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New Montguide on Native Plants for Montana’s Home Gardens Abiya (Abi) Saeed, MSU Extension Horticulture Specialist, Andrea Beery, MSU Extension, Big Horn County and Noelle Orloff, MSU Schutter Diagnostic Lab Plant Identification Diagnostician have developed a new Montguide on native plants. Hard copies are available at the Chouteau County Extension Office. Landscaping with Montana’s native plants can have countless benefits. Native plants have cold and drought hardiness, provide food and habitat for beneficial insects, including pol...
Soil Acidity Workshop in Fort Benton on February 17th The Chouteau County Conservation District, Natural Resource Conservation Service and MSU Extension are collaborating for a soil acidity workshop on February 17th from 10:00-1:30. The event will take place in Fort Benton at the Community Bible Church located at 1600 Main Street. A special thanks to the Chouteau County Conservation District for sponsoring the event and for furnishing prizes for participants. Farmers in several Montana counties are experiencing nearly complete yield loss in...
Montana’s Next Generation Conference Returns to Shelby, MT, Jan. 31, 2026 The 2026 Montana’s Next Generation Conference is back Saturday, January 31 at the Shelby High School in Shelby, MT. The conference will offer keynote speaker, Rob Sharkey, followed by 30 workshops to choose from including recordkeeping, market outlooks, marketing, crop and livestock production, succession planning and business topics. The morning will kick off with a much-anticipated keynote address “Sharks Don’t Swim Backwards” from Rob Sharkey, also known as The Shark...
Master Gardener Level 1 Class in Chouteau County (Please Pre-register) MSU Extension Level 1 Master Gardener classes will take place in Chouteau County pending pre-registration numbers. Now is your chance to participate in an excellent educational opportunity. A minimum of 15 pre-registered participants is required. The class traditionally begins the first week in March. Please contact the MSU Chouteau County Extension office at 622-3751 to pre-register. The Level 1 Master Gardener course requires 16 hours of class time, and is taught by local...
Thank You to Those That Helped Out on Chouteau County Agricultural Business Day A total of 75 junior and senior students from Big Sandy, Fort Benton, Geraldine, Highwood and Chouteau County home schools participated in the 2025 Chouteau County Agricultural Business Day. The event took place on December 17th. The mission statement of the event was to educate Chouteau County juniors and seniors about agricultural career opportunities in an effort to promote growth in agricultural related careers. A special thank you to those businesses that contr...
Winter Watering Trees and Shrubs The following article was written by Abiya (Abi) Saeed, MSU Extension Horticulture Specialist. With unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of snow cover in many parts of the state, winter-related injuries such as moisture loss and desiccation are hurting our trees and shrubs. Evergreens less than five years old are the most susceptible. Moisture loss due to warm temperatures and wind, as well as low moisture availability in the soils can result in root damage, stunted growth, leaf discoloration and early defoli...
Montana State University (MSU) Extension will host its annual cropping seminar series January 5-9, 2026, in the Golden Triangle area. The Fort Benton seminar will take place on Monday, January 5 at the Ag Center, 1205 20th Street. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the seminar will begin at 9:00 a.m. A special thanks to MaxAg of Montana for sponsoring the lunch. Below is a list of the topics and presenters. (60 minutes) Marketing and Risk in a Price Crunch: Kelsey Larson MSU Agriculture Economics and Economics Specialist and Andrew...
The MCSN in cooperation with the Montana Extension Service, local Conservation Districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, offers low-cost tree and shrub seedlings for use in conservation plantings. MCSN seedlings are for conservation practices and cannot be used for ornamental or landscape plantings. Landscape plants can be purchased at your local private retail nursery or garden center. The Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery (MCSN) will begin taking orders for shelterbelt trees at 8:00 a.m. on January 21, 2026. MSCN operates...
Christmas Tree Care There are many recommendations online for Christmas tree care that promote longevity. In truth, 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 research-based 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...
Junior and senior students from Big Sandy, Fort Benton, Geraldine, Highwood and Chouteau County home schools will participate in the 2025 Chouteau County Agricultural Business Day on December 17th. The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. – noon at the Ag Center (1205 20th Street). An estimated twenty businesses will be in attendance to educate juniors and seniors about agricultural career opportunities in Chouteau County. Businesses will specialize in a variety of fields including vet science, agronomy, grain elevator management, insurance, a...
Megan Van Emon, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, Montana State University New World Screwworm (NWS) is a species of fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) that lays eggs in the wounds of living warm-blooded animals. Eggs hatch within 12-24 hours into larvae that burrow into the wound to feed. Burrowing creates a larger wound that can lead to illness and death if not treated. The fly was once native to the Southern United States and was eradicated in 1966 with the targeted release of sterilized male flies. Since females only mate once in their...
I found an interesting article from Canadian Cattlemen Magazine on stretching hay supply with straw (bit.ly/3w4HUBK). I asked Dr. Megan Van Emon, MSU Assistant Professor, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, to review the article to see if it is a good fit for Chouteau County producers. I have included Megan’s comments. Travis Peardon, the regional livestock specialist in Outlook, Saskatchewan says straw has its limitations when used in beef cattle diets. Straw does not contain enough energy, protein, minerals or vitamins to be the sole source o...
MSU Extension Chouteau County will host an Initial Pesticide Applicator Training on December 4th, 2025 at The Ag Center in Fort Benton. The class will take place from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Lunch will be provided. If you have someone working with you on the farm or ranch who needs a license and is 18 years old or older, December 4th would be the time to get it done. Once they have passed the class they will be grandfathered in and will not have to earn three extra credits for non-soil fumigants. Private pesticide applicators who have not earned t...
The Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association annual meeting will take place on Thursday, November 13th at 3:00 p.m. at the Vets Hall in Geraldine. A social will follow the business meeting at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00. Please RSVP Buck Goldhahn at 622-5572 so the cooks can have notice on how many people will be attending. This year’s guest speaker is Montana Department of Agriculture Vertebrate Pest Specialist Stephen Vantassel. He will be speaking from 6:45-7:45. The presentation will be on prairie dog management. There w...
Managing horticultural landscapes and houseplants in the fall is important for healthy production during the growing season. Below are a few recommendations for Chouteau County gardeners. • Apply protective mulches to perennial beds. • Use a humidifier to maintain humidity for houseplants. • Prune out dead limbs of woody ornamentals. • Do not fertilize or transplant anything after Indigenous Peoples’ Day. • Continue to water landscape plantings (trees, shrubs, and perennials) until the soil freezes. • Apply winter mulch to strawberry beds as so...
MSU Extension Urban Alert system for Chouteau County gardeners Chouteau County gardeners can sign up for “MSU Urban Alert,” a system developed to rapidly share information about plant disease, insect and weed issues in urban settings. Urban Alerts can be set up to go to E-mail or text. The MSU Urban Alert focuses on issues in homes, gardens, parks or other outdoor urban settings. MSU Urban Alert might warn people to avoid mistaking the fruit of the poisonous vine white bryony with grapes, for example. It could provide the latest inf...
Citations come from Emily Glunk/Meccage (MSU Extension Forage Specialist) and Dennis Cash (Retired MSU Extension Forage Specialist). When is it safe to hay or graze my alfalfa in the fall? Harvest or graze the alfalfa after several days of consecutive killing frost, once the plant is dormant and will not be attempting to regrow before the winter (Glunk, 2017). What does it take for a killing frost in alfalfa? Usually it takes about 3 days of less than 24 degrees to get the plant to shut down. (Meccage, 2018) How do I minimize the chance of...
The article below is a portion of an article written by Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester). The article is available in full at the Chouteau County Extension office. The article explains the natural phenomenon of fall needle drop, insect management, and proper watering techniques for pine and spruce trees. Every fall a lot of concern arises when conifers such as pines, spruces and firs start to drop their older needle cohorts in preparation for winter. This is essentially an energy conservation mechanism for surviving the winter as all living...
Private applicators within PAT District 3 require six private applicator credits prior to the license expiration date of December 31, 2025 to renew their licenses. Applicators can review their credit information on the MSU PEP website by selecting “License and Credit Search” and entering their license number. Applicators can also contact their MSU County Extension office for license information. Presenters for the tour include: • Ricardo Pinto, PhD, MSU Precision Ag. Research & Extension Specialist will discuss novel technologies for targe...
MSU Agricultural Research Centers have one test plot for winter 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 2015-2024 include Bobcat at 55.9 bushels per acre,...
The Chouteau County Fair concluded for the 4-H and FFA members on August 17 However, the work continues for our Chouteau County organizational leaders and FFA advisors. Chouteau County MSU Extension would like to give special recognition to our 4-H organizational leaders for guiding and preparing our 4-H youth through meetings, competitions, workshops and the fair. The Chouteau County 4-H club organizational leaders include Kelly Crowder (Arrowhead), Justina Merja and Chandee Bomgardner (Stir Stitch ’N’ Stirrup), Mary Ophus and Misty LeF...
September Horticulture Management Managing horticultural landscapes in September is essential to healthy production during the growing season. Below are a few recommendations for Chouteau County gardeners. • The average first frost is September 15 (Carter), September 18 (Kenilworth and Highwood), September 20 (Big Sandy), September 25 (Fort Benton) and September 28 (Geraldine). All fruit and vegetables should be harvested before temperatures drop below 40° to 50°F. • Ripen tomatoes in a paper bag along with an apple, or hang the entire plant up...
Practical Considerations for Bovine Castration The following article was written by Rosslyn Biggs, DVM, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Beef Cattle Specialist. Approaches to castration should be made with operational objectives and animal welfare in mind. Producers should consult with their herd veterinarian for a castration protocol that includes consideration for animal age, facilities available, castration method, and pain control. Calves castrated at younger ages—ideally under three months—generally experience less str...
Horticultural Tips for August Below are some rules of thumb when tending vegetables, lawns, flowers and trees during the month of August. • Renovate strawberries by mowing a minimum of every three years. Some people mow their strawberries every year following fruit production. Be sure to set the mower high enough to mow the leaves. Mowing too low may damage the crowns and kill the plant. • Topdress strawberries after harvest with a complete fertilizer like 16-16-16. • Pinch the tops of indeterminate tomatoes and reduce watering to promo...
A Special Thanks in Advance to our Chouteau County 4-H Fair Superintendents 4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for a career tomorrow. 4-H programs help develop nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA. Cooperative Extension serves every county and reservation in the U.S. through a network of 110...