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THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Serving the industry Schlichting appointed to Minnesota Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council by JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER
RICE – As another spring season arrives, Rick Schlichting Ànds himself in a situation all too familiar. For the second time, Schlichting has been elected as the Benton County representative on the Minnesota Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council. He was Àrst elected as a board member eight years ago and then re-elected after his Àrst three-year term was completed. “Since the program began, someone from our farm has always been on the board,” Schlichting said, whose uncle, John Wojtanowicz was a founding member. “This is a small group of 20 to 30 farmers and we have to keep cycling through the leadership roles.” The potato farmer runs approximately 6,000 acres near Rice, with his aunt, Diane Wojtanowicz. Together, the families grow Russet Burbank potatoes, kidney beans and corn.
“My grandma started this farm when she emigrated from Poland in the ‘20s,” Schlichting said. Schlichting will serve a three-year term, staying up to date with how producers’ checkoff dollars are being distributed for research at the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University (NDSU), and also educating the public. For every bag of potatoes produced, 2 cents is generated towards the council’s purpose. “The funds are equally divided between the two colleges,” Schlichting said. “Recently, NDSU has done considerably more research in Grand Forks because they have the potato breeders and professors.” Additionally, board members represent their region in the state, being the voice of other potato producers. “As an area representative, I can voice concerns and help in the decisionmaking process,” Schlichting said. Often times, knowing
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Rick Schlicting farms 6,000 acres with his family near Rice. Schlicting was appointed to the Minnesota Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council.
education of the industry might not mimic real happenings of the industry, the council attempts to puts a larger emphasis on the needs
of potato farmers to ensure a future market. “Sometimes that gets left out if not talked about,” Schlichting said. “We have
to Ànd a potato that Àts the breeder in the Twin Cities. “We are interviewing bill for the industry.” One of Schlichting’s Schlichting Àrst responsibilities includes continued on pg. 3B overseeing the hire of a
Service to the community by JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER
Whether it’s a child looking to become more involved in the community, an elderly couple wanting to share their experience with home gardening or a crop farmer searching for information on pesticide use, Benton County Extension Services helps everyone. “There’s a channel to share information, an avenue where everyone can beneÀt partially or directly,” said Dan Martens, ag production systems extension educator. Benton County Extension Service works directly with the University of Minnesota Extension to provide information and resources from the university to the loSAUK RAPIDS HERALD FILE PHOTO cal communities. Likewise, Jessica Ackerman (back) helps Breah Sutherland cut a bear faculty at the university have mask at a 4-H camping-themed day camp at Municipal Park the opportunity to underlast July. stand the needs and goals of
communities in central Minnesota. “Basically the county ofÀce is the front door to the University of Minnesota Extension Service and the St. Cloud regional ofÀce,” Martens said. “Really, Extension is a part of a network that is working and learning together.” Martens works with four other individuals who all aid in providing expertise to the communities of Benton County – Heidi Anderson, county 4-H program coordinator; Beth Berlin, horticulture extension educator; Emily Wilmes, ag production systems – livestock; and Darlene Szafranski, administrative assistant. “Our ultimate goal is for all Extension ag staff to provide general knowledge, locally,” Martens said. Additionally, Benton
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County works cooperatively with Morrison and Stearns Counties to create programs that producers and community members Ànd valuable, including summer dairy tours, forage tours, and other workshops and meetings. “Because of the signiÀcant livestock enterprise in Benton County, the key is to produce crops for feed, whether that’s silage, hay or grain,” Martens said. “These workshops help farmers do that.” Not only do Extension workshops and programs cater to adults, but youth and families, as well. In Benton County, 430 youth and 112 adults are involved in the 4-H program, which Anderson oversees. The county has 20 local clubs that community members can be a part of. “We have a really strong program that’s great for youth, families and volunteers,” said Anderson, who grew up in the Benton County 4-H program.
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Throughout the year, members of the organization are given the opportunity to participate in day camps, residential summer camps, project workshops and the county fair. “This past year we launched a new engineer it workshop and held a few new project workshops that have a lot of people interested,” Anderson said. “Our livestock project area and workshops have historically been popular, too.” Attending these different events put on by the 4-H organization allows families to reconnect with others who share similar passions. Anderson also helps coordinate events for community members not involved in the 4-H organization of Benton County. “I always encourage people to check out our website and Facebook page for Extension continued on pg. 2B
PAGE 2B
Benton Ag
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Bring on the baby chicks
Wollak raises 250 chickens each year by MISSY MUSSMAN STAFF WRITER
RICE – Spring is well underway, and it is the season many co-ops are selling baby chicks. “It’s a fun time of year,” Lori with Foreston Co-op said. For the past 25 years, Joe Wollak has ordered chickens through Gilman Co-op Creamery, raised them for meat and sold the meat to his family and friends at his place near Rice. “I started raising them in a makeshift barn when I owned a hardware store,” Wollak said. “It’s fun, and I kept doing it because I enjoyed it. It’s deÀnitely a hobby of mine.” Each year, Wollak orders 250 cockerel baby chicks – young roosters – early in the
spring. “I like to order them as early as I can because it’s easier to heat the building than cool it down,” Wollak said. “Heat can be hard on chickens.” When his 250 day-old chicks arrived on the farm on March 8, he put them in his well-insulated chicken coop, which is set to 90 degrees with an electrical heating system and Àve heat lamps. “They need to be kept that warm for the Àrst two weeks. Then, we can bring the temperature down and maintain it at 70 degrees,” Wollak said. “We also have an automatic intake and exhaust fans that run. When it gets really hot outside, we open things up and have additional fans to move more air around.
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Raising baby chicks has become quite popular in the Benton County area. This group of chicks are under one week old. They are housed in a insulated room with heatlamps, water and feed.
The coop is also large space. “It’s so important not to enough to ensure each chicken, once they are fully overcrowd them,” he said. For the Àrst six hours, grown, has 1.5 square feet of Wollak gives them water before introducing them to feed. “With the long shipping You can count on time from Iowa, I want to make sure they have plenty AmeriGas propane of water Àrst,” Wollak said. for a variety of uses, Wollak feeds them including home chick starter for the Àrst heating, space three weeks. After that, they heating, water are then switched to grower heating, pool and feed. spa heating, drying, “It’s so important to cooking, grilling and have quality feed and fresh motor fuel. water,” Wollak said. Each day, Wollak takes the feed away from the chickens at 6 p.m. and reintroduces it to them at 6 a.m. “I try to get my birds to grow slower,” Wollak said. “My theory is if I grow them slower, the meat is Àrmer and I minimize the fat in the
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meat.” Once they reach 55 days old, Wollak sends the chickens to a place in Little Falls to be processed into meat and packaged. “They usually dress about six pounds or more,” Wollak said. “That’s a good sized bird and it’s bigger than what people can Ànd in the grocery store.” Although Wollak focuses on meat, it is not the only reason many others raise chickens. “There’s a growing trend for people to order egg layers, too,” said Tina Peschl with Gilman Co-op Creamery. “Some are also purchased for county fair projects.” Each spring, both Foreston Co-op and Gilman Coop Creamery start selling baby chicks in March with
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their last delivery dates in June. “Anything ordered after that won’t be delivered to the co-op, they will be mailed,”Peschl said. Gilman also does Chick Days every other Wednesday where people can have lunch, visit with a chicken specialist or nutritionist and pick up their chickens. Cornish crosses are the variety of chicken people purchase for meat purposes, but there are nearly 50 different types of chickens for people to choose from for egg layers. “It all depends on the color and size of the egg people want,” Peschl said. Lori agreed. “Families have fun picking out what colors they want,” she said. Chick sales at both Gilman Co-op Creamery and Foreston Co-op are booming. “We sell thousands of chickens each year,” Lori said. “May and June are our busiest months.” Even the size of orders has been impressive. “The largest single order we’ve had was 300 baby chicks,” Peschl said. Overall, Lori believes the reason the baby chicks are selling so well is due to changing trends. “People want to raise them themselves because they’re more health conscious and want to know what is being fed to their chickens,” she said. Peschl felt the same way. “People want their meat and eggs to be homegrown,” she said. “It’s bringing people back to the basics.”
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Extension continued from 1B_________________ upcoming activities,” Anderson said. “Everyone’s always invited.” The responsibilities and needs of Extension personnel are never truly complete, whether it be to provide information for producers, coordinate events for youth or be a voice of agriculture in the community. “We all have the oppor-
tunity to beneÀt from Extension’s work when we’re at the grocery store,” Martens said. “There’s this abundant supply of food and it’s grown using the best information and knowledge available.” For more information about Benton County Extension Services, call 1-800964-4929 or 320-968-5077,
visit with Martens or Anderson in their Foley ofÀce or peruse the website (http:// www3.extension.umn.edu/ county/benton). “Extension also shares weekly updates with the local papers and radio stations in Little Falls and Albany,” Martens said. “Call, stop by or check in.”
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Benton Ag
PAGE 3B
Schlichting continued from 1B_________________________________________ pose is simple whether it be “We have to keep things to direct funds for further rolling,” Schlichting said. research or education as it “This is our industry, we relates to Minnesota’s potato have to support it.” industry.
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state,” Schlichting said. “We supply to a lot of local markets.” With another term underway, Schlichting’s pur-
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Groundwater Experts for All Your Permit Needs In addition to the Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council, Schlichting works closely with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Aside from research, Schlichting is hopeful the council will provide additional education opportunities for children across the state. Near Becker, an interactive farm is being implemented to familiarize stu-
dents with agriculture. “Our focus will be on children closer to the cities to educate them about farming,” Schlichting said. The message Schlichting and other members of the council are hoping to portray through this farm is the understanding of where food comes from. “Potatoes are a locally-grown product – grown across the state, processed in the state and sold in the
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people to Ànd a new breeder, which is a very important position in case anything within the industry were to go extremely wrong,” Schlichting said. “Being on the board allows me to help do something in the right direction.” A breeder and the council work jointly to determine strains of potato that are resistant to insect and fungus diseases, such as potato beetles and potato rot that have become immune to pesticides available. “There aren’t any new products available,” Schlichting said. “It’s a constant battle with diseases that can be caused by excess moisture, temperatures, anything. We’re using the same breed of potatoes, but the diseases modify.” As challenges within the industry continue to arise, Schlichting emphasizes the need for a strong, supported council. “We’re continually looking at new research and working closely with soil scientists to stay ahead,” Schlichting said.
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Benton Ag
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THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Benton Ag
PAGE 5B
Finishing one chapter, Vannurden leads FFA convention as ambassador starting another by NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
Hartmann retiring from BAH; Thompson successor by MISSY MUSSMAN STAFF WRITER
ST. PAUL – After 15 years as the executive director and state veterinarian for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Dr. Bill Hartmann is ready to pass the baton. “It’s the right time for me,” Hartmann said. “I have things that I want to do that I haven’t had time to do.” On June 1, Hartmann will be retiring after 28 years with the Board of Animal Health. His colleague, Dr. Beth Thompson, is stepping in on June 2 to take over the job in St. Paul, Minn. “He’s going to be missed,” Thompson said. Hartmann’s interest in livestock stemmed from being on his grandfather’s farm and working for a cousin who raised beef. “I grew up with it,” Hartmann said. After high school, Hartmann attended St. Cloud State University for his under-graduate degree and then went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota Vet School in 1978. Hartmann worked at a small animal practice in Boston, Mass., for four years before returning to the University of Minnesota to complete a pathology residency in the campus’ veterinary diagnostic lab and earn his master’s degree in veterinary anatomic pathology. Hartmann put his master’s degree to work in 1985 at the United States Department of Agriculture as a veterinary medical ofÀcer in St. Paul, Minn. “I was in charge of the brucellosis lab in Minnesota,” he said. “I also stepped in when the vet in charge was gone.”
Dr. Bill Hartmann will be retiring from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health on June 1
After 3.5 years with the USDA, Hartmann began his 28-year career with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health as the senior veterinarian in charge of ruminant disease programs in 1988. “When I started, we were still working on eradicating pseudo rabies,” Hartmann said of his Àrst year. “We thought we had eliminated it, and a substantial outbreak occurred.” As a senior veterinarian, Hartmann spent work time out of the ofÀce. “Early in my career, I was out on farms quite a bit,” Hartmann said. “Farmers are good people.” In 2001, Hartmann was appointed as the executive director and state veterinarian and has been in that role since. “I missed the one-onone interaction with the farmers, but I still got to see them in a meeting,” Hartmann said. During his direction of the Board of Animal Health, Hartmann worked on identifying and eradicating diseases, like chronic wasting disease, bovine tuberculosis
Vannurden and the other 14 ambassadors spent a day in training before the state convention, which helped the students prepare to be representatives of the FFA program. “One of the main things I learned during the ambassador training was ways to keep conversations going and how to do so efÀciently. This was helpful at the convention and is a life lesson that will help me in future leadership opportunities and in college,” Vannurden said. “You have to learn to think quickly on your feet and put people at ease. The ambassador training gave me more experience doing this, along with teaching us extra skills to do it well.” Being in a leadership role is not new to Vannur-
ST. PAUL — Numerous members of the Sauk Rapids-Rice FFA chapter had the opportunity to travel and compete at the Minnesota State Convention April 24-26, but only one was able to experience the event as an FFA Ambassador. Luke Vannurden, a junior at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School and the local FFA chapter’s secretary, was selected in March, along with 14 students statewide, to serve as a State FFA Foundation Ambassador. The ambassador program proDr. Beth Thompson will be vides FFA members with the taking over as state veterinar- opportunity to interact and ian on June 2. connect with supporters and sponsors of the organization. It also allows industry repand avian inÁuenza. “The TB outbreak in Sauk Rapids-Rice FFA Chapter Results northwestern Minnesota Small Animal Team: Silver Award (31 of 56 teams) Ag Mechanics Team: Bronze Award (28 of 38 teams) and the inÁuenza in chickNursery Landscape Team: Silver Award (21 out of 34) ens and turkeys were the two biggest outbreaks I Individual Gabi Molitor in Nursery/Landscape: dealt with,” he said. Gold Award (30 of 128) Even when the diseases Individual Jenna Bukowski in Creed Speaking: were eradicated, Hartmann Silver Award kept surveillance on several diseases including brucellosis, TB and Johne’s disease. “For the most part it’s resentatives time to interact den, however. Vannurden quiet now, but we always with FFA members and learn helped coordinate the 2016 keep an eye out for what’s more about the program and Minnesota Association of Student Councils/Minnesota coming next,” Hartmann mission. Association of Honor SociDuring the three-day said. Hartmann also worked convention at the St. Paul eties State Convention that with the governor’s ofÀce campus of the University was hosted by SRRHS just a and testiÀed to the legisla- of Minnesota, Vannurden few weeks earlier. He is also tors on the Board of Animal served the FFA community the Region IV student chair by helping Career Develop- elect and will represent MinHealth’s behalf. “I wanted to ensure ment Event sponsors and nesota, North and South Dathere was enough funding to representatives Ànd their kota, Wisconsin, Michigan do the programs we need- prospective recognition plac- and Wyoming in the Stues locations. Vannurden was dent Council Organization. ed,” Hartmann said. He also supervised the able to meet Minnesota Farm LVannurden is also a part of Àeld veterinarians, was re- Bureau President Kevin Paap the Benton County 4-H amsponsible for the overall and the CEO of Ag Star Fi- bassador program and will operations of the Board of nancial at the convention, Animal Health, served as Rod Hebrink. am comfortable talka liaison to other state and ing “I with most people, so it federal government agen- wasn’t intimidating,” said cies, and spoke to the media Vannurden of his experiduring a disease crisis of ence. “I really appreciated the opportunity to learn from them, and meet and interact Retirement with other FFA ambassadors continued on pg. 3B from across Minnesota.
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Luke Vannurden served as a Minnesota State FFA Foundation Ambassador at the state convention this past April.
serve again this summer as a 4-H camp counselor. Vannurden thinks his role at the convention will help assist his local chapter in the next year. He said the training was helpful, but the connections and people he met while being a representative will prove worthwhile. Vannurden thought the opportunity was particularly helpful because it allowed him to interact with inÁuential people in the agriculture industry and learn about them and how their business impacts agriculture. “I learned to always put myself out there. You never know who you could end up speaking with. One conversation could impact your life more than you could ever imagine. I would deÀnitely do this again,” he said. Vannurden is the son of Chris and AnneMarie Vannurden. He lives on a dairy farm which also has a Gold’n Plump chicken barn near Gilman.
4-H busy volunteering The months of March and April were busy for the St. Pat’s 4-H Club. They’ve had fun playing bingo with Foley’s Heritage Place residents. They also packed food for the Kids Against Hunger and in two hours’ time were able to pack 31 boxes or 6,696 meals. The club also cleaned ditches along Hwy. 95 April 16. PHOTO SUBMITTED
St. Pat’s 4-H Club members (front, from left) Skylar Morris, Ava Sand, Ellyana Sand, Emily Frisbie, Richelle Peacock; (back, from left) Sam Morris, Kaitlyn Maehren, Tanner Maehren, Raeley Walz, Bailyn Walz and Veronica Peacock cleaned ditches April 16 along Highway 95.
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PAGE 6B
Benton Ag
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Retirement continued from 5B any kind. “The variety of work I did kept me interested in my work,” Hartmann said. For Hartmann, working with the eradication programs was very rewarding. “It was nice to see the good we were doing through the programs. We managed the disease outbreak, saw to its conclusion, and watched the industry effected regain it’s markets internationally and locally,” Hartmann said. But the best part of the job for Hartmann was the people. “They were fun to work with,” Hartmann said. After announcing his retirement, Hartmann helped appoint Thompson, who is currently an assistant director, as his successor. Thompson grew up in South Dakota on a farm her brother and nephew now manage. “I’ve always been interested in livestock,” she said. “When I was 17, I wanted to
go to law school and work my way into agriculture by working for farmers as a lawyer.” After earning her Juris Doctor degree at William Mitchell College of Law in 1992, she went back to school to become a veterinarian in 2001 at the University of Minnesota. “I never found a way into what I thought I was going to do. Nothing was holding me back from becoming a veterinarian,” Thompson said. During her time at vet school, Thompson worked closely with the campus’ dairy herd along with her internship with Juan Romero doing dairy herd checks. “It was so interesting to work with dairy,” Thompson said. “I hadn’t explored that before.” Thompson graduated with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and a swine medical certiÀcation from the University of Min-
nesota in 2007, and went to work for a 50,000-sow, Minnesota-based company as the swine production system veterinarian for a little over a year. On July 21, 2008, Thompson started working at the Board of Animal Health as a senior veterinarian. “I started working on the TB program right away in northwestern Minnesota,” Thompson said. “The highlight of my day was going out and meeting with farmers.” Over the years, Thompson has worked with other programs including the equine program and the carcass disposal program, which she still works with. After a couple years as the senior veterinarian, Thompson was appointed associate director. “Avian inÁuenza was the biggest disease outbreak I had to work with,” she said. “It ranked nationally.”
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Once her supervisor, Dr. Hartmann, announced his retirement, Thompson put her name in for the position. “I was certain I was going to apply,” Thompson said. For Hartmann, Thompson is an ideal candidate to Àll his shoes. “She’s not only a vet, but she’s also a lawyer, which is a beneÀt to her since we work with the laws and rules all the time,” Hartmann said. “She’s got common sense and people like her. Plus, she has a farm background and values, and is a very sharp person.” Those qualities landed
her the job. “I was very pleased and honored,” she said. “I’m going to make certain to help farmers do the best they can in their business.” With only a few weeks left, Hartmann is wrapping up his work. “I am writing a report about my review of the Tuscany, Italy region’s swine vesicular disease to determine if the United States should allow pork exports in,” Hartmann said. He is also Ànishing the legislative session to extend the use of the funds the board received for the avian
inÁuenza and allow the use of those funds to prevent animal diseases in any species. “We’re going to likely see more disease outbreaks,” he said. “Having the funds there initially will help.” Although he is looking forward to doing more Àshing, golÀng and traveling during his retirement, Hartmann has nothing but fond memories of his years with the board. “It’s going to be hard to leave. I’m going to miss the people,” he said. “I love my job. I enjoy doing what I do.”
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Benton Ag
PAGE 7B
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Reducing ash content in hay, haylage Wisconsin Extension Forage Specialist, Dan Undersander, recently posted an article about reducing ash content in Forage feeds, particularly hay crops. He points out that the typical ash content, primarily because of minerals in a hay crop runs about 8 percent in alfalfa and 6 percent for grass. Higher levels of ash PHOTO SUBMITTED indicate contamination from Mike Bushard (left) with New Holland representative Tom Lano. Modern Farm Equip- soil. A summary of haylage ment has been named a Blue Ribbon Excellence Dealer. samples at the University of Wisconsin Forage Lab averaged 12.3 percent Ash with a range from 5.7 to 18. Dry hay samples averaged 10.3 with a range from 8.8 to 17.6. At 18 percent, this would mean we’d be feeding almost one pound of dirt with each Àve pounds of hay or haylage. Undersander suggests looking at the following opportunities for minimizing excess ash content in forages. Raise the cutter bar of a disc mower. You will be giving up a little bit of yield, but gaining quality. Research suggests you can cut as short as 1.5 inches for alfalfa to maximize yield. Many grasses will regrow better with a three to four inch cutting height. Use Áat knives on the disc mower. Knives are angled or curved to create some lift for picking up down hay. Ash is more of an issue with dry soil. Think about your situation. Avoid harvesting lodged forage. That can be tough to do because we can’t control the weather. There might be opportunities to select va-
By Dan Martens University of MN Extension
rieties that stand better and still provide suitable quality. Some people lean toward cutting early with a good weather opportunity to avoid getting delayed by weather having more lodging. Watch ground speed, especially on rough Àelds, to reduce header bounce that shaves the ground. Keep the windrow off the ground. That’s challenging too. Cutting a little taller might help. Laying a wide swath on a dense stubble might help. Some people prefer to cut to the same swath width they chop for haylage, hoping that raking won’t be necessary for chopping. Some people don’t like to lay hay in a swath so wide that they have to drive on it when soil conditions are wetter because they Ànd that they pick up more dirt in the hay if they need to drive on it in raking it together again. Keep rake tines from touching the ground. This has to do with height adjustments and ground speed. You can think about baler and chopper pickup teeth the same way. You might Àgure out whether leaving a few spears of hay in the Àeld is
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a suitable trade-off for better quality. Use a windrow merger or inverter rather than raking. Your own experience counts. Store bales off the ground. Some people, even in storing dry hay bales on concrete in a shed, will put a plastic sheet under the hay to prevent it from picking up moisture from the concrete. Put piles and bags on a concrete or asphalt surface to minimize soil picked up during feeding. If not on a hard surface do what you can to reduce muddy conditions. I’d guess everyone looks for a place on the landscape with better drainage. If combining three swaths, move two swaths on top of a third in the middle rather than moving all three swaths. Good observations skills and common sense in the Àeld are keys to looking for ways to operate equipment to make the best of forage quality. Undersander’s article can be found at http://fyi. uwex.edu/forage; or you’re welcome to call the County Extension OfÀce for a copy. In Stearns County call 2556169 if a local call to St. Cloud or 1-800-450-6171; in Benton call 968-5077 if a local call to Foley or 800964-4929; and in Morrison call 632-0161 if a local call to Little Falls or 1-866-4011111. Plan for a SAFE hay harvest when the time comes.
PAGE 8B
Benton Ag
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
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