Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
PAGE 2
MARCH 2016
Allan Blanks/MDN
CAALVING TRADITION
Two of the Frey brothers, Eddie and Arlen have shared ranching responsibilities since childhood.
breeds ranching success By ALLAN BLANKS
Staff Writer ablanks@minotdailynews.com
t the Frey Angus Ranch near Granville, calves are thriving and business is booming. Locally, the Frey name has been in good standing for over 60 years. Nationally, the ranch is winning competitions, while international interest has been expressed in studding their bulls for semen. Arlen Frey, the son of the late Allen Frey, takes tremendous pride in honoring the vision of his father. “I think if my dad saw the ranch today, he’d be pretty proud,” Frey said. “He started out with about 50 cows. He didn’t begin with Angus cows but once he got them, he stayed with them. He used to raise shorthorns, then
he got some black Angus cows and never went back.” Today, the Frey Angus Ranch has between 300 and 400 Angus cattle, ranging from black to red. Currently, 200 calves graze the land and have flourished during the warm winter. “We’ve been calving pretty good,” Frey said. “We have a couple hundred calves on the grounds and we should be done calving by the end of March.” The mild winter has played a critical role to ensuring the survival of calves. “It’s been a pretty decent winter,” Frey said. “It’s been mild, it’s taken a lot less feed, and provided less stress on the cattle.” Aside from the unusually warm winter, Frey credits his family for the successful calving and selling of Angus cattle. “It’s always been a family operation,” Frey said. “Everybody works together and gets
things done. We all get along pretty good.” Since the 1950s, raising purebred cattle has been a family tradition. “My oldest brother, Lynn, does all the management,” Frey said. “My younger brother Eddie does most of the feeding and helps in the calving. My son Dustin handles the promotion and works the shows, while my daughter Lynsey does the photography and catalogue.” Throughout the day, you can find Frey, accompanied by Nikie, a See COWS — Page 5
“I think if my dad saw the ranch today, he’d be pretty proud.” —Arlen Frey
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Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
PAGE 4
MARCH 2016
Different approaches to grain marketing workshops set Explore a different approach to marketing with Edward Usset, grain marketing economist for the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota. Usset will be presenting workshops on the “Five Common Mistakes in Grain Marketing” Thursday, March 17, at the North Central Research and Extension Center at 5400 Highway 83 South, Minot. The workshops are sponsored by the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Agribusiness Committee. Two sessions are available: 10 a.m. with lunch at 11:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. with lunch at 12:15 p.m. During the workshops, Usset identifies common mistakes in grain marketing, such as the reluctance toward pre-harvest marketing, lack of an exit strategy and holding grain in storage too long. He will explain to participants that great marketing is not predicting
prices but eliminating mistakes in everyday decisions. He will also explain how eliminating mistakes can create a solid foundation in the development of marketing plans. Working with his colleagues at the Center for Farm Financial Management, Usset developed the awardwinning “Winning the Game” series of workshops. He also manages Commodity Challenge, an online marketing education game that uses real-time cash and futures data. He teaches “Commodity Markets” at the University of Minnesota. The second edition of his book, “Grain Marketing is Simple (it’s just not easy)” was released in November 2015. Workshop attendance fee is $10 per person, which includes lunch. Space is limited. Those planning to attend must RSVP by Thursday, March 10, at chamber@minotchamber.org or call 852-6000.
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Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
MARCH 2016 Continued from Page 2
four-legged canine companion who greets customers and barks orders. “Nikie is 10 years old,” Frey said. “She doesn’t get along with other dogs, and she likes to be the boss. Sometimes she’s a pain in the butt, but she’s okay.” Hard work, high standards, and a touch of luck, has helped the Frey Angus Ranch produce a 2016 champion yearling of three bulls, at the National Western Angus Livestock and Pen Show. “It takes a lot of luck to raise a good bull,” Frey said. “We’ve been at it for a long time and the genetics here are pretty decent. Our top selling bull was $50,000 and
we’ve done pretty good with him.” Frey’s award winning bulls have caught the eye of customers from Brazil and Kazakhstan. “Last summer, we sold some of our bulls to semen studs,” Frey said. “We’ve had people come up from Brazil and people from Kazkhstan look at our bulls too. The semen companies have been buying bulls from us, too,” Frey said. Successful calving, competitive championship performances, and semen studding has earned the Frey Angus Ranch a trusted reputation among customers. “Customers know that our cow herds are going to perform and have good genetics” Frey said. “We’ve been at it for a long time and we try to improve them every year.”
Improving genetics has involved a combination of good mothering to the calves and timing. Knowing when to ween the calves from their heifers, along to steadily watching their development has been critical to the success of the Frey Angus Ranch. “You can always improve,” Frey said. “As long as you keep trying, keep working hard, and try to improve your genetics, you’re doing pretty good. Also, as long as you keep the customers happy and coming back, that’s a good thing.” Frey is optimistic about the family ranch and strives to breed the best quality cattle possible. “Our goal is to get through the summer – and raise another $50,000 bull,” Frey said.
PAGE 5
A calf enjoying the warmth of winter at Frey Angus Ranch near Granville. Allan Blanks/MDN
Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
PAGE 8
MARCH 2016
Dr. Russell Behm, right, discusses the birthing rates with Dustin Frey, center, and Eddie Frey of Frey Angus Ranch. Photo by Phil Torres/MDN
A day in the life: large animal vet
By PHIL TORRES
Staff Writer ptorres@minotdailynews.com Dr. Russell Behm, at the Minot Veterinary Clinic, has been serving large animals for 38 years. He is not your average domesticated animal veterinarian who declaws cats. Dr. Behm has as much of an effect on people’s pocketbooks as he does on the animals. He serves people by working on their animals, but if he doesn’t have a good relationship with his customers, they won’t let him near their animals. These animals are a crucial part of clients’ livelihoods. “I don’t want you to write that I love animals” says Behm. “I love people.”
The large animals Dr. Behm exclusively works on are horses and cattle, which is what he was doing when interviewed. On this particular day, Behm had to make a field call to Frey Angus Ranch to help determine if their fall-bred cows were pregnant. The third-generation ranch has dealt with registered Angus for 41 years. To determine if each cow was pregnant, he utilized an ultrasound device that cost upwards of $6,000. As the cattle came down into the squeeze chute, he would insert the device to determine if the cow was indeed pregnant. If she was, Dr. Behm would then use a device to determine how far along in the gestation period it was by measuring the trunk, crown rump and head diameter and length.
As he was using the ultrasound to determine the pregnancy success rate (which is a secret), Dustin Frey was recording the data. Ideally, they want all their cows impregnated, but the reality is that it just doesn’t happen. In conversation while working, Dr. Behm disputed the widely-held belief that vegetables are safer than meat. Among other things, hormone treated steer has 11ng of estrogen per 500gm of meat as opposed to 775,000ng per 500gm of soy flour, according to research by New Jersey based Zoetis. Part of Dr. Behm job is to vaccinate the livestock, which helps prevent disease and increases food safety. Veterinarians are on the front lines when it comes to pro-
tecting the safety of our food supply. As a society, we are a far cry from Upton Sinclair’s 1906 release “The Jungle.” Vets also test livestock for dangerous illnesses, like “mad cow disease,” and make sure the animals are treated humanely. Even to a first-time observer, it is clear how painless of a process this was for the cattle despite protests by some about mistreatment of livestock animals. Without livestock such as cattle, the way of life that we have grown accustomed to would be significantly impaired. While it is respectable to help take care of people’s dogs and cats, large animal veterinarians are critical to the health and well-being of animals and people alike.
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Inside Ag PAGE 10
MINOT DAILY NEWS
MARCH 2016
Nebraska committee revives 'right to farm' amendment LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposal that would restrict the Nebraska Legislature's power to regulate agriculture advanced out of a legislative committee on Wednesday, one day after that panel's members rejected it. The committee abruptly reversed course and voted 5-2 to send it to the full Legislature for debate, despite a senior senator's promise to block it. The proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee the right to "engage in farming and ranching practices" and prevent the Legislature from passing new regulations without a compelling state interest. North Dakota voters approved a similar measure in 2012, followed by Missouri in
2014. Oklahoma voters will consider a "right to farm" amendment in the November general election. Nebraska lawmakers still must approve the proposed constitutional amendment before it can appear on the statewide general election ballot in November. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha warned his colleagues on the Agriculture Committee that he will mount a filibuster to keep the measure from passing. Chambers, an outspoken animal welfare advocate, noted that Nebraska's measure was copied from Oklahoma's "right to farm" proposal and argued that it has no place in the state constitution. "If you send it out now, I'm
going to stop it," Chambers said. The proposal that advanced Wednesday now includes an amendment that would allow state and local governments to continue regulating groundwater. The amendment also makes clear that the ballot measure would not apply to any state or local law passed before Dec. 31, 2015, or any laws passed to comply with federal environmental regulations. The proposal that was rejected on Tuesday did not include those changes. Sen. Jerry Johnson, the committee chairman, said he agreed to schedule another vote after he received calls from state and local water regulators who supported the
amended version of the proposal. Johnson abstained from voting, saying he'd prefer that lawmakers study the issue before taking action. Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha said the measure doesn't define "agricultural technology," which opens the door to a variety of unintended consequences. Farmers could argue that driving an overweight tractor over a bridge or beating a dog is a form of constitutionally protected agriculture, he said. If state officials discover that a new hormone used on pigs is running into rivers and killing fish, he said, the amendment could prevent lawmakers from outlawing it. The proposal by Sen. John
Kuehn of Heartwell comes four years after Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to enshrine hunting, fishing and animal-harvesting rights in the state constitution. The farming and ranching ballot measure had 15 co-sponsors in the Legislature, nearly all from rural districts. Kuehn has said he introduced the measure to protect the industry from what he sees as emotionally charged campaigns against modern agriculture. Kuehn said it could ensure that no one tries to outlaw genetically modified organisms, antibiotics for farm animals, pesticides for crops, and other common farming practices.
Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
MARCH 2016
PAGE 11
Good&bad of early spring By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com What comes with having an early spring and when is the ideal time to get the seed in the ground in this part of North Dakota? Two area NDSU extension agriculture agents have provided information – Rachel Wald, McHenry County agriculture and natural resources agent based in Towner and LoAyne Voigt, Renville County extension agent based in Mohall. “There is a usual timeframe that planting starts, which is May, but during extreme years that could be pushed a month earlier or later,
Ag agents say when is the best time to plant
Oats, chickpeas, and again just depending sunflowers have a miniupon the year,” said mum germination temWald. perature of 45 degrees “The ideal time Fahrenheit; 48 degrees to plant is not necesFahrenheit for flax, and sarily a time but a 50 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Soil for corn, soybeans and has to be a certain dry beans. Optimal soil temperature to gertemperatures for germiminate. Germination nation and emergence happens at different are about 5-10 degrees soil temperatures warmer. depending on the The soil temps for the McHenry County crop. For example, spring wheat, durum, barley and canola all have a minimum germina- area are as follows, according to Wald: tion temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. See PLANTING — Page 12
May is usually the time for planting but that can change due to the temperature.
MDN File Photo
Planting
Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
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Continued from Page 11
Soil temperatures at the Karlsruhe and Rugby stations as of Thursday, Feb. 25, were 32F under bare ground and 32F under turf. Bottineau and Minot stations as of Thursday, Feb. 25 were 31F under the bare ground and 32F under turf. “These temperature can take a long time to get up to the minimum. Depending on the unpredictability of March, there are a lot of days and the certainty of freezing temperatures before planting season. It is a wait and see kind of game,” Wald said. Wald said with the possibility of an early spring; and along with it the probability of early planting there are good and bad that go along
There is a usual timeframe that planting starts, which is May, but during extreme years that could be pushed a month earlier or later, again just depending upon the year.
– Rachel Wald
McHenry County agriculture and natural resources agent based in Towner
with this. “Good things that may come of planting the crop early; the producer is done, they can focus on the next thing, the plants will be older and can handle certain weather changes better, and harvest earlier. But, once those seeds germinate and sprout, the plant is very frag-
ile and with a fragile plant early in the year there is also the possibility of frost kill. Putting seed in the ground at the minimum germination temperature can also mean a delay in emergence, causing greater exposure to soil pathogens, which can lead to seed rot and seedling blight. Both can cause dev-
astation to the crop, in the form of a reduced stand or total kill, which could mean re-planting and that can really put a hit to the producer’s bottom line,” Wald said. She said these are just some issues that can happen during a planting season. Wald said soil temperatures can be obtained from the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) station, information such as the average daily soil temperatures and soil temperatures under turf can be found on the NDAWN website: ndawn.ndsu.nodak.edu. LoAyne Voigt, Renville County extension agent in Mohall, said, “Generally, in Renville County, we would like to start seeding around the first of May. I believe tra-
MARCH 2016 ditionally our seeding start date is a little later than that, more like the seventh to 10th of May. That being said, the southern portion of the county is often times a week or two ahead of the northern portion of the county. The last few years it has been too wet for the soil to support equipment, but with the dry conditions that currently exist producers may easily get into the fields earlier than normal.” Voigt said another major concern with seeding early is the soil temperature. “One of the changes that I have seen over a number of years has been a reduction in tillage and more no-till or reduced till acres. When there is residue on the soil surface it tends to take longer for the soil temperature to warm up. The black soil surface under
a conventional tillage would generally warm much quicker. If the seed is put into the ground before the soil is warm enough to germinate the seed, there can be a much higher rate of seedling loss due to insects and disease. There comes a very fine line between waiting for the soil temperature to warm up and waiting for those spring rains,” Voigt said. She said producers have also found that waiting too long for optimum soil temperatures and delaying seeding activities narrows that window of opportunity. “In the last few years we have seen that those heavy spring rains can quickly turn optimum seeding conditions into saturated ground that may or may not get seeded due to wet conditions,” Voigt said.
IN THE AG ELEMENT
Inside Ag
PAGE 16
MINOT DAILY NEWS
By JILL SCHRAMM
Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com Whether he’s working his own fields or working with other farmers, Steve Beck is in his element when he’s around agriculture. “I have a real heart for farming and agriculture,” said Beck, a Minot farmer and crop adjuster. His wife, Lisa, a librarian at Bell School, and their four daughters also have embraced the rural lifestyle in many ways, from a love for horses to operating a pumpkin-growing business. The Becks realize farm life involves work
TOP: Steve Beck pauses in the field during flax harvest.
Submitted Photos
ABOVE: Standing in a canola field on the Beck farm are, from left, Amanda, Marissa, Emily and Julia.
and responsibility, and they’ve embraced that as well. Daughter Julia Beck, 17, said she’s learned the importance of doing your best from watching her parents. “My parents are just very hard working. I have learned from that example,” she said. It’s not just getting the job done but doing it better that matters to Steve Beck. Beck, a past board member and president of the Ward County Agricultural Improvement Association, has assisted North Central Research Extension Center and seed companies by providing research plots for crop analysis. “For me, the most interesting thing about farming is the never-ending learning – discovering which crops do the best on your individual sections of land,” Beck said. When the Extension Service needed larger acreages around the state for corn seed emergence research, the Minot center connected with Beck through his oldest daughter, Amanda, who was working as a research assistant at North Central at the time. These types of projects wouldn’t be possible without the willingness of producers to let researchers come onto their land, do the record keeping and give feedback through surveys and questionnaires, said Shana Forster, area Extension specialist, Minot center. She found Beck not only willing but interested in the research. “He tries to stay ahead of the curve,” Forster said. A believer in diversification, Beck has been eager to try new crops since getting into farming in 2007. “I wanted to try to think more out of the box when I farmed. I started with winter wheat when winter what wasn’t popular. I am still raising it today because most every year, it turns out well,” he said. “It’s just trying to keep an open mind and not getting stuck in a rut.”
MARCH 2016
Beck learns about new products by frequenting agricultural shows and meetings. “I have tried a lot of things,” he said. “I have tried some things that failed. I tried winter canola. That didn’t work out.” You don’t know if you don’t try, though, and Beck has found success in places where it might not have been expected. “Right now I am raising red lentils. It’s not something that’s grown here,” he said of the area southeast of Minot. “I have done very well with the lentils.” He was one of the area’s first soybean growers. He’s an innovator when it comes to new chemicals. He currently is using Makaze Yield Pro, a product designed to help plants take up phosphorus. “I have seen really good results from that,” he said. Amanda Beck, 23, is now a research assistant at North Dakota State University in Fargo, where she is working toward a master’s and doctorate degrees in plant pathology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in crop and weed science with a minor in agricultural business. She has conducted research into pea seed-borne mosaic virus and her current research is on bacterial blight in dry beans. Emily Beck, 19, who also has worked at the Minot Extension research center, attends the University of Minnesota, studying neuroscience. Her experience with farm animals helped her gain a work study job caring for macaque monkeys at a laboratory. Emily said she enjoys gardening, indicating some of her father’s love for the land has rubbed off on her. “My Dad loves farming. He has such a passion for it,” she said. Amanda and Emily started a pumpkin See BECK — Page 17
Beck
MARCH 2016
Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
Continued from Page 16
patch several years ago, which eventually drew in younger sisters Julia, a junior at Magic City Campus, and Marissa, 11, a fifth grader at Bell School. They raise pumpkins and sell them at a stand in the Kmart lot in Minot each October. “It really taught us about responsibility. If we wanted to harvest, we had to go out there and weed. It kind of taught us a little bit about handling money and calculating how much we should keep aside for next year,” Emily said. “It just teaches them the value of hard work,” Steve Beck said. “It teaches them how to relate to people. It just teaches them so much.” The Beck sisters have been involved in 4-H and FFA. Julia and Marissa still are involved in 4-H and Julia participates in FFA and its nursery contests, which test landscaping knowledge. Amanda previously had
Emily Beck sets out pumpkins for sale at the pumpkin stand she and her sisters manage each fall in Minot.
Submitted Photo
earned a trip to nationals by winning the FFA landscape division in a state contest. Steve Beck has assisted with 4-H and is a member of Minot FFA Alumni. Beck’s woodworking interest also has trickled down to his daughters. The two youngest earned Best of Show ribbons for woodworking at Ward County 4-H Achievement Days,
and Emily won best of show for a dog house exhibited at the North Dakota State Fair. Steve Beck attended Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, studying carpentry and cabinet-making. He was employed in cabinetry and carpentry in Minot, eventually opening his own business, Beck Woodworks, which he operated for 10 years. Lisa Beck, who is actively engaged
on the farm, received her teaching degree from Minot State University. She met Steve when she went looking to buy hay for her horses. They currently have three horses. Steve Beck began crop adjusting in 2012 at the suggestion of his former high school science teacher and friend, Cy Kotaska. Kotaska, a field supervisor with Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance, hired Beck as an adjuster. Beck is a lead crop adjuster and quality control specialist and serves as a trainer and mentor for new adjusters. Beck, with the assistance of Emily, has created short videos recounting aspects of farm life that he’s featured at meetings for other crop adjusters. Filmed as much for fun as for education, the videos make mundane tasks like tilling weeds and pulling stuck combines out of the mud seem like entertainment. Beck believes his farm experience makes him a better crop adjuster. “I enjoy traveling throughout western North Dakota, visiting with farmers and assisting them in their
PAGE 17 time of need,” he said. “I can relate to what they are feeling. It just makes me that much more effective and that much better at what I do.” The opportunity to get out and talk to other farmers lets him share information from the crop research he’s been involved in. He’s been on the receiving end of help from other farmers, too. In the fall of 2009 when one of his daughters underwent jaw surgery in Minnesota, the Becks received harvest assistance from Farm Rescue. Beck has helped out as an adjuster when needed in other states, including South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. “Adjusting, to me, has been a very rewarding experience,” Beck said. “Adjusting has also given me the big picture of agriculture. Once you travel beyond our borders, producers don’t grow much more than three or four crops, but primarily corn and soybeans. North Dakota is a special place, with farmers to match, growing more than 20 different crops. As an adjuster, it keeps you on your toes.”
Better ag data possible with drone research
PAGE 18
Inside Ag
MINOT DAILY NEWS
Submitted Photos
ABOVE: A Hermes 450 like this one shown in this photograph from Elbit Systems will be used in the agricultural research being done by Elbit and North Dakota State University this summer in eastern North Dakota.
By JILL SCHRAMM
Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com Do drones hold potential to improve farm practices, cut costs and increase yields? The North Dakota State University Extension Service hopes to discover the answers. The Extension Service has conducted research with unmanned aerial systems at its Carrington station and will join forces with the U.S. branch of an IsraelJohn based company, Nowatzki Elbit Systems, in May to initiate a precision agriculture data collection project in eastern North Dakota. Elbit will be flying a large drone at elevations of 3,000 to 8,000 feet over 100,000 acres between Hillsboro and Cooperstown. “Our objective is to see if we can do crop management from that elevation,” said John Nowatzki, agricultural machine systems specialist at NDSU, who spoke to members of the Ward County Agricultural Improvement Association in Minot Feb. 1. “Their objective is to set up a business, take these pictures, analyze and store them in the Cloud and let landowners check out what they need. They think there’s a future in it,” he said.
MARCH 2016
L E F T: J o h n Nowatzki with North Dakota State University gives a presentation last year on a proposed research project with Elbit Systems.
Elbit will be working with individual farmers for permission to fly smaller craft at lower levels to get ground data. The area includes 518 landowners. Landowners can opt out of the imaging, but there have been no requests to do so, Nowatzki said. Unmanned flights do carry privacy issues. “It’s an issue that’s up in the air in America. I can hire a manned aircraft to fly over anyone’s land,” he said. “When we fly a drone, it seems to be more of an issue.”
For privacy reasons, Elbit would own the data and control its release. Landowners could obtain passwords from the company to access their individual data. The research will look at various aspects of field practices, such as yield estimates and fertilization, weed, disease and insect management, using infrared, thermal, color and multi-spectral imagery. “It should be an interesting project. It will be open to the public. They will be able to come
and watch us,” Nowatzki said. The program will be based out of the Hillsboro airport. Elbit plans to fly a drone with a 35-foot wingspan. The Hermes 450 aircraft currently is the type used for surveillance by the military. “It’s a very proven aircraft,” Nowatzki said. Data should be available by December and will be published through the Extension Service. NDSU will be continuing to experiment with drones at its Carrington Research Extension
Center. More work is to be conducted this year, looking at nutritional deficiencies, stand counts and noxious weeds. NDSU continues to compare drone data with satellite data to see if advantages exist with either technology, Nowatzki said. NDSU also has been conducting experiments with Altavian, a Florida-based company that manufactures unmanned aerial systems in Wahpeton. That research is looking at irrigated corn and soybeans near Dawson and See DRONE — Page 20
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Towner meadows flooding uncertain Inside Ag
MINOT DAILY NEWS
PAGE 20
MARCH 2016
By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com The vast acreage comprising the flatland meadows along the Souris River in the Towner area rely upon timely flooding to insure vigorous growth. The hay produced is vital to the livelihood of farmers and ranchers in the cattle-rich region. The problem faced every year near Towner is whether or not the flooding will occur during a time frame which will promote growth and whether or not floodwater will recede in a timely fashion. Some water is good. Too much water for too long is not. The situation facing the Towner area meadows began receiving plenty of attention during the high water year of 2011 when massive flooding inundated the meadows for several months and the hay crop was lost. Some landowners replanted damaged meadows in 2012 only to see another year a high water wash their efforts away. This year the problem could very well be a lack of water. Unlike the winter of 2010-11 when the meadows were saturated with ground water, the region has begun to dry up. “We’ve dropped quite a bit from the wet years,” said Cliff Hanretty, Towner area rancher. “There’s no
Drone
Continued from Page 18
noxious weeds near Valley City. Much of the funding for NDSU’s research is coming from the soybean and corn councils and North Dakota Department of Commerce. The North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission awarded a grant of $357,546 to Elbit Systems and NDSU, with the remainder of the funding for the $715,000 project to come from Elbit.
We’ve dropped quite a bit from the wet years. There’s no runoff to speak of, no projected runoff. If we don;t get water on those meadows, we don’t get hay.
– Cliff Hanretty
runoff to speak of, no projected runoff. If we don’t get water on those meadows, we don’t get hay.” The Eaton irrigation project encompasses about 67,000 acres in the Towner area. Forty-three landowners are included in the project which, essentially, is the holding of water in a small dam. The water is later released to flood hay meadows and stimulate growth. Once the water recedes, plants generally emerge quickly. “It’s one of the mainstays for the ranching industry in Towner,” said Hanretty. “This year, we are holding everything we can. This year, we don’t know how much we’ll have. It’s
At least for certain producers, flying a drone someday might be as much a part of agriculture as driving a tractor. The Federal Aviation Administration’s rules for operating drones are loosening this summer, making it easier for non-pilots to take advantage of the benefits of the technology, Nowatzki said. Operator testing will be required, but once certified, a person will be able to fly a drone smaller than 55 pounds at low altitudes. Rules still will apply, requiring the drone to remain in line of
sight and prohibiting operation within five miles of an airport without permission. A good place to start for someone interested in experimenting is with a basic model such as the DJI Phantom Pro 3, Nowatzki said. For $1,000, a person can acquire a drone with photo and video capability that is operable using a tablet or cell phone. It is possible to operate a drone with a remote controller, but Nowatzki said his experience has been better using computer controls.
Towner area rancher
wait and see. It’s anybody’s guess right now and it can change in a hurry.” Landowners north of the Eaton project rely upon natural flooding from the Souris River to irrigate their hay meadows. Stretches of the river can only accommodate 250 cubic feet per second before overflowing the banks. Often, flows are much more than that. In 2011, nearly 30,000 cfs poured down the Souris. “We can’t avoid all the flooding. We understand that,” said one Towner area resident who asked not to be identified. “We’re looking at our livelihood down here.”
Higher-end models with greater sensor abilities can range in price from $2,000 to $30,000. They typically are larger and capable of flying higher and for more extended periods. An infrared camera or thermal camera is needed for many applications, Nowatzki said. For instance, a thermal camera can detect temperature changes of half a degree. That can help a rancher pick out a sick cow or determine a cow’s estrous cycle just by doing a flyover.
Early season flooding is perfect for the Towner hay meadows, if the water recedes about mid-May. Meadows that remain flooded later than mid-May usually don’t dry out soon enough to be cut or produce no hay at all. “It does a lot of damage if you’ve got water too late,” explained Hanretty. “We want flows to get back to natural conditions.” Ranchers have relied upon hay produced from the Towner area meadows since the 1930s. Since that time, three major dams have been constructed on the Souris River – Lake Darling in North Dakota and Rafferty and Alameda Dams in Saskatchewan. The latter two dams were constructed as the result of flood protection efforts following the 1969 flood of the Souris River, including the city of Minot. In conjunction with those projects, Lake Darling Dam was reconstructed to remove a spillway and enlarge outflow gates. The presence of the dams has altered the natural flow of the Souris. What Towner area residents in the meadow country want is for the dams to be operated to closely simulate natural flows, especially to insure whenever possible that water does not remain on their lowlands so long that it impedes hay growth.
Farmers can use thermal cameras to identify herbicide-resistant weeds. Resistant weeds retain more water in their cells so have a lower internal temperature than dying weeds. Thermal cameras also hold potential for gauging crop moisture content at harvest time. Infrared cameras are useful in obtaining crop data. “You will be able to pick out problem areas with an infrared image that you won’t be able to see with a green image. It picks up both quality and quantity of
vegetation,” Nowatzki said. The potential to obtain additional field data could be instrumental in decisions farmers make about seed application, fertilizer use and weed management, he said. They may be able to target pesticides based on information about where insects are clustered or make harvest decisions based on more accurate yield estimates. However, he noted the technology remains new to agriculture, and people still are exploring where the benefits might lie.
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Inside Ag MARCH 2016
MINOT DAILY NEWS
PAGE 23
EL NINO INFLUENCE TO CONTINUE By KIM FUNDINGSLAND
ing El Nino has likely peaked but is still strong.” Staff Writer El Nino’s influence for the kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com three-month period of MarchFarmers and ranchers curious April-May favors above-normal about weather conditions over temperatures across the Great the next few months can find Plains with the odds of abovesome answers in the long-range normal temperatures highest outlook recently issued by the “across the Northwest and from Climate Control Center. Long- the Upper Great Lakes to North range weather forecasting is dif- Dakota.” The CPC adds, “all temficult prognostication at best, due perature tools continue to to one of the strongest El Ninos in strongly favor above-normal recent history, the latest outlook temperatures across the northperhaps contains a better than ern half of the continental U.S. through the early spring.” average degree of reliability. Precipitation through the North Dakota’s current winter same March-April calendar pehas been one for the record books with an abundance of re- riod, says the CPC, has changed markably warm days and very very little from earlier outlooks. little snowfall. The reason? El That means about an equal Nino, a warming of Pacific chance of more or less than avOcean waters in the area of the erage precipitation through the equator. Warmer water in the period in North Dakota. “The Old Farmer’s Almanac,” Pacific translates to warmer published for 224 years, annuweather in the Northern Plains, at least for this winter, and the ally prints their yearly forecasts outlook is for more of the same. in early fall. According to that “Strong El Nino conditions publication, the High Plains, persist across the equatorial Pa- which includes North Dakota, is cific Ocean which is evident in expected to receive slightly less both oceanic and atmospheric than normal precipitation in data,” says the CPC. “The ongo- March, April and May.
Efforts underway in Montana to increase bighorns' range Inside Ag
MINOT DAILY NEWS
MARCH 2016
Q
UAKE LAKE, Mont. (AP) — The sheep started down the mountain, tan bodies in a single-file line against a snow-covered slope at the southern end of the Madison Range. Another group came from the east, Quake Lake beginning at their backs, and they met at the edges of a net suspended by poles, hay on the ground beneath it. Across from them, near a cabin, stood about 50 people who had just stopped talking. The moment was coming, and they were not to disturb it with idle chatter. They were mostly volunteers, there to help Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks gather biological data and load about 20 sheep onto a trailer that would take the animals to a release site for the second time in as many years. This was round two of FWP's efforts to move sheep from this population — known colloquially as the Quake Lake herd — to the Wolf Creek area, a place about 15 miles north where the department wants to restore the animal. The agency moved about 50 between the two spots last year. Many of those returned to the Quake Lake area, but biologists saw some successes. Sheep explored new areas, a few stayed near Wolf Creek and some went back and forth between there and Quake Lake. Biologists hope sending another batch to Wolf Creek this year will boost their efforts at restoring the animal to more of its historic range. By 2020, FWP is supposed to have re-
AP Photo
Bighorn sheep make their way down the foothills towards a capture net in the Madison Valley near Quake Lake, south of Ennis, Mont., during a relocation program by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to collect biological data. stored five new "viable and huntable" populations of bighorn sheep, a goal set in 2010. Quentin Kujala, FWP's wildlife management section chief, said they "really haven't made much progress on that." This Madison Range project is one way they have stepped in that direction. Other transplants have had false starts, but this one is on its second round. Julie Cunningham, the regional FWP biologist in charge of the transplant, thinks it could become a model for restoration
projects around the state. "If it works, it sure could be," Cunningham said in an interview a few days later. The sheep looked at the people, almost as if daring them to move first. Big rams with curled horns stood in back, younger sheep out front. Then, just a few crept slowly toward the hay. Next to the cabin, still silent, the volunteers waited for the net to drop. (asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) Bighorn sheep were once
numerous and commonplace enough that Native Americans and early explorers used them for food. But, as it did with other animals, the settlement of the West pushed them off the landscape. A 1950 estimate put their number at 1,200 in Montana, a far cry from what is presumed to have existed before. "We had tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand plus in the prairies and mountains of Montana," said Bob Garrott, the director of the fish and wildlife ecology and manage-
ment program at Montana State University. Garrott is doing statewide and regional research on wild sheep, and he helped with FWP's transfer of sheep in the Madison Range. It's far from the only work he does, but his research seeks to add insight into a species that he said isn't well understood. "They're different, and we don't know why they're different," Garrott said. Low population numbers weren't uncommon for wildlife
PAGE 25
in the first part of the 20th century. Elk and deer, too, were once hard to find. To bring those animals back, the state started regulating hunting and moving animals to places where they wanted them restored. The difference is that now elk and deer are counted by the tens of thousands. Policy makers and landowners talk about having too many. Bighorns have remained mostly in small, isolated populations. Most of the herds are fewer than 200 animals, and it's estimated there are about 6,000 in the state, perhaps even fewer. "It's better than what we started with," Garrott said. But, he continued, considering the number that were there before the West was settled, or compared to the other animals that populate the state, "It's far from a spectacular success." Disease has had a hand in keeping them down. Die-offs have happened since at least 1920 and continue today. It's happened to herds near Gardiner, in the Tendoy Mountains and in the herd near Quake Lake. By some estimates, a series of die-offs in the winter of 2009 and 2010 killed as much as 20 percent of the state's bighorns. Some herds recover well after a die-off. Others struggle for years. The herd near Quake Lake was reduced to about a dozen in the late 1990s, but now is near 200, enough that the state wants to spread them out into other parts of the Madison Range. Meanwhile, a See SHEEP — Page 27
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Inside Ag MINOT DAILY NEWS
MARCH 2016 Continued from Page 25
couple of mountain ranges west, a population in the Tendoy Mountains has struggled to recover from disease outbreaks, and FWP is trying to eradicate and replace the animals there. Pneumonia is the primary culprit. Domestic sheep can carry some of the troublesome bacteria but aren't susceptible to them. They can then transmit the diseasecausing bacteria to wild sheep. Separating the two is how the state tries to manage the risk of outbreaks, meaning no new wild herds can be established near domestic flocks. This has created conflict between wild sheep advocates and the livestock industry, a battle that has manifested with lawsuits and legislative fights in Helena. Jim Brown, the public policy director for the Montana Woolgrowers Association, said it isn't that ranchers want to keep bighorns from being on the landscape. Instead they fear being pushed off of it themselves. Brown said his organization has supported a lot of FWP's recent moves to restore
the animal, but they still feel a target on their backs. He added that the industry "is being attacked almost monthly now in the papers over bighorn sheep." He also doubts how strong the connection between domestic sheep and wild sheep die-offs are, saying that some outbreaks have happened in places where there haven't been sheep ranches for years. The domestic sheep industry is an easy target for conservation groups, and the issue is blown out of proportion for those groups' financial gain, he said. "For me, it's unfortunate that somehow we're being blamed for all the die-offs," Brown said. Kevin Hurley, the conservation director for the Wild Sheep Foundation, said his group wants to work with landowners and ranchers to find places to move sheep to, but studies have pointed to the connection between bighorn sheep die-offs and domestic sheep. His group also contributed to a recent report that identified risks domestic flocks pose to their wild counterparts. "The risk is real. It's not made up," Hurley said. The Wild Sheep Foundation and other wildlife groups
want wider distribution of the animals, but Hurley said they know historic levels are impossible. Ranges have been developed; people are everywhere. But they think there are places where it can happen. However, moving wild sheep to a new place isn't as simple as picking a spot on a map, and disease risk, while it has potential to devastate, isn't the only thing wildlife managers have to think about. Kujala, FWP's wildlife management section chief, said bighorns like a specific habitat, which has grass to eat and mountains and rocks to hide from predators. So wildlife managers first have to find undeveloped, intact habitat. Then they need public support and the backing of local landowners, who can sometimes be hard to please. A plan to relocate bighorns to a place near Lewis and Clark Caverns was killed in 2013 because of landowner objections. "There's a lot of filters that all have to be assessed before you check the green light button on a release site," he said. Challenging as it is, those pieces came together on the Madison, where volunteers waited as sheep crept toward the hay underneath the net.
PAGE 27
Tips for staying safe on the farm By JILL HAMBEK
Staff Writer jhambek@minotdailynews.com Perhaps farms seem safe since they’re away from the bustle of town and offer a seemingly slower pace of life. However, there are a lot of dangers and accidents that can happen on the farm that are important to be aware of. Jessica Edgell, injury prevention coordinator at Trinity Health, suggested wearing a helmet when riding ATVs on the farm, along with keeping pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals locked and out of the reach of children. She also suggested not walking on the grain in storage areas and silos since it’s possible to become trapped and suffocate. Another safety tip is don’t wear loose, baggy or tattered clothing around machinery where it can get caught and tie loose hair back, Edgell said. “Always tell your family where you’re going and when you’ll be back,” she added. It’s important to be aware of where everyone is at and when they return so you can be alerted to trouble if they do not return on time, Edgell continued. She also suggested to have an emergency plan and know who to call if an accident or emergency happens. Other farm safety tips include washing your hands after handling or feeding animals to
avoid transmission of bacteria, viruses or parasites to yourself from the animal; approaching farm animals cautiously from the front to avoid startling them since they can injure people if they become confused or threatened; wearing protective equipment and washing hands when handling pesticides or herbicides; making a mental note of ways to escape safely in case an animal begins to behave unpredictably; and gases in large quantities from manure can be deadly or toxic and sometimes explosive. Edgell suggested using personal protective equipment, such as seat belts in tractors, sturdy work boots, goggles, gloves and ear plugs when working on the farm. Personal protective equipment is probably something not usually thought of, she added, but important to wear. According to Edgell, 125 people die in farm accidents every year. Tractors are the leading cause of death, she said, with rollovers being the most common type of tractor accident. Children age 15 and under and adults over 65 have the highest injury rate, Edgell said. However, 40 percent of all farm work injuries could be prevented with the use of personal protective equipment, she added. Every year, 22,000 kids and teens are seriously injured on farms and around 100 die every year due to injuries, said Edgell.
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