Richland County office one of many sites hosting a webinar on mineral leases April 4th

Montana State University Extension will sponsor a free webinar "Mineral Leasing in Montana," on Wednesday, April 4, from 10-11 a.m.

Featuring Tim Fitzgerald, assistant professor of Agricultural Economics at MSU, the webinar will outline the importance of the leasing process, current trends in oil and gas development in Montana, structure of an oil and gas lease, and related concerns. Both mineral and surface owners will find the discussion useful, as well as owners with existing leases. Participants will also be provided a check list for oil and gas leases, sample lease forms for oil and gas leases and a sample surface damage agreement.

Montana has recently experienced a flurry of interest in mineral leasing. Land and mineral owners interested in the leasing process will find this webinar useful to help understand and address their role in leasing and development issues, whether located in a proven area of the state, or in a lesser-known mineral-rich area.

There are two ways to participate in this no-charge webinar: Watch and participate individually online; or visit one of the locations offering classroom space (in Broadus, at Powder River County Courthouse; in Choteau, at Choteau Country Club; in Culbertson, at the RC Complex; in Havre, at the Northern Agricultural Research Center; in Sidney, at the Richland County Extension office; in Terry, at the Prairie County Courthouse; and in Valier, at the Valier Civic Center). For details or accommodations at host classrooms, contact the county MSU Extension agent.

To run the webinar on your personal computer, participants should update their browser to ensure the software can communicate with MSU's webinar software. Detailed instructions for these updates and a connectivity test, which can be run any time before the webinar on April 4, are available at: http://www.montana.edu/softwaredownloads/energydownloads/usingadobeconnect.pdf/

Join the April 4 webinar by visiting the following link: http://www.msuextensionconnect.org/leasing/ Please log in about 10 minutes before the actual start time.

Think your winter wheat is dead, maybe not. Here's how to tell for sure

Last week I had an opportunity to participate in a webinar hosted by NDSU, Ducks Unlimited and a few other organizations. The emphasis of the webinar was looking at winter wheat and making management decisions based on survival. A few producers have questioned whether our lack of winter and snow cover has caused winter wheat to suffer winter kill. My initial reaction was that we probably did have some significant amounts of winter kill but I'm not so sure now.

One way to know for sure whether or not your wheat crop is lost is to perform the "bag test". Here is a link to a video that shows exactly how to do it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soCj2OsLJ_w&feature=youtu.be) and also describes how to determine whether or not your wheat has survived.

I would encourage you to perform the test, especially if you have significant areas of your field that appear to be dead, before making any decisions regarding tearing up the crop or trying to inter-seed a spring wheat crop into it.

I am more than happy to help with the test if needed.

Training for new private pesticide applicators March 23

On Friday, March 23^rd, the Richland County Extension Office will host a hand’s on educational seminar for any individual wishing to obtain a private pesticide applicator’s license. The class will begin with registration at 8:30 and will wrap up around 4:45 in the afternoon. The entire session will be held at the conference center located within the Richland County Extension Office which is located at 1499 N. Central Avenue in Sidney.

Those in attendance will meet the requirements necessary to obtain a private pesticide applicator’s license for the state of Montana. Private applicators who currently hold a license are welcome to attend as well, and will receive 6 re-certification credits.

For more information about the private pesticide applicator program in Montana, please visit http://pesticides.montana.edu/. For questions, directions, or to register contact Tim Fine at 406-433-1206 or by email at tfine@montana.edu.

Conservation Tillage options for beet growers

On Tuesday, March 27 the Richland County Extension Office will host a producer panel for area sugarbeet growers. The focus of the panel will be looking at what types of conservation tillage practices (no-till, strip till, etc...) beet growers are implementing, what accomplishments have been reached by these growers, and what challenges growers face when trying to incorporate these practices into their operations.

There is no cost associated with this program and no need to pre-register. The panel discussion will begin at 6:00 p.m. and run as long as there are questions to be answered. For more information or if you have questions, contact the Richland County Extension Office.

Is Winter Wheat really that bad off?

During one of the breaks at the barley grower meeting held yesterday, there was some discussion about the winter wheat crop and whether or not our warmer temperatures and lack of snow cover to insulate the crop has had a detrimental effect on the crop. I have to admit that, as of today, I have not had an opportunity to do any scouting of the winter wheat crop but I hope to soon.

Here is some information that I found on another blog from a researcher in Wisconsin in regards to their winter wheat crop. Although conditions may be slightly different here, I would say that we are in a fairly similar situation as they are.

Here is what Shawn Conley at the University of Wisconsin had to say in regards to the winter wheat question:

"Warm weather coupled with lack of snow cover have prompted many questions regarding the relative winter-hardiness of Wisconsin's winter wheat crop. Though daytime temperatures have risen into the 40's continued night time temperatures below freezing have prompted wheat plants to maintain a winter-hardy state. Relatively speaking the WI winter wheat crop is at more risk to winter kill if we get a sudden and prolonged severe cold snap than in "normal" years however following my inspection of the Chilton variety trial site on 2/17/12 my overall concern is very low."

I hope to get out and do some scouting next week and hopefully I will find the same thing. In the meantime, if you have seen some winter kill damage to your winter wheat crop I would like to hear about it.

Mon Dak Barley Gorwers Meeting-Feb. 23

If you currently grow barley, or have thought about growing the crop, but just have not you are invited to join other growers in Sidney on Thursday, February 23. The Institute of Malt and Barley Sciences will be holding a meeting specifically for barley growers at the Richland County Extension Office.

Registration will begin at 9:30 and the program will start at 10:00. Topics that will be covered include an insurance update, factors affecting barley malting quality, a producer panel, a variety update, information about the spot form of net blotch (a relatively new disease to producers in our area, and an update on pesticides.

To register and for more information, please contact the Richland County Extension Office.

Pulse Day to be held in Wolf Point, Feb. 15

Montana State University Extension and North Dakota State University are collaborating to present MonDak Pulse Day on February 15, 2012 at the Elks Club in Wolf Point, Montana. More than twelve years ago, Extension personnel in both Montana and North Dakota saw a need to address agronomic questions related to the rising amount of pulse production (peas, chickpeas and lentils) being done in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana. Today this area, known affectionately as the MonDak area, produces 88% of the peas, 86% of lentils and 18% of chickpeas grown in the United States. Agents from both states met and discussed the feasibility of holding a seminar around pulse production. The annual MonDak Pulse Day is the result of that shared effort. The workshop strives to bring together producers, researchers and industry in an atmosphere of collaboration and commonality. Montana is proud to be hosting the twelfth occurrence of this highly successful program. Registration begins at 8:30 am (MDT) and there is a $20 fee. Lunch, sponsored by Northern Pulse Growers and educational materials are included in the fee. Three private applicator credits and five commercial and governmental credits in the Dealer, Demonstration & Research, Ag Plant Pest, Right of Way, Regulatory Weed and Aerial categories, are being offered for attending the program.

The meeting kicks off with our top three challenges in pulse production. Brian Jenks, Weed Scientist for NDSU North Central Research Extension Center (NCREC) will start off the program with a discussion of pulse production’s number one challenge- weed management. After our long snowy winter and excessively wet spring and early summer our number two challenge - disease issues and management will be presented by Michael Wunsch, Plant Pathologist for NDSU at the Carrington Research Center. The third challenge pest problems will be presented by Dr. Daniel Waldstein, NDSU Area Extension Crop Protection Specialist.

We shift gears right before lunch and learn how pulse production improves wheat yields, soil health and a producer’s bottom line. Dr. Perry Miller, MSU Professor; Land Resources and Environmental Sciences will discuss the long term value of pulses in rotation with wheat. Soil biology and the importance of soil quality will be presented by Dr. Catherine Zabinski, MSU Associate Professor; Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Brian Jenks steps up to the podium again and offers a discussion of desiccation research and restrictions.

Shannon Berndt, Executive Director or Kaye Effertz, Marketing Director of Northern Pulse Growers Association will provide an industry update and Leta Campbell will be speaking live from India via Skype where she will be attending the India Pulse Conclave. Leta will talk about Pulse Check-Off dollars and how they help to breathe life into the pulse industry – from farm to table.

Please join us for this valuable day of learning, connecting and networking. For more information please contact Ann Ronning, MSU Roosevelt County Extension Ag Agent: aronning@montana.edu 406-787-5312; Keith Brown, NDSU Extension Agent in Divide County: Keith.Brown@ndsu.edu 701-965-6501; or Shelley Mills, MSU Valley County Ag Agent: smills@montana.edu 406-228-6241.