Agriculture

News from Lake County Conservation District LAKE COUNTY — Bees, butterflies, and other animal pollinators are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food by traveling from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies to help plants reproduce. Pollinators are also essential components of the ecosystems that humans and many wild animals rely on for food and shelter.  Pollinators are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation. Seed is only available in spring from April 1 – May 15 and again in the fall from Oct. 1 – Nov. 15.   Site preparation is required prior to planting with an expectation that the pollinator garden will be m...

RONAN — As stewards of the family homestead, Dennis and Melvina Krantz, have spent the last 50 plus working and loving the land. Dennis is especially proud of his Krantz family roots that come from Benjamin Krantz who moved to the Valley in 1910. Dennis, a third generation farmer, still lives in the sa...

HELENA -  Joining Montana Department of Agriculture Director Jillien Streit on March 18, Governor Greg Gianforte in the State Capitol thanked Montana farmers and ranchers as part of National Agriculture Day. “Our farmers and ranchers work tirelessly to grow and raise world-class products to fee...

LAKE COUNTY —  With over 35 million chickens destroyed nationally, and 10% of the nation’s laying chickens gone, other than a rise in the cost of eggs at local markets, Lake County appears to have escaped the avian flu issue. Jack Stivers, currently acting as interim agent at MSU Extension i...

LAKE COUNTY — With so much going on in the world all the time, one very commonplace issue may slip your mind … how much water there is. However, this issue is a lot more commonplace and important to farmers whose industry relies on water for just about everything. As an important element of farm...

News from WMGC RONAN — The Western Montana Growers Cooperative is excited to share that our CSA season is coming up in May. CSA is a farm membership system that allows consumers to sign up to receive a season’s worth of farm products (veggies, eggs, cheese, meat, etc.) over a number of weeks...

Montana farmers are worried about being whipsawed in a trade war as the United States trades tariffs on farm products with China, Canada and Mexico. Wheat and lentil exports are likely to face tougher markets in the coming year as tariffs erode favorable trade terms in Canada and China, producers told Mon...

BOZEMAN – From 2003 to 2019, amateur butterfly enthusiast Harlan Radcliff spent his lunch breaks observing butterflies on the grounds of the Camp Dodge military installation in central Iowa. Over those years, between the months of April and November, Radcliff meticulously recorded the dates, times, ...

News from Montana Stockgrowers Association HELENA — The Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) is pleased to announce the addition of Rachael Oliver to its staff as the Partnership Programs Manager. In the role, Oliver will implement effective and innovative sponsorship and partnership recruitmen...

News from USDA Washington, D.C — USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) is making available $2.5 million for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) grants, building on $53.7 million invested in UAIP grant projects by OUAIP since 2020. Eligible entiti...