banner

Valley County

Keeping the Service in MSU Extension Service

Published: 2020
By Shelley Mills
MSU Extension outreach and education continues to enhance the lives of constituents in Valley County. Mills identified 75 samples of weeds, insects, trees and diseases submitted to the office, providing recommendations for management when necessary. Mills conducted 19 nitrate tests, representing 1,650 acres of small grain forages such as oats, wheat, barley, and millet. Valley County MSU Extension has been utilizing a new method for nitrate testing that involves an hour-long process of drying, grinding, and testing each forage sample. The strip test indicates a range of nitrate levels rather than just a yes/no presence. This new procedure helps the agent and producer make feeding management decisions to avoid nitrate toxicity to their livestock. Valley County MSU Extension collaborated with Daniels County and Jane Mangold, PhD, to receive a $4,100 grant from the Noxious Weed Trust Fund for researching best management strategies for baby’s breath (Gypsophilia paniculata). Baby’s breath is a county noxious weed and has expanded its range in recent years. The team set up, mowed, and treated two plots in Daniels County in 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, MSU Extension’s annual fall beekeeping workshop was not held, leaving some people wondering how to extract honey and winterize hives. Mills provided her own equipment and garage to assist beekeepers in extracting honey. She aided a beekeeper who was too ill to winterize his bees by treating his hives for mites, providing winter protection, and placing winter food supplies in the hive. Mills assisted fellow beekeeper Patricia Gilbert to rescue a feral hive of bees found in a tree that had blown down at Kiwanis Park, and she teamed up with Fort Peck Reservation Extension Agent Wendy Becker to teach Lambert School children in fifth and sixth grade about honey bees and extracting honey.
Beekeeper Patricia Gilbert rescues feral honey bees from a tree stump in Kiwanis Park after the tree fell in a windstorm.