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Summer Pneumonia in Beef Calves Summer pneumonia in nursing beef calves is not uncommon, but occurs with low frequency. A wide variety of risk factors for summer pneumonia exist including relative success of colostrum antibody transfer, commingling of groups, weather changes, nutrition changes or deficiencies, pathogen exposure, handling stress, calving difficulty, and operation-specific risk factors like lack of labor. The immunity a calf receives through colostrum is called passive immunity, and is the major source of immune function in the n...
Gardening Tips for the Month of July Below are a few tips which will assist gardeners with summer management of their landscapes. Additional gardening information is available at the Chouteau County Extension Office located in the green building next to the courthouse. • Plants use in our landscapes is up to 2.5 inches of water per week. • Harvest broccoli while heads are tight. • Pick shell peas when the seeds are fully developed but before ripening. Harvest edible pod peas when the seeds are barely visible inside the pod. Allow snap peas...
New Herbicide-Resistant Kochia Montguide Available Information for this article comes from Montguide MT 201806AG. Authors include Dr. Prashant Jha from MSU Southern Agricultural Research Center and group of County Extension Agents from the Golden Triangle. The complete document is available online or at the Chouteau County Extension Office. Our office is located in the green building next to the courthouse. Herbicide -resistant plants often develop from repeated use of a single mode of action herbicide. Plants can develop resistance to...
Sign up now for Marias River Float Trip and Weed Tour Registration forms are now available to sign up for a float trip on the Marias River to learn more about noxious weed management and watershed conservation problems. The Marias River Basin Weed Control Association and Marias River Watershed Group are hosting the trip on Thursday, July 12th. This year’s float will take us from the Moffat Bridge below Tiber Dam, downstream 11 miles to the Circle Bridge south of Chester. Participants will meet at the Tiber Marina on Lake Elwell, above Tiber D...
Recommendations for Reestablishing Crested Wheatgrass A long, cold, icy winter in 2017-2018 was very harmful to crested wheat grass. Although snow amounts were record-setting in some locations around the state, crested wheatgrass died in areas where wind kept areas free of snow cover. Where crested plants had little residual stubble, the wind and cold temperatures killed the buds. In other areas, thick sheets of ice covered crested plants, and especially where residual stubble was limited, the ice exacerbated the cold temperatures and killed...
Tree watering rules of thumb • Water trees three times a month in addition to watering your lawn. • Deep watering to a depth of 12” inches below the soil surface is recommended. Saturate the soil around the tree within the “dripline” (the outer edges of the tree’s branches) to disperse water down toward the roots. • For evergreens, water 3’-5’ beyond the dripline on all sides of the tree. • The objective is to water slowly, dispersing the flow of water to get the water deep down to the trees roots. Watering for short periods of time onl...
Field days near Loma, Turner and Chester on June 27 and June 28 MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) and MSU Extension will be hosting two field days near Loma and Turner on Wednesday, June 27 and another field day on Thursday, June 28 near Chester. The Loma field day will begin at 9:00 a.m. north of Loma near the Lyle McKeever farm at 1494 McKeever Road. The Turner field day will begin at 5:00 p.m. near the Max Cederberg farm north of Turner. A barbecue hosted by CHS Big Sky will follow the Turner field day. The Chester field day...
Highwood Bench Soil Acidity Management Field Day MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) and MSU Extension will be hosting a field day on the Highwood Bench on Wednesday, June 20, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The field day will take place approximately one mile east of the Long farm on 1221 Shonkin Road. The field day will begin with a tour of the CARC cereal, pea and canola plots, which have been seeded in low pH soil to determine tolerance to soil acidity. Dr. Jamie Sherman (MSU Barley Breeder) will cover barley varieties at the test plot...
Lawn Management Information The Master Gardener program provides research based information for gardeners. Below are a few notes taken from the turf management portion of the program. • Rough bluegrass is probably the best grass in Montana for shady areas. • Kentucky bluegrass is the best grass for open sunny areas with well-drained soil. • Annual ryegrass can be used as a cover crop following vegetable production. • The standard lawn mix is 60% Kentucky bluegrass, 30% creeping red fescue and 10% annual ryegrass. • Zoysiagrass does not grow...
11 Knees Area Field Day will feature Group 1 Tolerant Winter Wheat MAES-MSU Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) and MSU Extension are hosting a field day in the Knees area on June 6th at 9:00 a.m. The event will begin approximately ½ mile north of J & A Farms. J & A Farms is located at 2226 Knees Church Road. Ed Davis (MSU Specialist in Cropland Weed Research) will show producers a test plot of CoAxium winter wheat which is tolerant to a non-selective group 1 graminicide, Agressor. Agressor can be sprayed on the winter...
Soil Acidity is Causing Crop Failure in some Montana Fields: Is yours next? Farmers in several Montana counties are experiencing nearly complete yield loss in portions of their fields due to soil acidity (low pH). Standard top 6-inch soil pH testing may not definitively identify soil acidity problems. Most fields with low pH problem areas also have larger areas with higher pH that buffer the pH value when soil samples submitted to labs are mixed from 6-8 subsamples per field. Also, the lowest pH is generally in the top 2 to 3 inches, not the to...
Cattle Facilities Educational Program at Lost Lake Ranch Darrin Boss Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) Assistant Research Professor in Animal Science and Cory Parsons, NARC Operations Manager will be visiting the Lost Lake Ranch on May 10 to evaluate the calving shed and corrals. If you are interested in learning about cattle facility design and efficiency, we will be meeting at 1:00 at the calving shed. Directions: Drive south of Fort Benton on highway 80 until you reach mile marker 17. Take a right on Doll road and drive south...
Sixth Annual Chouteau County Agriculture Day for 4th and 5th Graders The sixth annual Chouteau County Ag Days for 4th and 5th graders will take place at the Chouteau County Fairgrounds on May 2, 2018. All 4th and 5th graders in Chouteau County are invited to attend. Home school kids who are interested in participating need to contact the Chouteau County Extension Office at 622-3751. Participants will learn the importance of Montana’s number one industry; agriculture, and why agriculture is important to their health, home and community. For t...
Rising Costs of Vitamins A and E As many producers may have noticed, cost of vitamins A and E have increased over the past few months, and subsequently, mineral supplements that include vitamins A and E. The rising costs were mainly due to a fire on October 31, 2017 at the BASF plant in Germany, which produces citral, a precursor in manufacturing vitamin A and E products. The BASF vitamin A and E manufacturing plants were shut down for scheduled, routine maintenance at the time of the fire and will reopen once the citral plant begins production...
Gardening Questions and Answers per Master Gardener Class • Will removing half the vegetable plant leaves when transplanting reduce transpiration and wilting? According to Illinois Extension, pruning transplants to reduce water loss is not a recommended practice. Although pruning may reduce the extent of wilting after setting out, it will also reduce the rate of new root growth. When a plant is transplanted, food energy stored in the old, large leaves will be transported downward to promote root growth. If these leaves are removed, root g...
Cropping Q and A in March from the Chouteau County Extension Office • Why were wheat protein levels so low in many areas of Chouteau County in 2017? Clain Jones MSU Extension Fertility Specialist replied with the following: Generally, in Montana, we seem to get drought during grain fill which reduces yield, concentrating the amount of protein and Nitrogen in a smaller amount of grain, resulting in higher protein. While in 2017 we definitely had drought during grain fill, we also had it around flowering, which I think trumped the c...
The Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum The Montana Nutrition Conference and Livestock Forum will take place on April 17 and 18 at the Best Western GranTree Inn, 1325 N 7th Avenue in Bozeman. Attendees can register online at https://www.montana.edu/nutrition/. Educational Programs are listed below: • April 17, 11:00-12:30 – Registration • 2018 Weather Outlook • Madison Food Park Development – Todd Hanson, Norsman Group Consulting. • Alternative Forages and Economics – Emily Glunk, Extension Forage Specialist, Department of...
Private Pesticide Applicator Initial Training in Great Falls The MSU Cascade County Extension office will be offering a private pesticide applicator initial training in Great Falls on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. Registration will begin at 8:30 at the Montana ExpoPark’s Paddock Club. The training will end with the Montana Private Applicator Certification exam around 5:30 p.m. Individuals must be licensed as a private applicator prior to purchasing and using restricted use pesticides on land that they or their employers own, rent or lease. For a...
Notes from Master Gardener Class in Fort Benton A special thanks to Mariel Stone (Level 3 Master Gardener) for her help and expertise during our master gardener trainings. The Master Gardener class (Level 1) began in Fort Benton on February 22. In the past few weeks we have covered soils, plant biology, and vegetable production. Notes from the class are below. • Do not work soil when it is wet. If the soil sticks to the shovel, wait a few more days. • The number one thing that kills our plants is TLC. Don’t over fertilize, don’t over trim, d...
Management Methods Cows during the Calving Season Managing cows to rebreed as scheduled is an important practice during the calving season. Below are a few good management practices to remember from the Cow-Calf Management Guide Section CL115. • The above-average milking cow will need about 30 pounds of hay per day. • Ration balancing using the animal’s nutrient requirements and the nutrient composition of the feed resource should be used to determine appropriate ration. The Chouteau County Extension office has an excellent ration balan...
Soil Acidity and Soil Health Workshop in Fort Benton The Chouteau County Soil Acidity Working Group through the Chouteau County Conservation District, Big Sandy Conservation District, NRCS and MSU Extension has organized a soil acidity and soil health workshop at the Ag Center in Fort Benton on February 27, 2018. The Ag Center is located at 1205 20th Street. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The workshop will begin at 10:00 a.m. Most agricultural soils in Montana have near-neutral to basic conditions with surface soil pH 6.5 to 8. However,...
Toby Day will teach Level 1 Master Gardener Class in Fort Benton Toby Day (MSU Extension Horticultural Associate) will be teaching the first session of Master Gardener training on February 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Toby Day will provide an overview of the Master Gardener program, and educate participants on soils, nutrients and fertilizers. The class will take place at the Memorial Ambulance of Fort Benton building located at 810 15th Street. The first session will be open to the public and free of charge. The Level 1 Master Gardener...
Hoof Cracks in Beef Cattle Research based information for this article was compiled by Rachel Endecott (Former MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist). The complete article is available at http://www.msuextension.org/beefcattle/cowsensechronicle.html. In general, foot cracks are classified as either horizontal (transverse fissures) or vertical (sand cracks). The mildest form of a horizontal foot crack is known as a hardship groove, which is thought to be associated with disease, stress, or nutritional abnormality. A Canadian study of 6 different...
Soil Acidity and Soil Health Workshop in Fort Benton The Chouteau County Soil Acidity Working Group has organized a soil acidity and soil health workshop at the Ag Center in Fort Benton on February 27, 2018. The Ag Center is located at 1205 20th Street. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The workshop will begin at 10:00 a.m. Most agricultural soils in Montana have near-neutral to basic conditions with surface soil pH 6.5 to 8. However, some areas of Montana have developed acidic soil layers near the surface as a result of fertilizer N use...
Toby Day will teach Level 1 Master Gardener Class in Fort Benton Toby Day (MSU Extension Horticultural Associate) will be teaching the first session of Master Gardener training on February 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Toby Day will provide an overview of the Master Gardener program, and educate participants on soils, nutrients and fertilizers. The class will take place at the Memorial Ambulance of Fort Benton building located at 810 15th Street. The first session will be open to the public and free of charge. The Level 1 Master Gardener...