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Farm & Ranch
table of
contents 4
Ag Appreciation dinner
6
Leatherworks
12 Cattle forecast 17 Organic farming 21 Sheep dairy 27 Sheep tilling 28 Surprise twins 30 Agrimet 33 High tunnels 37 Seed co-op 41 Around the valley 44 Resources 46 Soil health NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 3
thank you
FILE PHOTO/VALLEY JOURNAL
Each year the Ronan Chamber of Commerce provides a free steak dinner for local ranchers to let them know they are appreciated.
Farmers, ranchers appreciated for contributions to community by Karen Peterson
A
griculture helped shape many of the towns in Lake County, and it’s still one of the leading industries. “Agriculture contributes to the community economically, socially and environmentally,” said Jack Stivers, MSU Lake County agent. “Agriculture is such a large part of how this area was formed.” Dr. Brad Eldredge, with the Flathead Valley Community College, said economic data shows agriculture is the main industry currently driving the economy. “Lake County seems to be specialized in agriculturerelated industries,” he said. Businesses connected with the Ronan Chamber of Commerce want to say thanks to folks in the agriculture industry for what they do for the community, so they are hosting the Agriculture Appreciation Dinner. “It’s an appreciation banquet that the Ronan Chamber puts on,” Stivers said, usually held the third week in March in conjunction with National Agriculture Appreciation Month. Stivers is helping to organize the event. He explained that during the dinner folks are served steak and potatoes after veterans salute the flag. The meat is locally grown and purchased from White’s 4 – March 25, 2015
for the Valley Journal
“Attendees come to talk to their neighbor they haven’t seen all winter.” — Jack Stivers, MSU Extension Lake County agent
Wholesale Meats, a processor in Ronan. Area farmers donate the potatoes on rotational basis; this year Fleming Farms in Pablo will provide the spuds. Each year one person with longevity in the industry is given an award for making 100 percent of their income from agriculture, showing stewardship towards the land as well as a high standard of citizenship. This is the 36th year for the dinner. “Has it been that long already?” Al Skogen said. He helped start the original event and has attended every year. “We decided back then that we were going to have a dinner just to show our appreciation to farmers and ranchers,” he said. “I was with Community Bank back Farm & Ranch
then, and farming and ranching was a big part of our economy.” The dinner has stayed pretty much the same over the years, although it was once a lunch instead of a dinner. One year, 450 people attended. “It seems to be a popular event,” Skogan said. Entertainment has evolved along the way, sometimes drawing Montana celebrities such as popular farm broadcaster and legislator Taylor Brown and Ralph Peck, the state director of agriculture. “We had a talent contest, and that had a bit of a following,” Stivers said. This year’s entertainment includes the Ronan Jazz Band for background music, and perhaps a bit of cowboy poetry. But the main attraction seems to be simply visiting, according to Stivers. “Attendees come to talk to their neighbor they haven’t seen all winter,” he said. Businesses connected with the Ronan Chamber of Commerce started handing out tickets for the event to people in agriculture earlier this month, which is scheduled for Friday, March 27, at the Ronan Community Center.
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leather men (and women) BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Jeff Morrow tools a leather belt at Shooting Star Saddlery in Niarada.
Artisans add beauty to functional leatherwork by Berl Tiskus Valley Journal
I
n a country where there are horses and the people who ride them, there’s bound to be a saddle maker to create new saddles, repair old favorites and have a cinch if yours breaks. In the Mission Valley there are at least three — Muley Bluz Saddlery, Phillips Saddlery and Shooting Star Saddlery. Shooting Star Saddlery When you think of Jeff Morrow, you think of beautiful leatherwork, music and a cowboy with curly hair. His shop, Shooting Star Saddlery, is a log cabin off the beaten path near Niarada. It’s warmed by a wood burning stove and sun shining through the old-fashioned windows. Jeff and Joanne Morrow named the shop after the shooting star, a wildflower that’s a harbinger of warmer weather. see page 7
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Morrow’s trademark 6 – March 25, 2015
shooting star wildflower graces a leather purse.
Farm & Ranch
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Pattern pieces, tools and scaps of leather are part of the leatherworker’s repertoire.
“I make saddles, chaps, gun leather, wallets — a little bit of everything.” — Jeff Morrow, Shooting Star Saddlery
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Jeff Morrow listens to tunes as he lays a pattern out on a chunk of leather.
“When you started seeing them, you know good grazing is there, and the summer’s really here,” Morrow explained. Music is always playing in Morrow’s shop. While he listens to an eclectic mix — Hayes Carll, Corb Lund and the Hurtin Albertans, Sandman, the Rappin’ Cowboy and Accordion Babes — Morrow has been busy finishing a pair of wooly chaps for Montana Poet Lariat Paul Zarzyski, using a “loud” spotted goat hide. Morrow has three saddles to make, but he’s waiting for saddle trees, the basis for a saddle, from the Ben Swanke Saddlery in Billings. “I make saddles, chaps, gun leather, wallets — a little bit of everything,” he said. see page 9
Farm & Ranch
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
A hide with the hair on makes a sharp canteen.
March 25, 2015 – 7
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leather from page 7
It’s good to be versatile, he said, because in 2008-09, when the economy tanked, “the big ticket items went away.” He tools shooting stars, roses, lilies and even hibiscuses on leather. He said he got the hibiscus idea from an old Visalia saddle. Morrow grew up in Mooresville, North Carolina, and was interested in horses, especially when a girl who owned horses moved into the neighborhood. “She had horses, and she was really cute,” Morrow said, so he hung out and “tried to be her beau.” He met someone even better than the neighbor girl at Davidson College in North Carolina: his wife Joanne, who was a student, too. After they finished college and married, the Morrows moved to Colorado, where Morrow worked on a dude ranch and began leatherworking. After moves to Browning, Willow Creek and St. Ignatius, Morrow was breaking colts and shoeing horses while Joanne was teaching school. When he grew weary of shoeing — a backbreaking job — Morrow began leatherwork full time and made his first saddle in 1990. He’s been a full time leather worker for 20 years, and 10 years part-time before that. Morrow likes being his own boss. “The first time you get fired for no reason, you want to work for yourself,” he said.
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Jeff Morrow uses his leather tools daily in his work as an artisan. Some tools he’s repaired and some have horn handles.
see page 10
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leather from page 9
Morrow is drawn to exotic leathers, such as stingray, crocodile and alligator. “A sucker for purple,” he displayed some purple ostrich leg leather he might make into a belt for himself. After making saddles for both Joanne and son Zak, Morrow finally finished a saddle to keep as his own, “a real old-timey one” with full floral carving and saddlebags trimmed with long wool like that used on wooly chaps. Muley Bluz-Cowboys Toys With his starched wranglers, trophy buckle and a crisp western shirt, Steve Crumm makes Muley Bluz seem more like visiting a friend than going to a business. Amos, the shop dog, adds to the homey feel. Half Italian greyhound and half dachshund, Amos has a type A personality. He patrols the front window and keeps an eye on “his” sidewalk, always knows where Crumm is, and stashes squeaky toys around the premises in case a customer might want to play a quick game of fetch. At Muley Bluz, Crumm builds custom saddles and tack, does boot and shoe repair, sells saddles, tack, rodeo equipment, pack saddles and accoutrements, camping items — just about anything a horse person needs. He will even sell you a new hat and shape it, or block, clean and shape your well-worn Stetson. He bought the business from Dale Lane in 2000 and attributes much of his success to his “better half” Samantha Walker. Crumm also thanks his parents, who told him “If you work hard, you can make it.” Crumm grew up in north central South Dakota. He was a bulldogger, did a little roping and raced horses. A horse he raised won the Diamond Classic Derby in Casper, Wyoming. Crumm learned to make saddles in 1997 from Bill Gomer in Jarbalo, Kansas, but his love of leather began much earlier. “Ever since I was a little kid, if I found a piece of leather in the barn, it was like finding gold,” Crumm said. Now he constructs 10 to 12 saddles a year, teaches saddle making, and helps retrain people who have lost their jobs. Crumm’s favorite job is making tack — particularly headstalls and reins. 10 – March 25, 2015
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Trina and Ed Phillips display a saddle Ed created at their business on Courville Trail.
Shooting Star Saddlery 730 Battle Butte Road Niarada, MT 59845 (406) 250-7601
Muley Bluz-Cowboys Toys 217 Main Street SW Ronan, MT 59864 (406) 676-3900
Phillips Saddlery 33052 Courville Trail Polson, MT (406) 675-4961
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Steve Crumm and his dog, Amos, stand near a saddle
Ed Phillips took a silversmithing class and now makes his
Crumm made.
own conchos.
His most unusual job as a leather worker was putting a divider in a helicopter used for fire fighting. He took his tools and materials to the airport and snapped the partial wall into place after he created it on site. Another time, Crumm sewed
the cords on a parachute. It was exacting work because all the cords had to be exactly the same length. “It was a big old parachute,” Crumm said. Cords were strung all over the shop. During tough times, he does Farm & Ranch
more repairs. When the calves bring big money, he sells more new things. “This valley is awful special,” Crumm said. He especially enjoys the young kids just starting their rodeo careers.
“They come in here and say ‘yes, sir,’ and ‘no, sir,’ and are respectful. They ask questions,” Crumm said, smiling. Some of those little rodeo kids have grown up to compete as professional rodeo hands. Matt Triplett from Columbia Falls, who’s sitting first in the Professional Bull Rider standings, and Dustin Jenkins, the 2008 National College Bull Riding champ, both bought bull ropes and other equipment from Crumm. Another Muley Bluz customer is Ronan cowboy Levi Guenzler, who is heading to the National Dodge Circuit Finals in Florida. As a business, Muley Bluz donates to local rodeos and kids events. The late Don King, patriarch of the well-known King Saddlery in Sheridan, Wyoming, gave Crumm some good advice. “He told me, ‘If you can produce a good quality product at a reasonable price, the people and the money will find you,’” Crumm said. “You’re never going to make a fortune in this business, but you meet a lot of good people.” Phillips Saddlery The tools hang in their places on the pegboard, and the granite slabs on which leather is tooled are clean at Phillips Saddlery. The bright, light space used to be an old trailer, but Trina and Ed Phillips gutted it, put in new floors, ceilings, lighting and lots of windows. “She has her area, and I have mine,” Ed said, smiling. They keep the shop spotless, because “Ed can’t work in clutter,” Trina said, adding that she’s learned to like neatness in the 21 years they’ve been married. “We’re together just about 364 days a year,” Ed said. “We have so much fun,” Trina said, and they both smile. “Most of our work is custom leatherwork, from belts to saddles,” Ed said. Ed started the saddle making business in 1990 after he learned the basics of saddle making in Garden Valley, Idaho. “I studied with a fellow named Don Brown,” Ed said. “He was a real nice guy, and he knew what he was doing.” Ed’s folks ranched in South Dakota so he’s no stranger to saddles. “I’ve ridden a jillion miles in one of them things,” he said. Ed taught Trina to become a leatherworker. She grew up see page 11
around horses and took a leatherwork class when she was in sixth grade. “I had no idea I was gonna marry a leather worker,” she said. Ed likes to make saddles, but he is especially fond of building holsters. “I monkey around with a holster until it fits and feels right,” he said. Trina enjoys making chaps and relishes almost any kind of leatherwork. On the non-leather side of things, she also crafts pine needle baskets and has taken up photography. It’s a creative saddle shop. Although he doesn’t tool a particular flower often, Ed displayed a fender, the part of a saddle that connects the body with the stirrup, tooled with a wild rose. Trina took close up photos of wild roses, and Ed’s mom, an artist, drew a pattern for him. One of the most unusual things they’ve ever been asked to make was a harness for a pet bobcat. The gentleman who owned the bobcat brought them a taxidermy form to measure so they knew what size to make the rig. Another item they were tasked with repairing was a camel saddle. It had leather-covered buttons but none were to be found, so Trina and Ed learned to make the buttons themselves. But bobcat harnesses and camel saddles aren’t the norm. The Phillips do leather repair work, too. “We get a surprising amount of business from that sign on U.S. Highway 93,” Ed said. “They see that sign, and here they come.” They’ve had tourists from France, Germany and Switzerland. “We’ve shipped saddlebags to Germany and chaps to Norway,” Trina said, adding that they haven’t had to ship a saddle yet.
vj
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Top: Ed and Trina Phillips
of Phillips Saddlery work together in their shop;
Middle: Ed cuts leather; Bottom: their sign draws people to the shop; Left: Ed’s tooling on a fender, the part of the saddle that connects the body to the stirrup.
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March 25, 2015 – 11
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
With clouds rolling in, cows near Back Road enjoy their hay before the storm hits.
for love or money
Cattle prices forecast to stay up in 2015
by Berl Tiskus Valley Journal
A
griculture experts across the United States agree that while the number of cattle is down, beef prices are up. Calves are selling from $225 to $294 a hundredweight. With cattle prices up, so are beef prices in the grocery store. Ranchers and economists are wondering how long consumers will continue to pay up for beef. Although cow and calf numbers were up one percent across the United States, the total herd size is still the lowest since 1941, according to Rachel Endecott, Montana State University extension beef cattle specialist. Cow and calf numbers totaled 89.8 million up from 88.5 million in 2014, according to the United States Department of Agriculture cattle and calf inventory released Jan. 30. The inventory shows replacement heifers are up four percent. Replacement see page 14 LINDA SAPPINGTON/VALLEY JOURNAL
Cattle prices are predicted to stay high throughout the year, bringing good news for ranchers but costlier beef prices for consumers.
12 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
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March 25, 2015 – 13
Beef from page 12
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
More heifers are being retained by ranchers this year in an effort to increase their herds.
heifers are young female cattle that ranchers keep or buy to become part of their cowherd as older cows pass their calf-bearing years. “I do see more heifers retained this year, not by huge numbers,” Blake Nuffer, co-owner of Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsey, said. “We need to remember that the heifer calves this last fall were a big premium and helped the rancher pay off land, machinery and other debt. We also need to remember how many acres of land we are losing each year to cement and houses. Adding all this together equates to slowing the herd building in America almost to a crawl.” Montanans raise approximately 2.55 million cattle, with about 45,000 in Lake County and 16,000 in Sanders County, according to the 2013 numbers from the
Montana Department of Agriculture. Prices from the week of March 17 from the Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsey showed steer calves selling for $2.76 to $2.82 per pound and heifer calves at $2.35 to $2.70. Missoula Livestock exchange website showed CattleFax prices for the same week at $2.40 to $2.90 for steer calves and $2.30 to $2.90 for heifer calves. “I figure calves will be worth $1,500 to $1,600 this fall,” local rancher Kurt McPherson, WMSA president, said. Nuffer agreed with McPherson. “I think that the calf prices will stay good. I don’t think that we will enjoy the market that we did last year, but it will be good,” Nuffer said. “We all need to remember that the cattle numbers are down, the population is growing, the USA still provides the best, safest and most sought after protein in the world
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Farm & Ranch
today,” he said. With high beef prices in the grocery store, Endecott said consumers spent $1.64 billion on beef as of November 2013 and spent even more, $1.80 billion, as of November 2014. Jayson O’Neill public information officer for the Montana State Department of Agriculture wonders whether consumers will continue to buy beef. “With hamburger at $5 a pound, when will shoppers decide that’s too much and buy turkey burger, chicken or pork?” O’Neill questioned. Derrell Peel, a professor at Oklahoma State University, said it would be hard to top 2014, as far as prices go. “I expect 2015 to be more of a sideways market. Cattle and beef markets will start 2015 with record or near record prices and carry them through,” Peel said in the Oklahoma Farm Report. Peel has roots in the Mission Valley and was last year’s Western Montana Stockgrowers Association speaker. “There is a lot of nervousness out there,” said George Haynes, Montana State University Professor of Business. Haynes pointed out that historically high price spikes in the past have usually reached a point where they plummet dramatically. “I think we’re at a time when they are likely to see some turning in these markets and they are going to turn south quickly … prices tend to look very good going into next year, though,” he said. vj
“I figure calves will be worth $1,500 to $1,600 this fall.” — Kurt McPherson, St. Ignatius rancher and Western Montana Stockgrowers Association president
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 15
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Farm & Ranch
back
to the future
Organic farmer grows using traditional techniques by Karen Peterson for the Valley Journal
“Organic farming is the original way of doing things.” — Julie Pavlock, Foothill Farm, St. Ignatius
KAREN PETERSON PHOTO
O
rganic farming seems to be a new thing that’s catching on. “It’s actually the old way of doing things,” said Julie Pavlock of Foothill Farm. “Conventional agriculture hasn’t been around that long. Organic farming is the original way of doing things.” So — the old ways are making a comeback. “I liked the idea of tradition and the connection to heritage,” she said of organic farming. “I like the idea of growing things.” Without a background in agriculture, Pavlock had a lot to learn before she started farming. She went to the University of California where they have a large hands-on farming program. After graduating, she developed her skills by working on a few farms until she broke ground on her own organic farm in 2005 near the Mission Mountains. “Farming isn’t something you’re going to get rich doing, and it’s hard work, but it gives me a connection to the land and allows me to be outside,” she said. “I knew being inside in an office wasn’t for me.” Pavlock makes a living as an organic farmer on 70 acres by planting crops with a high financial return like garlic, tomatoes and fennel, but first, she needed to be certified by the Montana Department of Agriculture to be considered organic. The process included an initial report and a yearly inspection. see page 18
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 17
“Organic farming means creating a diverse system by using nature to control pests and disease.” — Julie Pavlock, Foothill Farms, St. Ignatius
Organic farming from page 17
“It takes some paperwork to get certified,” she said. “You have to describe your organic system and anything you apply to the crops. I also described the rotational system I use with the animals.” She has a couple dozen chickens and almost the same number of cows. She sells organic eggs and beef. The animals provide old-fashioned fertilizer by way of waste for the crops. To be certified organic, animals need to live on organic ground without antibiotics. “I also had to list the ways I’ve kept the drift of chemicals from coming onto the place,” she said. She pointed to a line of trees around the top section of her farm. What does organic farming mean? “It means more than just not spraying chemicals,” she said. “It means creating a diverse system by using nature to control pests and disease. It’s about thinking about your farm as a natural system that mimics nature.” Pavlock uses a number of techniques to maintain the environment on her farm. “Instead of chemicals to control the weeds we use our hands,” she said. “We pull the weeds or till them under with the tractor. It’s about setting up a diverse system to discourage pests so more beneficial insects thrive to keep the system in balance.” And she does spray. KAREN PETERSON PHOTO
Julie Pavlock checks 18 – March 25, 2015
the beets and bok choy planted earlier in the warm hoop house.
Farm & Ranch
KAREN PETERSON PHOTO
Julie Pavlock sells
the organic eggs she raises on the farm.
To be certified organic, animals need to live on organic ground without antibiotics. “One of the misconceptions about organic farming is that we don’t spray,” she said. “Instead of synthetically derived chemicals, we use naturally derived spray. We spray cabbage with a helpful bacteria that kills cabbage moths.” Composting and tilling cover crops helps her keep the soil healthy so she can grow crops year after year. “Cover crops like clover give nutrients to the soil,” she said. Pavlock sells her organic food to the Western Montana Growers Cooperative. “Selling to them has allowed us to concentrate on growing instead of marketing,” she said. “They redistribute everything to individuals, grocery stores and restaurants.” Pavlock planted her garlic last fall. It sits in the ground all winter, and although it’s only March, her crop is already growing. “The garlic has been up for three weeks,” she said of the green sprouts surrounded by mulch. “We’ve never had it come up this early.” KAREN PETERSON PHOTO
vj
Foothill Farm is nestled
Farm & Ranch
against the Mission Mountains in St. Ignatius.
March 25, 2015 – 19
20 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
some
good ewes Mission Mountain Sheep Dairy close to certification by Megan Strickland Valley Journal
I
t is milking time at a dairy on Courville Trail in Pablo, but nary a “moo” is echoing across the pasture. There is however, an orchestra of “baahs” as Sandra Noland leads a ewe named Margaret up a ramp, onto a platform and into a hold where the sheep can nibble at feed while Sandra grabs a teat and preps it with soapy water for a suction machine. Sandra and her husband Gary hope to be a Grade A Certified sheep dairy by midApril and in the full-swing of selling bleu cheese later this summer. The duo have
been experimenting with the idea of having a sheep dairy for the past three years, after nearly a decade of raising sheep for wool and meat production. “The advantage of sheep’s milk over cow’s milk is that it has twice the amount of fat, but it’s very interesting because it has much lower cholesterol and trans fats,” Sandra said. “A gallon of sheep’s milk will make a little over two pounds of curd, or cheese.” Ewes produce around 100 gallons of milk per year. Sandra said she liked the idea of having
sheep instead of cows because the milk is seasonal. The sheep drops a lamb and the lamb is weaned within 30 days. “I’ll wean my lambs and then milk my ewes until probably about the first of October,” Sandra said. “You have anywhere between 180 days to 200 days of milking. I milk once per day instead of twice per day. You lose a little bit of production, but for a small flock it takes so much time to clean your equipment. It just doesn’t make sense.” see page 22
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 21
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Fresh sheep milk can be frozen
and saved for making bleu cheese throughout winter.
“You can freeze it and it won’t separate at all.” — Sandra Noland, dairy sheep farmer
Dairy sheep from page 21
Sandra loves interacting with her animals, and said she doesn’t want to dedicate so much time to milking that she doesn’t have time to work in her garden and enjoy other activities. She also doesn’t want to spend so much time making cheese that she loses time with her animals. Sandra started the dairy operation slowly, with three ewes brought in from Oklahoma. She began experimenting with different cheese recipes and attended seminars in Oregon and California to learn more about the business. She spent much of the last year perfecting her bleu cheese-making skills. At first she hand-milked the ewes, but invested in a machine milker and now has a milking facility set for inspection and certification within the next month. She has around a dozen ewes of the East Friesian, Lacaune, and Zwartbles varieties, most of which had one or two lambs this year. NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
22 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Sandra Noland’s dairy operation has grown to where she no longer milks her sheep by hand.
One even gave birth to triplets. Sandra doesn’t think she’ll grow much beyond 25 or 30 ewes though. “That is probably too big,” she said. “I don’t want this to be the only thing I do in my life.” Raising sheep is arduous work. Gary recently retired, so he jokes that he gets to see Sandra a little bit, but during the height of lambing season she has a kitchen timer that goes off every couple of hours to check the moms and babies. When birthing dies down, she still spends more than 10 hours a day working with the animals. Luckily, sheep milk can be frozen for cheese making. “You can freeze it and it won’t separate at all,” Sandra said. “Cow’s milk will separate. I milk, and then I make my cheese in the winter.” It takes about 90 days to make a batch of cheese, and Sandra has a number of different varieties that range from hard cheese to softer cream cheese. She said many friends and neighbors have enjoyed her cream cheeses that have herbs from the garden mixed in. The milk can also be used for drinking. “She tricked me and put sheep’s milk in the fridge for two weeks and I used it on my cereal,” Gary said. “She didn’t tell me it was sheep’s milk and I had no idea.” Sandra said sheep’s milk is usually easier for lactose intolerant NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
see page 26
Surrounded by lambs, Farm & Ranch
a mama sheep rests at Mission Mountain Sheep Dairy.
March 25, 2015 – 23
24 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 25
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Sandra and Gary Noland will focus on marketing their cheese during the summer.
Dairy sheep people to digest than cow’s milk. She would eventually like to have her own creamery, but she thinks it will be at least a year before she is ready for that.
Her original goal was to make ice cream, but that requires pasteurizing the milk twice, which is very cost-prohibitive. Bills being debated in the legislature that would permit raw milk sale might open a few more doors for the Mission Mountain Sheep
Dairy, but until then Sandra and Gary are focusing on marketing their cheese this summer. The pair say the best way to get some of the cheese is to give them a ring at (406) 675-0442.
Auto
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from page 23
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Farm & Ranch
Good tillers: sheep kind to organic soil by Jenny Lavey MSU News Service
U
sing domestic sheep rather than traditional farming equipment to manage fallow and terminate cover crops may enable farmers who grow organic crops to save money, reduce tillage, manage weeds and pests, and reduce the risk of soil erosion, according to Montana State University and North Dakota State University faculty members. The preliminary results are from the first two years in a long-term United States Department of Agriculture research, education and extension project, which is showing several environmental and economic benefits for an integrated cropping and livestock system, according to Perry Miller, MSU professor of land resources and environmental sciences who is part of the research team. Miller said that in a typical organic farming system, tillage is used to terminate cover crops and to get rid of unwanted weeds. However, frequent mechanical tilling can disrupt soil structure and reduce organic matter, ultimately harming the success and growth of future
crops and costing farmers money. “There’s one major downfall in organic farming, and that’s soil erosion, which is related directly to tillage,” Miller said. “This project targets that vulnerability. We’ve designed a system that lets us engage grazing to reduce tillage by more than half.” Instead of using traditional tilling machinery, Miller said the project featured a reduced-till organic system, where faculty researchers used domestic sheep to graze farmland for cover crop termination and weed control. Placing sheep at the heart of the project helped MSU scientists find out that an integrated cropping system that uses domestic sheep for targeted grazing is an economically feasible way of reducing tillage for certified organic farms. Early project results suggested that grazing sheep saved money on tilling costs. The simulated farming operation also made money when the lambs were sold for processing after grazing cover crops. In providing alternative practices to organic and non-organic ranch and farming operations, the project also makes a case for a closer relationship between livestock and crop
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
“Using sheep as the central tool in an integrated system like this is unique ...” — Patrick Hatfield, MSU animal and range sciences professor
producers, said Patrick Hatfield, MSU animal and range sciences professor who is part of the research team. “Using sheep as the central tool in an integrated system like this is unique because it looks at agroecosystem management from a holistic perspec-
tive,” Hatfield said. “Our study is unique in that it’s bridging farm systems and ranch systems in an enterprise-level manner and finding very real economic and agronomic benefits.” The project evaluates an organic farming operation, largely because the organic market is one of the
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systems can get complex in terms of interactions of plants with soil organisms, crops and crop pests, and farmers need to find a balance between economic return, productivity and sustainability. This study speaks to every one of those factors.” The project will continue to be housed at several of MSU’s College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station’s affiliated research farms, including the Fort Ellis Experiment Station west of Bozeman, a historic U.S. Cavalry fort turned into a livestock teaching and research farm. MSU is the largest land-grant university in Montana, and the MSU College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station are charged with delivering cutting-edge agricultural research for the state’s public. For more information on the study, contact: Patrick Hatfield, animal scientist, hatfield@montana.edu or (406) 994-7952; Perry Miller, agro-ecologist, pmiller@montana.edu or (406) 994-5431; or Anton Bekkerman, agricultural economist, anton.bekkerman@montana.edu or (406) 994-3032.
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fastest growing markets in the food industry. According to MSU Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics Assistant Professor Anton Bekkerman, American consumers spend about $30 billion on organic foods each year. “Montana is the third largest producer of organic crop and livestock in the United States, and this study is looking at how organic food can be produced and brought to market in an efficient and cost effective way,” Bekkerman said. “The study also provided us with alternative ideas of how to manage cropping systems, with the potential for sustainability and potential entrepreneurship.” The multidisciplinary project team involves faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from varied fields that include agronomy, weed ecology, animal and range sciences, community development, political science, entomology, soil science and agricultural economics. “We are approaching this perspective not from a sole discipline; we are looking at a system-level approach,” said Fabian Menalled, MSU Extension weed ecologist. “Cropping
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March 25, 2015 – 27
early gift LISE ROUSSEAU SILVA PHOTO
Twin ram lambs surprise owner by Lise Rousseau Silva for the Valley Journal
A
dages become old because they hold a kernel of truth. And for Fat Robin Orchard & Farm, the old adage, “Life happens while you are making other plans,” is truth incarnate. In this case, it is new life. Back in October 2014, our ram, (Stud) Muffin, was more rambunctious than usual. On two occasions he went over two 36-inch woven wire fences like an Olympic vaulter. That was quite a feat for a 300 pound animal and its own amusing anecdote. His goal was our small flock of ewes that live about 35 yards away over a small rise. He was heeding the siren song of ShortCake, our shyest
28 – March 25, 2015
and most quiet ewe. He can’t see them, but he can hear them, and on a good wind day, apparently he can smell them. We normally breed our ewes in November so we can take advantage of the nicer spring weather and nutritious grass when the lambs arrive in April. Having Muffin in with the ewes in early October was not part of the plan. He couldn’t have been in with the ewes for more than 10 minutes and I didn’t think that was long enough for him to do his job, but I’ve learned something new this year. On a recent Thursday, I casually looked out to
Farm & Ranch
where the ewes rest in the early afternoon and saw something … the puppy? Nope, in the house. Another dog? A fox? What was it? Wait, that’s a lamb. I rushed out to the pasture to find the result of Muffin’s athletic endeavor: two lovely ram lambs, both up and dry and nursing. (Thank goodness for small favors.) One is white like ShortCake and the other a dusky color like Muffin. They are as cute as lambs can be and were not expected. I had noticed that Shortcake’s udder was growing, but it didn’t seem anything remarkable six weeks out from lambing. ShortCake was also see page 30
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March 25, 2015 – 29
farmer’s
friend
MEGAN STRICKLAND/VALLEY JOURNAL
An unassuming chunk of metal at the St. Ignatius airport is an invaluable tool for farmers as it has recorded humidity and precipitation data for 20 years.
Agrimet station offers free data to farmers by Megan Strickland Valley Journal
Twin surprise from page 28
rather round, but they often appear that way when they are pregnant and in full fleece. When I had let the ewes out that morning for their daytime pasture, she gave no indications of impending birth. Shepherding is as much an intuition as it is a 30 – March 25, 2015
T
he spiky metal, glass probes, and moving weather vane looks like it should be in some sort of high-tech laboratory instead of the pasture at the St. Ignatius Airport, but the equipment is not misplaced. For every second of the past 20 years a number of sensors at the station have collected a new data point for the Agrimet network, and transferred them online so they are translated into 15-minute aggregate values that provide invaluable insight into the impact of weather on farmers’ crops. “That station collects humidity, wind parameters, wind gusts, solar radiation, and precipitation data,” Bureau of Reclamation Agrimet Coordinator Jama Hamel said. “The actual purpose of it is to calculate the evapotranspiration, but it can also be used to monitor the weather
skill. Some days we’re on point, others not so much. The rest of my afternoon was spent getting everything done that I had given myself a month to do in preparation for lambing, including getting a jug (the area that ewes and their lambs live in for a while) repaired and ready, requiring the circular saw, a cattle panel, bolt cutters,
each day, watch for frost or the wind for crop application.” Evapotranspiration rates are calculated by taking in the weather data and determining how much water a crop will loose on any given day. “Farmers know exactly how much water to replace,” Hamel said. Although agriculturalists have been able to access the data for years on desktop computers, and more recently, download a customizable Android app that allows producers to take in data for their specific crop needs, many people are still in the dark that the free data is available. “Some of these stations have been around for 30 years and people have no idea they exist,” Hamel said of the Bureau of Reclamations dozens of stations. Such was the case in St. Ignatius, when the Flathead Joint Board of Control in
and lots of baling twine. That done I separated everyone out so that I could move ShortCake and her boys in. All the sheep love the jugs until you want them in there. The lambs and their ewe snug in the jug, warm and dry and nursing well, it was time for her special rations and a thorough examination of the lambs. All was as it should be. Farm & Ranch
February discussed paying the yearly bill for the station’s operation. Many in the crowd were left scratching their heads wondering, “what’s that?” Board chairman Jerry Laskody said the station is extremely valuable. “I use it to decide when I irrigate,” Laskody said. Tomes of data from the St. Ignatius station’s two decades of existence are available, including extensive records about rainfall, information about growing degree days, and more. The Agrimet network is making it easier to access the data. An iPhone app is in the works to give farmers another platform for accessing and customizing the data available. Hamel said people can visit: weather.wsu.edu, to get started on setting up their account.
I was/am in no way prepared for lambing right now. No one has been sheared and I have no safe place to put the ram, Muffin, who has been with the girls throughout the winter. But we do what we can with what we are given. Unfortunately, this was a week that my husband was on the road, so I had no help except for the good
sense my momma gave me and power tools and baling twine. Thank God for it all, but especially for the special grace of healthy new life.
Lise Rousseau Silva is an organic cherry grower and shepherdess to a small flock of wool sheep. Her farm is on Finley Point.
On-farm food safety workshops offered News from Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center RONAN — As demand grows for locally and regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, buyers are increasingly asking Montana’s produce farmers for assurance that they are using food-safety practices on the farm. Farmers need to be aware that even if they are exempt under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, if a buyer requires a food safety plan, farmers will need to comply in order to sell to that buyer. Buyers likely to require farmers to have an on-farm food safety plan (Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP) include grocers, restaurants, farmers markets, schools, hospitals and other fresh produce buyers. To help farmers provide needed assurance, the International Organic Inspectors Association is hosting three workshops in Montana that will provide GAP training for food safety; in Chico Hot Springs March 26, Great Falls March 30, and Helena April 1. The workshops are designed for but not limited to: produce farmers, county sanitarians, Cooperative Extension agents and other agricultural educators, farmers market managers, food safety auditors, organ-
Participants will learn and understand: • • • • • • • • • • •
Current food safety requirements Factors affecting food safety requirements today How food safety Good Agriculture Practices audits are conducted Role of traceability in food safety audits Relationship between ground history and food safety Food safety risk factors related to fertilizer and soil fertility inputs Food safety risk factors for irrigation water How handling of crop pesticides may affect food safety Hygiene requirements for those working in fields or packing crops Food safety rules associated with harvesting Key points that allow for a successful audit
ic inspectors, food retailers, restaurant owners, farm workers and interns, farmto-institution staff and agricultural service providers. The workshops’ trainings will teach participants about on-farm fresh fruit and vegetable food safety rules and regulations, how to assess the factors affecting food safety, how risk is managed on farms and how food safety audits are conducted and scored.
Each of the trainings is a six-hour course, limited to 20 participants per course. This training is free to all fruit and vegetable growers and any participant who is directly connected to fresh fruit and vegetable producers. Residents of Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota or Wyoming are eligible for the free registration. For those who do not fit into one of the categories or states listed above, the
cost of the training is $450. For those participants pursuing a certificate for on-farm food safety training or for a Regional Independent Verifier, the course will also include a pre-course assignment and post-course exam. The workshops are funded in part by a Montana Department of Agriculture USDA Specialty Crop grant in partnership with the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center, based in Ronan. The training uses GAP Audit Guidelines and Checklists to verify food safety compliance. The course will be taught by certified GAP Auditor Jonda Crosby and Karen Troxell, a California expert with experience in all aspects of fresh fruit and vegetable processing, farming and food safety. The course will include practice scenarios of food safety auditing, group exercises, lots of time for questions and answers. Participants will leave with a link to literally 100 food safety resources available to them for future reference in their work. For more information about the workshop and to register, go to: http://www.ioia.net/schedule_onsite.html. For more information about the course, contact Jonda Crosby at (406) 227-9161or jcrosby@mt.net.
Student, horse earn national honors News from the NHSRA Willy Lytton of Polson Middle School was named the National High School JH Rodeo (boys) Student Athlete of the month. There are currently 12,500 athletes competing from the United States, Canada and Australia in the NHSRA in more than 1,100 sanctioned rodeos every year. The NHSRA presents one junior high girl and boy each month with a Professional’s Choice SMx Air Ride Saddle Pad. Willy was chosen as the boy’s April 2015 student athlete of the month and is featured in the NHSRA Times Magazine. Each monthly winner then qualifies for two $1,000 scholarships (one boy’s and one girl’s) to be awarded at the end of the rodeo season. Scholarship winners are announced at the National High School JH Finals Rodeo each year. Willy’s horse and partner Duke also received national recognition and was named the NHSRA/JH Equine Athlete of the month. This award recognizes the equine athletes for their ability, talents and responsibility they provide to their rodeo athlete. Duke was selected NHSRA/JH Equine Athlete of the month February 2015. Willy competes on the Polson High School Rodeo Team and is honored to receive both of these awards. Coming from a rodeo family, Willy said he feels blessed for his many years getting to do the sport he loves.
J. COLLINS PHOTO
Willy Lytton,
a student at Polson Middle School, earned national honors for his accomplishments in National HIgh School JH Rodeo.
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 31
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High tunnels extend growing season by Megan Strickland Valley Journal
S
ub-freezing temperatures and shorter bouts of sunshine cause frozen hard ground that is too much of an obstacle for would-be germinators to push up into the world and survive Montana’s cold winters, but more and more Lake County growers are turning to high tunnels to extend their seasons into the chillier months. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service field office in Ronan has helped around a dozen growers get high tunnel facilities set up in the past four years, Soil Conservationist Andrew Malucelli said. “Typically the advantages are that you are growing on both ends of the traditional growing season time,” Malucelli said of high tunnels, which resemble greenhouses, but aren’t heated. “I have a high tunnel and we are able to do triple cropping in spring, fall and the growing season. We grow March until Thanksgiving.” The structures usually consist of a metal frame with a plastic cover draped over the sides. The most common size high tunnel in Lake County is 30 by 72 feet. The plastic can be rolled up for ventilation in warmer months. “When it’s sunny it can be 30 to 40 degrees warmer inside,” Malucelli said. It is a great way for farmers to increase production without having to purchase more acreage. The high tunnels usually cost less than $10,000 and the National Resources Conservation Service has costshare matching programs that help pay
grown up NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
High tunnel greenhouses extend
see page 34
the growing season for Lake County farmers.
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 33
High tunnels from page 33
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Cost-sharing programs
through the Natural Resources Conservation Service can fund up to 75 percent of a high tunnel.
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for up to 75 percent of the price of the infrastructure. Each season, farmers can see as much as $7,000 to $8,000 in profits from their harvest, making the structures easy to pay off. The plastic on the structures has a four-year warranty, with some lasting as long as a decade. A plastic cover replacement costs around $300. Malucelli said many of the crops grown in the high tunnels are cold hardy crops that are sold in farmer’s markets or sold wholesale to markets. The boom in high tunnel usage has come as more people gain interest in sustainable agriculture. “There are just more people interested in local food, especially organic,” Malucelli said. Malucelli said the structures also make it easier to manage pests,
and hold water so that irrigation needs are minimal at certain times of year. “You can more efficiently use water because there is less desiccation from the wind,” Malucelli said. “You don’t have that drying effect. In fall, often times you can stop irrigating.” Polson farmer Karl Sutton has used a high tunnel since 2012. His is one of the few in Lake County that is moveable, on wheels. After starting a crop, he can roll the tunnel over a new patch of land to maximize its benefits. “It’s a rodeo,” Sutton said of moving the structure. “We’ve got a truck and a tractor on each side and people guiding it.” After some experimentation and adapting to a learning curve, Sutton has overwintered and grown a number of crops in the high tunnel, including kale, cucumbers, mustard greens, collards greens, and beets. see page 36
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Although it’s only March, mustard greens and kale are already up in Sutton’s high tunnel greenhouse.
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Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 35
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Karl Sutton has grown crops with high tunnels on his Polson farm since 2012.
“Here in Montana high tunnels offer some great opportunities, but you really have to be creative ...” — Karl Sutton, Polson farmer NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Curly kale adapts well to high tunnel farming.
“Here in Montana, high tunnels offer some great opportunities, but you really have to be creative in what you use them for and the type of crops you grow in them,” Sutton said.
36 – March 25, 2015
In some places, people have utilized the high tunnels as a place to host catered dinners in the garden and bring in extra income through multi-functional agriculture. Sutton praised the NCRS pro-
Farm & Ranch
gram that helped him get the high tunnel, beneficial pollinators, and wildlife habitat fencing. “It was a great benefit of the program,” Sutton said.
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NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Tiny tomato seeds are weighed for packaging at Triple Divide Seeds, a local organic seed cooperative.
a friend in
seed
Co-op grows, sells local organic seeds by Berl Tiskus Valley Journal
T
o get pumpkin or squash seeds, you scoop the goo from the middle of the fruit and pick out the slippery oval seeds. But how do you get carrot seeds? Where are the seeds home gardeners plant grown? Why is it good to plant seeds that are grown locally? These are all questions the farmers at Triple Divide Seeds can answer. Triple Divide Seeds is a seed cooperative, run by eight farmers who have banded together to raise, harvest and sell locally grown certified organic seeds. “We’re located as far north as Whitefish, down to Hamilton and to Power,” said Karl Sutton, one of the Triple Divide farmers. They began talking about a seed co-op when Lake County Community Development Corporation and Organic Seed Alliance did a survey in the area on organic growers and their needs. Sutton was intrigued with the idea, asking himself, “Why are we focusing on local and regional food, but not on local seeds?” The seed industry is heavily consolidated, Sutton said. He used Winterbor kale as an example. It’s the curly kale that’s become very see page 38
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 37
Seed co-op from page 37
BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
Tiny onions sprout
the first year, producing a bulb; the second year, the onions produce seed.
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Delicate, lightweight seeds can be tricky to sort.
popular, and most of the seeds are grown in the Netherlands in strictly controlled greenhouses. A greenhouse environment has very little to do with western Montana weather. So the seed co-op growers are testing 10 kale varieties, including Winterbor, to find the ones most resistant to bugs. Local farmers, who are using the seeds themselves as well as growing seed for sale, look for vegetables and fruits that do well in western Montana, have adapted to the climate, and are what their market requires. For instance, growers want lettuce that can handle that early frost and still be vibrant outside, and beets that are scab resistant. Scab is a blemish that damages the vegetable’s storability. Another example that flourishes is Clear Dawn yellow onions, a vigorous variety that grows fast and stores all winter, according to Sutton. Leslie Kline of Good Egg Farm in Moiese has been growing Clear Dawn onions for nearly a decade. “It’s an open pollinated storage onion, about two to three inches across,” Kline said. “It competed well with storage onions. The first year you get a beautiful bulb; the next year it flowers and makes seeds, — so do parsnips, carrots and beets.” Parsnips, carrots and beets are biennials, meaning it takes two years to harvest seeds from them. “You have to physically take them out of the ground,” Sutton explained. Right now Sutton and wife Darci Jones have approximately 1,200 beet plants and 500 carrots wintering in their root cellar at Fresh Roots Farm near Pablo. He’ll put them back in the ground soon, and at the end of the growing season, harvest the seeds. When he replants he’ll take only the best, most firm ones, making the seed stronger. Sutton sells wholesale lettuce, so he grows lots; he saves about 100 lettuce plants for seed production. “I’ll go through and tell Darci and Kena (their daughter), ‘Don’t touch them,’” Sutton said. They harvest the rest of the salad greens and let the seed plants go another couple of months. Growing seed is a “16-month business.” Right now Sutton and the other farmers are planting for next year, and the seed co-op farmers are in the process of packing and selling seed. Then during the spring and summer there is more planting, weeding, watering and monitoring the plants. He and Darci pick vegetables for sale twice a week when they ripen. Harvest happens in the fall, with September being a busy seed-harvesting time. “I start cleaning seed as soon as I can,” Sutton said. see page 39
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Victoria Werner packs seeds at the co-op. 38 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
He uses two big box fans to winnow, or separate the seeds from the chaff, and handheld screens to remove any other debris from the seeds. Tomato seeds are in the squishy middle of the fruit. “You have to ferment it and break down gelatinous stuff, decant it, and clean it to get the seed,” Sutton said. Radishes, kale, broccoli — all the cruciferous vegetables — have seedpods, according to Sutton. When all the co-op farmers collect their seeds, they bring them to LCCDC for processing. Victoria Werner of Deluge Farm at Camas Prairie joined Kline and Sutton to print labels and package seeds. All the seeds are certified organic. “Some seeds are counted, some are weighed,” Kline said, holding a bucket of Black Valentine green bean seeds which are sold in an 11-ounce packet. “They’ve been well received. Gardeners know it’s intuitively cool and important to have locally grown and adapted seeds,” Kline noted. Kline, Werner and Sutton all agree that Western Montana is a good place to grow seeds. The summers are dry — which is helpful because in a humid climate, seeds can mold —and there is time for the plants to grow to maturity. Seed quality is something most gardeners don’t think about, Werner said, but they get quality local seeds from the co-op. Triple Divide Seeds are available at Delaney’s Landscape Center, Inc. in Polson; Third Street Market in Whitefish; Swan River Gardens and Nursery in Bigfork; Good Food Store and the Missoula Food Co-op in Missoula; Lakeland Feed and Supply in Hamilton; the Real Food Store in Helena and Planet Natural in Bozeman. Eventually the seeds will be available online.
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Triple Divide Organic Seeds Co-op workers
hand package each seed packet.
“Gardeners know it’s intuitively cool and important to have locally grown and adaptive seeds.” — Leslie Klein, Good Egg Farm, Moiese
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Orders are filled by Karl Sutton,
a Polson farmer who grows organic seeds for the co-op.
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NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
While tiny seeds are weighed, others, like pumpkin seeds, are counted before being placed in small paper seed packages.
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 39
• Crushed (fractured) Road Base 3/4 " to 2"• Rock Chips (fractured) Cleaned 1/4 to 1.5" • Natural Washed Rock 1/4 to 3" • Oversized Rock 3 to 6" and 6"+ • Screened Topsoil • Sand (Masonry, concrete, pit sand)
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Monday - Friday 37246 Caffrey Road • Polson www.glacierlakesandandgravel.com 40 – March 25, 2015
to best serve you!
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We accept credit cards! Farm & Ranch
around the
valley
SUMMER GODDARD/VALLEY JOURNAL
Newborn calf NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Feeding cattle
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Whiskey Trail, Flathead River BERL TISKUS/VALLEY JOURNAL
more photos, page 42
Out for a ride
Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 41
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Feeding cattle
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Round bales NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
John Deere tractor 42 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
Start Your Crop on Solid Footing Let us help you with the Spring Application
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Moiese Fertilizer Company Farm & Ranch
644-2236 45868 Schoolhouse Lane Moiese, Montana 59824 lindal@blackfoot.net March 25, 2015 – 43
Incentives available for irrigators
farmer & rancher
resources
Pesticide training set for March 26 KALISPELL – The Montana State University Pesticide Education Program will offer a sixhour pesticide training in Kalispell on March 26. The cost for the workshop is $10 for those who don’t want a private applicator license or who simply desire private applicator credits, and $25 for those who want to qualify for a private applicator license. The fee covers the sixhour training session, as well as training manuals. For more details, preregistration information and complete agendas, go to: www.pesticides.montana.edu and select one of the workshop locations under “Regional Initial Pesticide Training Opportunities.” For additional information, contact local Extension agents or Cecil Tharp at (406) 9945067 or ctharp@montana.edu.
Deadline to elect coverage nears News from the Farm Service Agency, United States Department of Agriculture Farmers and landowners who don’t want to lose their chance to elect
Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, and qualify for 2014 payments, should update their farm yield history and/or reallocate crop base acres by March 31. Producers need to make a one-time election of ARC or PLC for 2014-2018 crop years. Farms that miss the March 31 deadline will not be eligible for 2014 crop year ARC or PLC payments; their only option will be to enroll the farm in PLC for the 2015 - 2018 crop years and not ARC, and the farm’s current counter-cyclical yield and base acres will be used for PLC. Call the local FSA County Office to make an appointment to revise up until the deadline. For more information, visit: www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.
Free webinar explores markets for ag producers MISSOULA — On March 26 at 11 a.m. the National Center for Appropriate Technology will host a free, live webinar for local producers looking to expand their opportunities into wholesale and institutional markets. “Selling to Institutional Markets: Strategies and Considerations for Montana Producers” will begin at 11 a.m. The
University of Montana’s Farm to College Program will provide information and technical assistance to Montana farmers, ranchers, and food processors who are interested in accessing larger food service markets. Participants will learn what institutions look for when sourcing local food, methods for approaching buyers, supplier best practices, food-safety considerations and other tips and tricks for partnering with institutions for wholesale success. Ian Finch, the Farm to College Program Manager at the University of Montana, will be the presenter during the webinar. The webinar will include time for participants to ask questions of Finch as well as a panel of experts in the field, including buyers from the school and hospital markets and an organization experienced with selling to institutions. To register for the webinar, go to; www.ncat.org and look at Events under the “News and Events” menu. For more information, call (406) 723-7582.
Matt appointed to state farm service agency HELENA — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently appointed Anita Matt,
COURTESY PHOTO
A very large but healthy calf was born on Lincoln’s birthday at the Hamel Valley Ranch in Dixon. The 90-pound beast edged toward a weight that would have made birthing difficult, according to Jerry Hamel. A birth weight of “70 to 80 pounds is on the upper end of what you want the calf to be,” Hamel said. “Over 100 pounds, and the more problems you’ll have with the birthing.” Who’s responsible for the big calf? “It’s the bull,” he said.
land services program manager for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, to the USDA Farm Service Agency State Committee. “Anita Matt is committed to improving agriculture and helping producers across Montana. Her career of public service for the CSKT tribal government combined with over three decades of ranching on the Flathead Indian Reservation makes her a strong resource for families in rural Montana,” Vilsack said. “I want to congratulate Anita for her well-deserved recognition.” The FSA State Committee provides over-
sight for the agency, including FSA’s agricultural programs, resolving appeals from the agricultural producers, and helping to keep farmers and ranchers Anita Matt informed about FSA programs. Matt joins Committee members Steve Carney of Scobey, who serves as committee chair, Floyd Dahlman of Forsyth, Kelly Flaherty-Settle of Canyon Creek and Patricia Quisno of Fort Belknap.
LINDA SAPPINGTON/VALLEY JOURNAL
44 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
PABLO — Mission Valley Power provides electrical service to more than 1,000 irrigation pump accounts. In support of the service provided, MVP partners with Bonneville Power Administration in offering incentives to improve electrical usage of irrigation systems. The agricultural incentive program recognizes the need to replace parts on systems. Rebates are offered as credits on MVP pump accounts and vary from 75 cents to $10 per item. Replacement items include: worn nozzles, leaking impact sprinklers, gaskets, lowpressure regulators, drop tubes, levelers, and pipe repair of leaking lines. These rebates are offered for agricultural irrigation systems only and do not include systems used for golf courses, cemeteries or residential lawns. Each fall, Bonneville Power Administration offers an “irrigation mitigation product,” which is a credit on irrigation accounts based on its amount of usage from May 1 through Sept. 30. The credit usually reaches MVP sometime in November. As of 2013, irrigators have had the opportunity to see their usage on a monthly basis. They have the option of paying monthly or at the end of the irrigation season. This method was made possible with the installation of Automated Meters. For more information about the incentive program and available rebates, visit our website at: missionvalleypower.org, and look under Conservation Programs.
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St. Ignatius • 745-3634 Farm & Ranch
March 25, 2015 – 45
pay
dirt NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Different soils have unique chemical, structural, and nutrient compositions that determine what will grow.
Soil health important for agriculture by Megan Strickland Valley Journal
H
umans are examined by doctors and dentists, horses visit the vet, and trucks and tractors are tuned up by a mechanic, but the health of one major driver of farm and ranch health also needs a periodic check-up: the soil. While it might seem like warm sunshine and rain from the heavens above are the leading factors of raising crops, what happens below the surface is key. “It is as important as the sunshine,” Lake County MSU Extension Agent Jack Stivers said. “Everything starts in the soil and
46 – March 25, 2015
grows up. It all starts there.” Soil patterns across Mission Valley are erratic as a result of deposition patterns caused by Glacial Lake Missoula, which was a 2,000 feet deep lake that was dammed by ice 12,000 years ago in the last ice age. The ancient lake was the biggest known to have ever existed on Earth, and the massive water body led to many collossal floods that ripped away entire mountainsides and soil profiles across the western United States. “Glacial Lake Missoula wasn’t very kind
Farm & Ranch
to the area,” said soil conservation technician Austin Allen of the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Ronan. “In Ronan there are sandy loams, but you’ll also sometimes have clay that’s three feet down. In Pablo, you’ve got nice and fluffy soil. In Mission there is rich topsoil that’s a nice variety of sandy, clay, loam soils.” Every soil has its own chemical, structural, and nutrient make up that plays a vital role in what will grow on top. “Soil is alive,” Allen said. see page 47
NICOLE TAVENNER/VALLEY JOURNAL
Soil types are diverse throughout the Mission Valley.
Soil health “is as important as sunshine ... it all starts there.” — Jack Stivers, MSU Extension Lake County agent
Farmers will usually test their soils every five years or more frequently to get a pulse on how their dirt is fairing. Gauging soil health can make a huge difference in figuring out ways to increase production. “Once you know what you have, you will know how to amend that with fertilizer, or pH,” Stivers said. “If you don’t know what it is to begin with, how do you know what progress is?” There are several options for soil testing in Lake County. The MSU Extension office in Ronan has soil testing applications and can send samples to Colorado State University. It costs around $22 plus shipping costs to run a basic test, with additional tests for specific chemical compounds or nutrients available. The agency also has instructions available on how to gather the best sample possible. Generally, samples consist of three cups of soil taken from various places within a field. It is important to get all types of soil in the field. If a sand bar runs through the middle, that unique soil needs to be factored in with the consistency of the rest of the field. Staff at the MSU Extension office can help interpret the results of the tests, and make some recommendations about how to deal with any problems or figure out what might grow best. Helping farmers make corrections is something Forrest Johnsen, assistant agronomy manager at Westland Seed,
Farm & Ranch
does regularly. The ag supply store sends hundreds of soil tests off every year, and Johnsen says each result comes with its own remedy or area for improvement. “The main issue we see is pH and compaction,” Johnsen said. Compacted soils are usually basic and alkaline because water and oxygen can’t penetrate the ground to wash away salts that build up. “Gypsum loosens the soil up so water and oxygen can get in there,” Johnsen said. “It flushes the salt out.” Acidic soils are often sandier, and are made healthier by adding lime or calcium carbonate. “It can make a major difference,” Johnsen said. “You can raise potatoes in a 4.7 pH, but you aren’t going to grow anything else. Your small grains will be really poor.” Johnsen said most people stay on top of their soil’s health. “Most people keep up on things, because you have to get your return for your dollar invested and you have to make sure your soil is producing,” Johnsen said. Those who want to find out what lies beneath the surface without sending off a test can find some compiled soil survey information on the web at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrc s/surveylist/soils/survey/state/?stateId= MT.
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March 25, 2015 – 47
Open House Everyone Welcome
Saturday, March 28 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Lunch - Beverages
Come see our new front office and help us celebrate 23 years in business!
Your old equipment doesn’t have to be a thing of the past! • New machinery
er Web n h o J
• Repairs and Overhauls • Used and Repaired Equipment • New After Market and O.E.M. parts
Bonnie Clark
• Salvage Yard Used parts
Ask us about parts! If we don’t have them, we can most often order them. Any model. Any brand.
Post Creek Supply Co.
Milt Weber
ELECTRIC
Your KUHN Equipment dealer.
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Mike Clark
• Automotive • Industrial • Agricultural
• Alternators • Starters • Generators
(406) 544-1095 5570 Fish Hatchery Road St. Ignatius, MT 59865 E q u i p m e n t S a l v a g e Ya r d • N e w E q u i p m e n t D e a l e r • U s e d E q u i p m e n t S a l e s a n d R e p a i r s
POST CREEK SUPPLY CO. 55740 Fish Hatchery Road St. Ignatius, MT. 59865 48 – March 25, 2015
Farm & Ranch
406-644-3100 406-644-2223