Agriculture

Published: 2020
By Ken Nelson

McCone County MSU Extension offers programming that addresses production issues, nutrition, forage testing, water testing, and marketing for livestock producers. Programming is also offered for crop producers dealing with specialty crops, weed control, rental rates, and general crop production topics. Face-to-face programming is done through producer meetings and workshops, as well as one-on-one consultations in the office and/or at the farm or ranch. A very effective means of communicating with the producers about a wide variety of issues is the weekly newspaper article, “Notes from Nelson.” The focus of this weekly column is current agricultural issues. The issues addressed often result in calls or visits to the Extension office to further discuss the topics addressed. The McCone County MSU Extension agent also teams with several other Extension agents who present current issues and information via a weekly radio spot on a Miles City radio station. A very popular service of MSU Extension continues to be in the area of weed, plant, and insect identification. Samples are brought in on a regular basis. Samples that cannot be identified immediately are submitted to the Schutter Diagnostic Lab on the MSU campus. Although not as many as in previous years, a number of forage samples were brought in for nitrate content analysis. Livestock water quality continues to be a local concern. Educational efforts were put forth to help make livestock producers aware of managing for water quality. A major programming focus for the past year has again been in the area of All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) safety. ATVs are widely used on most Montana farms and ranches. Farmers and ranchers, as well as their employees and family members, are involved in too many ATV accidents that result in serious injury and deaths. Approximately 18 youth and 4 adults were involved in ATV Safety-related events through the McCone County MSU Extension office. Other specific programming efforts included addressing stocking rates, rangeland noxious weeds, alfalfa management, and custom rates.