Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2024 Q3

Kelly Leo, Extension Agent, B.S., M.Ed.
Kelly.leo@ndsu.edu

The third quarter proved to be very busy for the Ag and Natural Resources division of Williams County Extension. Summer continued to be busy for all stakeholders. Grasshoppers and weed management dominated time and resources for area producers. May and June were wet and cool which really helped to control grasshopper progress this summer which was definitely a benefit compared to the previous two years. Unfortunately, the faucet turned off for the remainder of the summer with little appreciable precipitation, pushing western North Dakota into a pretty significant drought. Tree and lawn calls were very busy throughout the summer as well. The significant heat proved detrimental to trees in late July and early August with pest damage and heat stress causing early dieback and needle drop in some conifers. We are still seeing the effects of the 2021 drought that has caused long-term damage to many trees.

Water testing occurred in late July and August for some livestock producers as water quality declined rapidly with hot temperatures and little to no recharge of water due to drought conditions. There were several confirmed cyanobacteria blooms on livestock and recreational water in Williams County during this time. As of late, I have assisted with nitrate testing of forages due to risk for elevated nitrates in certain forages. This is a vital service to producers to prevent death loss in cattle from nitrate poisoning. Additionally, wheat midge soil survey and soybean cyst nematode survey have been underway.

Here are some additional activities and events that occurred during third quarter of 2024:

July:

ND State Fair activities were busy. I was the ND State Fair 4-H Meat goat superintendent and worked with NDSU 4-H Youth Development Specialists and staff members as well as other Extension Agents to organize and conduct the NDSF 4-H Meat Goat show during the ND State Fair. This was a great experience and I enjoyed learning the process at the State Level. There were 15 Williams County youth participants in the livestock events at the ND State Fair along with about 200+ static exhibits and 10 youth participating in contests; a testament to the talent of our Williams County 4-H youth.

WREC Field Days hosted a large number of participants. I assisted with Stop the Bleed training during this event which is a valuable training for everyone, especially in rural areas where first responder access and response times prove challenging in the event of an accident or bleeding event.

Williams County Extension co-hosted a Soil Health/Regenerative Ag tour in
conjunction with Williams, Divide, and Ward County Soil Conservation District;
Williams and Divide County Ag Improvement Association; and Mountrail County Ag
Department. The tour focused on regenerative ag practices to enhance soil health.
Presentations were by ag producers and this event was very well-attended by over 50 producers from Williams, Divide, Mountrail and Ward Counties.

August:

Fall program planning and wrapping up all the 4-H State Fair participation kept us very busy. I was very busy with water testing, tree and horticulture calls and insect pest calls and questions.

September: 

I attended multiple trainings during the month of September including Emergency Response Preparedness for Foreign Animal Diseases and Mass Livestock Mortalities. This training is valuable for Extension Agent response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, anthrax or other mass mortality events.

I also took part in the ND Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting and workshop in Dickinson. This was a very valuable training for soil health principles of practice.

QPR suicide prevention training was the last week of September which is valuable for all individuals in preventing suicide.

The next few months will prove very busy for programming including post-fire response workshop, Special Assignment Pizza, general pesticide recertification training, Western Beef Summit, New 4-H Family Orientation, 4-H Volunteer Training, Williams County 4-H Fall Banquet, National Hard Red Spring Wheat Show planning, Bread Fair planning as well as a few other events.