet.

Weather- Conditions this week have been just about ideal once again for harvest and any other field work activities (fall tillage, herbicide applications, etc...) that are underway. Over night temperatures in the 20's and 30's have led to daytime highs in the 50's and 60's. It does not appear like this will be the pattern for long, though as highs next week are only predicted to be in the 40's.