Supplement to the Powell Tribune ■ Thursday, August 13, 2015

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

Farming may be one of the most indepen-dent professions, but farmers aren’t in it alone. The University of Wyoming’s

Powell Research and Extension Center has their backs.

The center is always working on new vari-eties of barley and several varieties are cur-rently being tested out in their fields. They test out new varieties so farmers don’t have to run that risk, then they share their results for future planting.

This team effort works well as this year’s harvest is looking good.

“From what I am hearing in the field, the yield is looking good to excellent, which is en-couraging — if we can get it out of the field,” said Jeremiah Vardiman, University of Wyo-ming Extension educator.

The rain in early August could put off some of the harvest, but aside from that, everything is looking good for Big Horn Basin barley farmers.

“The harvest is moving from Worland to this di-rection,” Vardiman said.

In addition to experimenting with new varieties of barley, UW also provides technical support on weed management, makes fertilizer recommendations and helps growers find the right type of barley for their contract, he said.

“We are here to support the growers however we can,” Vardiman said.

The trick for weed management is to scout the fields early and get the right chemicals for the job. Fertilizer is an even more delicate balance since too much fertil-izer will mean more protein in the barley and that’s not what the Basin’s growers want if they are grow-ing for brewing companies.

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

The Big Horn Basin is where beer is born, and this year’s harvest of healthy barley

is due to a mix of hard work and good weather.

“You’ve got to have good barley to make good malt, and you need malt to make good beer, malted milk balls and other food products,” said Rick Redd, Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. regional manag-er for Wyoming Bar-ley Operations. “The crop looks pretty good and yields are good too.”

Big Horn Basin’s fields are generating about 130 bushels per acre, Redd said.

“Acceptance percentage in the Big Horn Basin is very high, prob-ably the highest in the nation due to the stable weather pattern we normally have — but this year wasn’t normal,” Redd said.

Barley farmer Paul Faxon said the rain in May was a big help and this year’s crops are looking good for his fields on the north end of Park County under the bench.

“That was a great rain for bar-ley,” Faxon said. “We are doing better than last year — overall, it is going to be, around the Basin, a better yield.”

Barley yields traditionally vary

across the Basin since there are many different types of soil. Faxon said farmers in his neck of the woods aim for 130-150 bushels per acre, but their yields are typi-cally lower than the fields closer to Powell and Heart Mountain.

“We are lucky to get 110 bush-els to the acre, but closer to town they are around 140-150,” Faxon said. “They just have better soil to-

wards Bitter Creek.” Although the

weather was pretty good, there is always room for improve-ment and the high heat in early July is something local farmers could have done without.

“That kind of hurt it a little bit,” Redd said. “But, overall it is a darn good crop.”

Some new varieties of barley were used this year, and the un-usual weather pattern threw some farmers a bit of a curveball since the seeds were designed with the Basin’s typical weather patterns in mind — and this season’s weather wasn’t quite typical with heavy rainfall in May and temperatures in the upper-90s at the start of July.

The rain in May threw off the timing for this year’s harvest a little bit.

“Everyone will be ready to cut at the same time,” Faxon said.

Barley farmers in Montana and

Willwood are har-vesting right now and Briess had a line of semis u n l o a d i n g barley on July 31.

“ E v e r y -one else is right on s c h e d u l e , ” Faxon said.

Faxon said the weather looks like it will be fine for harvesting and is hopeful the rain will hold off until harvest-ing is done.

Harvesting of barley should be mostly done in the next three to four weeks, Faxon said. In the meantime, he asks that drivers be patient with the semi trucks and combines going down the road.

CHEAPER FUEL MEANS LOWER

PRODUCTION COSTSThere’s no time like the

present for farmers as the barley market is doing well and production costs are down due to the drop in fuel prices since last year.

“The barley market is pretty strong compared to

BEER IS BORNT H I S I S W H E R E

BIG HORN BASIN BARLEY CROP BRINGS A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST

‘We are doing better than last year — overall,

it is going to be, around the Basin,

a better yield.’

Paul FaxonBarley farmer

See Barley, Page 2

UW SUPPORTS BARLEY PRODUCERS

See Support, Page 2

Bean crop

looks good

See Page 9

Helping native honey

beesSee Page 11

Grazing goats and

weed reduction

See Page 12

As the sun sets on a recent summer evening, barley is harvested in a field west of Powell farmed by Tom Jones Farms.Tribune photo by Toby Bonner

P A G E 2 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

Barley: Some fields ready earlier than usual

Support: Fertilizer is the key to perfect protein

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

Your Local Ag Partner

Wishing our farmers a safe and prosperous harvest season.

Being local is about morethan an address, or a name on a sign.

Being local means a commitment to local farmers, ranchers, and ag related industry.

LOCAL was Big Horn Federal’s priority in 1935.It remains our priority TODAY.

That’s Doing Businessthe Big Horn Federal Way.

www.bighornfederal.com • 105 East 2nd Street • (307) 754-9501 • Powell, WY 82435

PREATOR BEAN COMPANYWyoming

SeedWhen Quality Counts

Lynn PreatorP.O. Box 234

Burlington, WY

307-762-3310Cell: 307-272-0911

Chevron & Conoco Petroleum products

123 West North Street • Powell ~ Phone: 754.9229

Use your Debit/Credit Card!Gasoline and Diesel Fuel!We offer all grades

No added interest when you use

debit/credit card.Use our fuel card &

we will bill you monthly.

Bulk delivery with added savings

Open

24 Hours!

other small grains,” Redd said. “Barley is very competitive.”

As previously reported by the Powell Tribune, farmers are saving several thousand dollars on fuel for their trac-tors, combines and semi trucks — which means this year’s harvest should be more profitable.

“That definitely helps the farm-ers and keeps the input cost down, but it puts people in the oilfield out of business — but, there are pros and cons to every-thing,” Redd said. “The farmers are loving it, but the oil people are hurting.”

When fuel prices were high, farmers felt the impact hauling their barley to Ralston. Faxon said he spends about $10,000 to $15,000 a year on fuel, so dropping by more than a dollar per gallon since last year “is unreal.”

“Anything cheaper in farm-ing is better,” Faxon said. “It isn’t a lot, but every penny counts in farming.”

BIGGER CAPACITIES AND BETTER CROPS

When Briess acquired the Ralston facility in 2013, they had 220 growers using the site and this year they are up to 270 different farming operations growing barley in the Big Horn Basin, Redd said.

Fortunately, Briess is more than ready to handle the in-crease in barley growers as

they recently ex-panded their stor-age capacity with two new 750,000 bushel bins to in-crease total onsite storage to 3.8 mil-lion bushels.

Some new va-rieties of barley were planted this year and results

are positive. “The new varieties did pretty

good, but we are seeing some weird reactions from varieties this year because of the weird weather,” Redd said.

Some of the new barley varieties ended up taller than planned and some were shorter at the time for harvest. Other fields had a slightly higher pro-tein content than intended — all of it was weather related, Redd

said. Barley heights also vary

based on the field they are grown in, Faxon said.

“The Coors barley is about to the middle of your thigh,” Faxon said.

Taller isn’t always better with barley since the wind can knock stalks over. Farmers also don’t want the heads to be too big, since that also causes crops to fall over.

“The new varieties don’t grow as tall because they fall over and the seed doesn’t ger-minate right and it’s harder to combine,” Faxon said. “It is waist high and it is great barley — I like it better.”

“If we can keep the rain and hail off of it for four or five weeks, we will be in pretty good shape,” Redd said.

This year’s harvest came in earlier than usual for many fields in the area so a lot of harvesting is occurring at the same time instead of in a staged order.

“It seems like all the varieties are ripening at the same time because of Mother Nature’s curveball,” Redd said. “Grow-ers are working hard to get it in, and we appreciate all their efforts.”

“If it does not meet the qual-ity they are looking for, then they decline the harvest and it doesn’t make good feed barley,” Vard-iman said.

Malt barley and feed barley are opposites in quality. Feed barley needs a high protein content and brewing barley needs a low con-tent — the right amount of fertil-izer will keep barley from getting protein levels too high or too low.

“The barley crop we got put in easily and there were no weather constraints — then it was up and growing,” Vardiman said. “The emergence went well with no freezes or replanting. It has gone really well.”

‘The farmers are loving it, but the oil people are hurting.’

Rick ReddBriess regional

manager

109 North Clark Street • Powell, Wyoming • (307) 754-7211 • 1-800-894-7211

Farming is your livelihood and protecting it is ours.

From general liability to customized commercial packages, homeowners and business owners,

we can assist with your every insurance need.

Come and meet our knowledgeable staff — with more than 20 years of combined experience.

Growing Pains?We can help!

Everyday at 5:30 AM

For More Information Please Call:Haley Sorenson(307) 754-9262

Powell, Cody, Worland, Basin & Thermopolis

www.gottsche.org • 754-9262639 W. Coulter Ave. • Powell

Physical and Occupational Therapy at Gottsche Therapy and Wellness can reduce your muscle strains, spasms and joint stiffness & repair overuse injuries to get you back to the important things in your life.

Physical Therapy • Speech Therapy • Occupational Therapy • Post Rehab • Full Fitness Facility • Balance Training

Wishing all a safe and successful harvest!

A line of semi trucks delivering freshly harvested barley to Briess wait in line to unload on July 31. Tribune photos by Matt Naber

Tons of barley pour out the back of a semi truck and is sent to one of Briess’ storage silos near Ralston on July 31.

T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 P O W E L L T R I B U N E • P A G E 3B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

856 Road 8 • Powell, Wyoming • 307-754-2774

Let’s talk about next year.

It is not too early to make plans for next year. There are many decisions to be made and many options available. We would like to help make the financial side a little easier.

Our ag lenders know agriculture and we’re local. Stop by and see Danny Shorb or Betty Webber today.

Wishing all farmers a safe and successful harvest!

596 GATEWAY DRIVE • POWELL, WYF I N D U S B E T W E E N F R E M O N T & G A R V I N M OTO R S

307-754-7909RENTALS • SALES • SERVICEWe’ve got the tools ... to do the job right!

BY ILENE OLSONTribune News Editor

Hay prices are down from last year, and down even more from the high

prices of 2012 and 2013. That’s good news for livestock grow-ers, but it’s less welcomed by hay producers.

According to the July 27 report from the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the average June price for all hay in Wyoming stood at $119 per ton, compared to $162 in June 2014.

Alfalfa hay was selling for $120 per ton, down from $222 a year earlier, and other hay went for an average price of $115 per ton, down from $145 last year.

Big Horn Basin farmers have had an easier time with hay this year than growers in southeast Wyoming, said Donn Randall, Crop and Forage Program man-ager for the Agri-business Division of the Wyoming Business Council.

“The first cut-ting alfalfa was a real challenge to get put up in very good quality due to the constant rain showers that plagued the first cutting season” in the southeast part of the state, Randall said in an email to the Tribune.

Consequently, Randall pre-dicted that “there will be a lot of lower-quality cow-type hay and grinder-type hay available for sale.

“To compound the problem even more,” he said, “there has been a lot of native meadow and road ditch hay put up as well, which will increase the supply of hay and thus soften the hay prices.”

However, Randall noted that Big Horn Basin hay producers fared better with their first cut-ting.

“When I was in Basin back on June 11 for my Wyoming forage field day, the Big Horn Basin producers were just laying their hay down, and (it) sounds like their haying weather was much better, so there should be some good-quality hay available for dairies up in that area,” he said.

Randall noted that the price of hay varies according to the size and type of bales.

“It appears to me that the

large rounds, 3x4 (foot) and 4x4 (foot) bales are just not in as high of demand as the 3x3 big bales and small squares.”

Randall gave the example of Erik Gormley of Burlington, who “puts up some very high quality hay in small squares, and thus he sells a lot of horse hay to his customers in Florida and Southeastern United States at a premium price.”

“Quality is what makes the biggest difference for the price a producer will get for his/her hay,” Randall said.

Other factors affecting the price of hay are the price of Class 1 milk (down $7.59 com-pared to last year’s price) and the price of beef.

“The beef cattle market con-tinues to be strong, but the beef cow hay market will be lower due to the supply of this type of hay,” Randall said.

The international market also affects the price of hay, he said.

“Foreign ex-port demands seem to be stay-ing steady, if not increasing slight-ly, and this will help spur the de-mand for export-quality type hay,” he said.

“Lastly, as fuel prices seem to keep dropping,

this might help sales of Wyo-ming hay back to the Midwest, where their level of dairy-qual-ity hay is very limited due to all fo the rain that has plagued their haying seasons,” he said.

Randall said entries in the Wyoming State Fair Open Hay show this year are up consider-ably from previous years when hay prices were very good.

“(That) must be a sign that our Wyoming hay producers are searching for new markets, and thus the open hay show at the World Dairy Expo, where I take Wyoming hay samples from the Wyoming State Fair to display, is something that producers are looking at as a means of promoting their hay,” he said.

He concluded, “If I coud give a recommendation to Wyoming hay producers for this market-ing season, don’t be too greedy when it comes to pricing your hay, as the supply and the qual-ity of the hay, as I see it, will not support hay prices that they have received last year or even two years ago.”

HAY PRICES VARYDonn Randall, Crop and Forage Pro-

gram manager for the Agribusiness Divi-sion of the Wyoming Business Council, provided the following hay prices from July 29.

“I realize that these prices vary a great deal, but quality of the hay is very impor-tant, and it appears to me that the large rounds, 3x4 and 4x4 big bales are just not in as high of demand as the 3x3 big bales and small squares based on these prices. The larger round and square bales

ranged from $60-$90 per ton for pretty much the same type of hay,” Randall said.• Montana hay prices, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service: Alfalfa big bales, premium quality to fair

$115- $210/tonGrass, large rounds, good to fair quality

$100-$120/tonTimothy, small squares, horse quality hay

$200-$250/ton• Some prices from the July 29th Centen-

nial Livestock Hay auction in Ft. Collins, Colorado:Alfalfa 3x3 big bales

$85-$194/tonAlfalfa/grass 3x3 big bales

$48-$184/tonAlfalfa/grass small squares

$112-$232/tonAlfalfa/grass large rounds

$35-$97/tonGrass small squares

$50-$165/ton

Hay quality, prices down from last year

‘Quality is what makes the biggest difference for the price a producer will get for his/her hay.’

Donn RandallCrop and Forage

Program manager

Rolled hay stands in a field near the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center off Road 19 on Monday. Hay prices are lower now than they have been in recent years. Tribune photo by Ilene Olson

Gardeners and others vexed by plant problems and insect nuisances can send their partic-ular pest questions to a panel of University of Wyoming horticul-tural experts for live webinars.

UW Extension county of-fices are host sites, said Chris Hilgert, state master gardener coordinator and a member of the panel.

Hilgert asked residents to let the local extension office know they want to attend the “Plants, Pests, and Pathogens” webinar series. They should also send in their questions and any photo-graphs that help show a particu-lar problem. Sessions are from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 and Sept. 24.

The series is a retooled ef-fort of a horticultural program

dropped several years ago.“I’ve been getting requests

from master gardeners and extension employees around the state to bring it back,” said Hilgert.

Questions and photographs can be sent to:

• Scott Schell at sschell@uwyo.edu

• William Stump at wstump@uwyo.edu

• Karen Panter at kpanter@uwyo.edu

• Chris Hilgert at chilgert@uwyo.edu

“I want to make sure it’s clear people should contact their ex-tension offices to RSVP if they want to attend,” Hilgert said.

For more information, call the Powell Research and Extension Center at 754-2223.

UW horticultural webinar series

P A G E 4 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

WWW.POWELLTRIBUNE.COM

RimRock TiRe601 E. Coulter • Powell • 754-4885

2603 Big Horn Ave. • Cody • 587-6875 Call us when you have problems in the field.

Your fArm And Ag tirE CEntEr

Your Farm and Ag Tire

Center!

A Great Pyrenees sheep dog keeps an eye on passersby in a pasture between Fromberg and Joliet in southern Montana as sheep graze and rest nearby. Tribune photo by Toby Bonner

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

Pneumonia is just as much a concern for people as it is for livestock, so work

is underway to create a bru-cella ovis vaccine for sheep.

Assistant Professor Kerry Sondgeroth’s project with the University of Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory will compare brucella ovis’ sero-prevalence in Wyoming’s do-mestic sheep flocks using two different diagnostic tests, that is, the level of the pathogen in the sheep flocks as measured in their blood.

The data generated by this study will provide the sero-prevalence of this disease across the state from three different time periods and a comparison of diagnostic tests on the same sheep sample subsets.

Basically, brucella ovis can pass pneumonia to sheep herds and there is no vaccine for it, said Chris Wichmann, manager of the Natural Re-sources Policy Division of the Wyoming Department of Ag-riculture.

Right now, sheep ranch-ers try to identify the disease quickly so they can remove and isolate those animals from the rest of the flock, Wichmann said. But, testing is not always accurate.

An 8,000-head flock in Wyo-ming was infected with this disease and the rancher lost more than $100,000, according to Sondergroth’s proposal. If producers can determine the seroprevalence of this disease, they will be able to make better flock management decisions, improve reproductive health and increase their economic return.

Sondgeroth proposed the project to the Wyoming De-partment of Agriculture earlier this year and requested $20,000 from the Agriculture Producer Research Grant Program. His request was approved in full by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture’s board of trustees on July 16 in Powell.

Sondgeroth’s project is pro-viding a $20,000 match.

The project is set to begin during the fall semester and continue on through summer 2017.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reaching out to hundreds of producers in Wyo-ming and other states as part of its monthly agricultural yield surveys.

The USDA National Agricul-tural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct the monthly surveys August through No-vember to accurately measure row crops and hay production throughout the growing season.

August is also the final month small grains production data is collected in the monthly ag yield survey.

The agricultural yield survey is the primary tool used by the service to track and report monthly crop yield changes that may occur due to weath-er, pests or other factors, said Bill Meyer, director of the NASS Mountain Regional Field Of-fice. “By respond-ing to this survey, farmers will pro-vide data that al-lows the USDA to accurately track crop produc-tion throughout the growing season,” he said.

The initial survey asks farm-ers how many acres of row crops and hay they intend to harvest, and their expected yield per acre. In subsequent months, NASS asks the same farmers to update their ex-pected yield per acre. This en-sures the information collected captures any month-to-month

changes. For their convenience, survey participants will have the option to respond by phone, online, or by mail.

All sectors of the agricultural industry rely on NASS yield and production estimates to make sound business decisions.

Producers use the estimates to develop marketing plans for their operations and determine what to produce and how and when to sell it. Agribusinesses that provide inputs and services to producers also use the esti-mates to develop future market-ing strategies.

USDA agen-cies use the crop yield data to determine crop insurance and disaster aid payments along with other pro-gram benefits.

“This is a great opportuni-ty for all farmers who receive the survey to make an impact, both locally and at the national level, which is why I

hope every farmer will take the opportunity and respond to this important survey,” Meyer said.

NASS will compile, analyze and publish survey results in the monthly crop production report.

All crop production reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov.

For more information and for questions specific to Wyoming, contact Rhonda Brandt at 1-800-892-1660.

‘This is a great opportunity for all farmers who receive the survey to make an impact, both locally and at the national level ...’

Bill MeyerNASS Mountain Regional

Field Office director

SHEEP STUDY AIMS TO COMBAT BRUCELLA OVIS

Agricultural yield surveys underway

$20 in Powell Chamber Bucks will be paid out to weekly winners!

$500 in Chamber Bucks for season-long points winner! Prizes

Awarded from VIP Sponsors!

Win $100 in Chamber Bucks by being the sole survivor

in our Survivor Game!More details coming!

B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 P O W E L L T R I B U N E • P A G E 5

303 South Bent Street Powell, WY • 307-754-4833

Cory Baker - Market ManagerJoe Bridges - Crop AdviserTed Zier - Crop Adviser

MAPPING THE WAY to HIGHER PROFITS!

SIMPLOT GROWER SOLUTIONS is a leading provider of agricultural GPS field mapping systems in the Western United States. Our GPS technology provides a basis for economically sound management decisions by utilizing:

• Accurate colored maps (up to wall-size)• Optional section lines for insurance purposes• Efficient communication devices

Some farmers want everything from one precision display. Others need just the essentials. No matter your farming needs, Case IH offers a guidance display right for you. Whether that’s a full-featured display to improve efficiency all around the farm, or just the basics to keep things simple, trust Case IH Advanced Farming Systems.

DISPLAY OPTIONS:

FM-1000™ Complete application control

FM-750™ Multiple corrections for pinpoint accuracy

EZ-GUIDE® 250 Entry-level performance for improved production

Case IH is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. Any trademarks referred to herein, in association with goods and/or services of companies other than CNH Industrial America LLC, are the property of those respective companies. www.caseih.com

MRC

Visit us today for more information.

HEART MOUNTAIN FARM SUPPLY1019 HIGHWAY 14POWELL, WY 82435307-754-5169www.heartmountainfarmsupply.com307-754-5169 • 800-877-6758

www.heartmountainfarmsupply.com

1019 Hwy 14 • Powell, Wyoming

Heart Mountain Farm Supply is the Precision Farming Leader for Equipment from All Manufacturer’s.

LocaLLy owned and operated for 31 years

Specializing in Farm & Ranch Auctions

• Real Estate • Farm/Ranch• Automobile • Specialty Auctions• Charity/Fund Raising • Antique

307-754-2296 (office)307-272-7490 (cell)

Travis SwensonAuctioneer

growhardy.com307-272-7947307-254-5585

info@growhardy.comMike & Erica MufichGrow Hardy, Eat Healthy!

It is not uncommon to hear from our agri-culture community that they are always interested in possible new markets or new

commodities with established markets to support the economic means of their opera-tion. Montana and North Dakota have done just that with pulse crops over the past two decades.

Since the 1990s, the produc-tion of U.S. food legumes has moved from the Palouse region, which includes eastern Washing-ton, Idaho, and eastern Oregon, to the Northern Plains which is comprised of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. By 2009, North Dakota and Montana had become the largest and sec-ond largest producers of pulse crops, respectively.

So what is a pulse crop? A pulse crop is an annual legume grown for human or animal con-sumption and defined as those crops grown solely for the dry seed, such as lentils, dry peas, and chickpeas. Pulse crops exclude crops like green beans or fresh peas. There is only one class of lentils that is grown for grain and used for human consumption, along with that chickpeas are solely grown as a grain for human consumption.

Dry peas can be harvested for livestock forage or grain intended for livestock or hu-man consumption.

So why discuss pulse crops for a Big Horn Basin crop when cattle dominate the state’s

agriculture industry and barley-sugar beet rotations dominate the cropping systems in the Basin? Pulse crops, especially for live-stock consumption, are very easy to incor-porate into the different cropping systems

found throughout the Big Horn Basin.

Pulse crops can be incorporated into hay fields, rotated into barley production, or utilized in other seed cropping systems. So no mat-ter what crop you are growing, pulse crops could have a potential place in your rotation.

Undoubtedly the best fit for pulse crops in our cropping sys-tems would probably be dry field peas since they make a great live-stock feed source.

Field pea varieties fall into two primary classes, green and yellow. In Montana, yellow pea types tend to out produce green pea types by

approximately 10 percent, however yields vary strongly among varieties within both classes. All field pea varieties are acceptable for livestock feed and are quite nutritious.

An important benefit to field peas is the ability to directly feed to livestock without having to go through the extrusion heating process like soybeans.

Field pea grain contains approximately 21-25 percent protein that can be easily cracked or ground into grain rations, while field pea forage is approximately 18-20 percent protein. Field peas can be inter-seeded into

small grains such as oats or millet for hay production to increase the protein concentra-tion of the forage by 2-4 percent while also increasing the relative feed value. Additional nutrition benefits to field peas are the high levels of carbohydrates, low fiber and they contain 86-87 percent total digestible nutri-ents.

Field peas can also be planted in other seed cropping systems such as barley, dry beans, sugar beets, sunflower, and corn. Field peas can be used as an additional crop in the rota-tion, used as a companion crop, utilized as ground cover to hold soils between crops, and other possibilities depending on the individ-ual operation. Field peas can be grown in a wide range of soil types from sandy to heavy clay, with moisture requirements similar to those of cereal grains. However, fields that have a history of perennial weed problems such as quackgrass, Canada thistle, peren-nial sowthistle and field bindweed should be avoided. Pulse crops should also not be con-sidered for fields that have been sprayed with herbicides that have a long residual effect such as Finesse, Glean or similar chemicals.

Currently the Powell Research and Exten-sion Center has two fields planted for field peas, one field has a trapeze variety and the other has an Austrian winter pea.

For more information on pulse crops, contact your local Extension Office at 754-8836.

(Jeremiah Vardiman is the UW Extension educator in Park County.)

JEREMIAH VARDIMANRoot of it all

Pulse crops and peas for the Big Horn Basin

Off-farm corn stocks in Wyo-ming on June 1 were down 16 percent from June 1, 2014 at 688,000 bushels, according to the Mountain Regional Field Of-fice of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture.

Off-farm corn stocks in Mon-tana were up 16 percent on June 1 with 50,000 bushels, compared to June 1, 2014, according to the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Sta-tistics Service, USDA.

Wyoming’s off-farm barley stocks totaled 1.61 million bush-els. Off-farm all wheat stocks in Wyoming on June 1 were 436,000 bushels.

Montana’s barley stocks in all

positions on June 1 were 15.78 million bushels, down 1 percent from a year ago. Barley stored on farms totaled 5.5 million bushels, up 17 percent from last year. Off-farm barley storage was down 9 percent from a year ago to 10.28 million bushels.

Nationally, old crop barley stocks in all positions on June 1 totaled 78.7 million bushels, down 4 percent from June 1, 2014. On-farm stocks are esti-mated at 20.9 million bushels, 10 percent above a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at 57.7 million bushels, are 9 percent below June 1, 2014. March through May indicated disappearance is 39.6 million bushels, 1 percent above the same period a year

earlier.All oat stocks in Montana

were estimated at 536,000 bush-els, up 22 percent from last year.

On-farm oat stocks were 500,000 bushels, up 25 percent from a year ago. Oats stored off-farm were down 12 percent from last year to 36,000 bushels.

All wheat stocks in Montana on June 1 were 55.19 million bushels, up 44 percent from June 1, 2014. All wheat stocks stored on farms amounted to 37 million bushels, up 64 per-cent from a year ago. All wheat stored off farms amounted to 18.19 million bushels, up 15 per-cent from a year ago.

Nationally, old crop all wheat stored in all positions on June 1

totaled 753 million bushels, up 28 percent from a year ago. On-farm stocks are estimated at 155 million bushels, up 60 percent from last year. Off-farm stocks, at 597 million bushels, are up 21 percent from a year ago. The March through May indicated disappearance is 388 million bushels, down 17 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Durum wheat stocks on June 1 were 4.03 million bushels, down 18 percent from a year ago. Durum wheat stocks stored on farms amounted to 2.5 million bushels, down 29 percent from a year ago. Durum wheat stored off farms amounted to 1.53 mil-lion bushels, up 8 percent from a year ago.

Wyoming and Montana grain storage up slightly from 2014

Golden sunflowers are pictured in full bloom in a field west of Powell as the sun sets. Sunflowers will be harvested later this fall.Tribune photo by Toby Bonner

SUN SETS ON SUNFLOWERS

Quality, Local Service You Can Depend On!

3 Locations to Service You Better!Powell: 872 East North St. Cody: 31 Pearson Avenue

Lovell: 1121 Hwy 14-A West587-6616 • 1-800-587-6616

LLC

Serving the Big Horn Basin since 1982

Septic Services, Portable Restroom Service, Garbage Collection,Commercial/Residential Roll Off Containers

Growing up on a small farm and ranch in El Rito, New Mexico, Mike Mufich was used to eating homegrown food. His family grew their own vegeta-bles and traded for local beef, sheep, goats and milk. He ate organically be-fore it was called “organic.”

Mike never had issues with food allergies until he was 35, he said. Soon it became so bad that he wasn’t sleeping well and constantly felt sick.

Mike decided to return to organic foods, and before long, his body started working properly, he said.

Mike and his wife, Erica Lol-off Mufich, have started grow-ing their own food year-round and are committed to eating

healthy. Erica grew up on a small farm in Powell and also was raised on local produce and meat.

The couple lives in Cody and researched an indoor gardening system in order to

start a commer-cial greenhouse and found the I-Stack and Star vertical grow-ing towers online manufactured by Thai Advanced Agri Tech as a way to produce a large amount of food in a small amount of square

footage. They formed Grow Hardy earlier this year in order to nationally distribute vertical hydroponic or aquaponic grow towers from Thailand, and plan to set up dealerships from Cali-fornia to New York.

“These towers are meant for people to utilize, know what’s in their food and be self-sustain-ing,” Erica said.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in water without soil.

“Hydroponics is an amaz-ing way to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, some fruits year round,” Erica said. “As with any growing system, care has to be taken to harvest a healthy crop.”

The type of nutrients to add to the water depends on what seeds are used. The process is more efficient than traditional growing methods, Erica said.

The towers only require a few square feet of space and can be placed near a south-facing window in a home, apartment, condo or in a greenhouse — small or large scale, Erica said.

Aquaponic growing methods, which incorporate live fish, also are available with the towers.

Standard towers have six lev-els of grow stations, allowing up to 24 plants.

Erica said you don’t have to be an experienced gardener to enjoy the healthy benefits of growing your own food with the vertical towers. She said that striving for self-reliance and being aware of what you

are eating is the healthiest way to live.

For more information, call 307-272-7947 or visit www.growhardy.com.

— Tessa Schweigert

P A G E 6 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

4-H and FFA Youth of Park County ...

HugeDiscounts

The Powell Tribune is offering display ads at

to help you publicly thank the buyers of your fair animals!

Stop by the front office to choose your size.

1x2 ($25)Rabbit or Chicken

2x2 ($35)Regular Price $49

2x3 ($50)Regular Price $73.50

2x4 ($70)Regular Price $983x4 ($100)

Regular Price $147

128 South Bent • Powell307-754-2221Call Ron, Tom, Alex, Kyle or Douglas~ 754-5452 ~ 698 E. South Street ~ Powell

WE ALSO PROVIDE SALES AND SERVICE FOR BRAKES, SHOCKS, STRUTS & BATTERIES.

We Align and Balance All Sized Vehicles

Radial All Traction 23 R-1

Champion Guide Grip 3-Rib Heavy Duty F-2

Champion Guide Grip 4-RIB F-2

Champion Guide Grip Single Rib F-1

307.764.6200 • Downtown Powell • www.WYOldWest.com

Our bar is currently open ... Come try our featured micro brews!

Save these Dates!September November

Food is coming...Our kitchen is on schedule for a September opening!

Brewing equipment has arrived... Get ready for

WYOld West Brew in November!

Wishing the Farmers

of the Powell Flat a successful

harvest season.It’s been a good water year and

we apreciate the cooperation of our users.

Shoshone Irrigation

District337 East

1st St, Powell 307-754-5741

www.shoshoneirrigation.com

Horticulture at new heights

At this time of year your perennial plants and some of your annuals are done blooming and looking

kind of dreary. After you have pruned back your perennials to encourage more growth, you are left with not much to look at. This is where garden art or some cleverly placed focal point comes into play. A focal point can be anything that catches and holds your eye. It could be a birdbath or some creation you have made, a beautiful plant or plant group-ing, a whimsical object or a beautiful fountain or sculpture.

When placing garden art, remember that clutter is never a good thing. Fewer objects carefully placed among your plants will make a wonderfully simple statement of your taste. I do know people that love lots of items in their spaces and this is a personal statement for sure.

Even plants themselves can create

clutter. When I planted my perennial bed many years ago, I planted far too many plants in the area thinking it would fill in and be just beautiful. Well it filled in alright and I find myself pulling or digging out plants in the spring to make room for them to grow and be seen. It gets kind of chaotic sometimes with no place for the eye to rest and see it all.

Some people think a certain color palette in the garden ties everything together. I have heard of people painting birdhouses, planter boxes, benches, etc. all one color as a way to connect all parts of the garden even though the plants were all different. The same idea can be done with the plants and flowers themselves.

When acquiring garden art, a good rule of thumb is to match the style of your garden and house with your art. Benches,

birdhouses and decorative planters are always good choices to decorate your gar-den, but keep in mind the size and style of your home. A very large fountain or sculpture would look best with a formal garden. Arbors and cement bunnies would fit a cottage style garden. A country style garden would be the place for old farm implements, troughs and old fashioned flowers. Whatever your style, there are plenty of products that can be used as garden art. One per-

son’s junk is another person’s treasure.I have an area in our garden that has

an old metal bed frame with sideboards

and this is my “flower bed.” I also have a small birdhouse water feature tucked under a large wild rose bush that is usu-ally heard before being seen. I have a wind spinner that I acquired at “Auntie Q’s” in Cody last year that is wonderful. It gently spins even in the most raging winds. I opted to leave it outside all last winter, and what a wonderful sight it was to stand looking out the window while it was snowing and see it gently spinning.

In the heat of the summer, it gets hard-er to keep your garden looking its best. A good plan is to keep up with the weeding, deadheading and maybe cutting back your perennials. This opens up oppor-tunities to use garden art as a way to fill empty spaces. This can be a good time to get real creative and it keeps your gar-den interesting and pleasing to the eye.

(Suzanne Larsen is a master gardener who lives in Cody.)

SUZANNE LARSEN

Guest Columnist

GROW HARDY USES VERTICAL GROWING TOWERS

Erica and Mike Mufich

‘These towers are meant for people to utilize, know what’s in their food and be self-sustaining.’

Erica Loloff Mufich

Garden art and focal points in the garden

Grow Hardy towers also can use aquaponic growing methods that incorporate live fish. Courtesy photos

I-Stack grow towers allow indoor gardening year-round in a small amount of space.

T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 P O W E L L T R I B U N E • P A G E 7B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

Jeff Kary, Owner

1008 South Street - Powell

Phone: 307-754-7181

A hitch when you need it... A level bed when you don’t!

See us for all your collision repair needs!

FRONTIER TRUCK GEAR replacement front bumpers

on a safe & prosperous harvest!

Best Wishes

An abundance of water is the main ingredient for plentiful growth.

1206 ROAD 18• POWELL, WYOMING • 307-754-4685

The Heart Mountain Irrigation District wishes the area farmers

a successful harvest!

Serving Investors in the Basin for more

than 20 years

276 North Absaroka in Powell, Wyoming • email: travis.smith@lpl.com

To plan for your future, see us today!

307-754-3529Securities offeredexclusively through LPL Financial Member FINRA/SIPC

Travis Smith, RFP, LPL Investment Consultant

Jennifer Triplett - Investment Assistant

POOR BOY FEEDS llcALAN & BETTY SKALSKY • 633 EAST SOUTH STREET • 307-754-9709

West Feeds, Moorman’s, Sweet Pro, Dog & Cat Foods

Show Animals to House Pets ...

WE FEED THEM ALL!

Proudly Offering Locally

Raised Whole and Rolled Grains

WWW.POWELLTRIBUNE.COMVISIT US ONLINE:

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

The saying “you are what you eat” holds just as true for cattle as it does for people,

and not all livestock forage is equally nutritious.

Once underway, a recently ap-proved University of Wyoming project will assess seasonal changes in the nutrient status of cow herds using Near Infra-red Reflectance Spectrometry analysis of fresh livestock fecal samples to determine crude pro-tein, energy and macro and trace

mineral content of rangeland for-age to help with monitoring year-round herd nutrition.

Basically, University of Wyo-ming Sustainable Management of Rangeland Resources Educator Blaine Horne will be working to determine the mineral content of forage over different times of the year by looking at what is being eaten and comparing it to what is left after digestion. By looking at fecal matter, Horne will be able to determine what’s being utilized by the cow’s digestive system.

“We speculate that some native grass might be a better produc-

tion value for livestock producers at different times of the year,” said Chris Wichmann, manager of the Natural Resources Policy Division of the Wyoming Depart-ment of Agriculture. “If they are planting grass, there could be a better type.”

It is easier and cheaper to maintain adequate nutrition and body condition in cattle than to attempt to use supplements to regain lost weight by the time poor body conditions are actually noticed.

The researchers will compare cattle nutritional plane to forage

quality to determine their min-eral intake and deficiencies.

Horne proposed the project to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture earlier this year and requested $19,995 from the Agriculture Producer Research Grant Program. His request was approved in full by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture’s board of trustees on July 16 in Powell. Horne’s project is provid-ing a $4,960 match.

The project’s final report is slated for completion in the sum-mer of 2018 according to the grant program application.

The University of Wyoming’s new live-stock judging coach began corralling team members in the spring, even before he opened his office door.

Frannie native Caleb Boardman joined the animal science department mid-May, even before putting finishing touches on his master’s degree in animal science with a ru-minant nutrition emphasis from Texas A&M University.

“We were very lucky to recruit someone with the superior qualifications, industry knowledge and the demonstrated skills Boardman has,” said Warrie Means, acting department head in the Depart-ment of Animal Science at UW.

The Rocky Mountain High School graduate’s first com-petitive team will enter action in January at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver.

That team will be the first UW team in two years.

“To build for that team, I start-ed recruiting junior college stu-dents who judged competitively during the last year,” Boardman said. “That’s a popular thing, to go to a junior college and judge for two years then transfer to a four-year school.”

He did that, gaining scholarships for livestock judging and attending Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kansas, before entering Texas A&M and earning a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness.

He’s recruited from Casper College, Lara-mie County Community College, Northwest College and Eastern Wyoming College and hopes to recruit UW students.

Anyone might be hard-pressed to find someone else so steeped in livestock judg-

ing. Boardman’s father, Russ, coached the Northwest College team for more than 18 years.

“Growing up, our family vacations in sum-mer were going to watch him judge livestock shows throughout the Rocky Mountain re-gion,” said Boardman. “That’s where I got the passion for livestock judging.”

His brother, Jared, is the livestock judg-ing coach for the Paintrock FFA Chapter in Basin and teaches vocational agriculture at Riverside High School. He and Jared grew up talking about how much fun making the UW program competitive on the national

level would be.“I’m look-

ing forward to working with the outstanding live-stock producers throughout the state and ex-posing students to the variety of livestock op-erations and quality animals Wyoming has to offer,” said Boardman.

Livestock judging critiques cattle, sheep, hogs and goats. Team members place live animals in 12 classes, then are required to give eight sets of oral reasons explaining why they placed the animals the way they did.

At times, students on the meat judging team will also compete in livestock judging. Those students realize the goal of producers — producing good-quality meat.

“Some livestock judging students come from more of a show ring background, so they get caught up more in the showing,” said Boardman. “You can’t hide anything

when the hides are off of the animals. When students judge carcasses, they start to un-derstand structure is not as important as some people make it.”

Boardman boasts the benefits of judging livestock beyond product awareness.

He said perhaps less than 10 percent of livestock judging team members return to run a livestock production operation; how-ever, team members gain skills valued in other professions, too.

Students gain time management skills while juggling academic demands and the extra hours of judging practice, many times

on weekends and evenings. Critical thinking skills are honed from having to briefly defend decisions orally. Traveling and competing across the country provides opportunities for contacts with industry professionals and with students on other teams. Team building and communication skills are also strengthened.

There is a rebound of ani-mal science department judging teams.

Means said that, in addition to changes in the livestock judging program, the animal science meat judging team has enjoyed tre-mendous success recently, and the depart-ment will field a horse judging team this year.

“There is a ton of excitement out in the state surrounding the future of our collegiate judging programs,” said Means.

Ever the recruiter, Boardman invited students wanting to be part of the livestock judging team or others looking for ways to support the program to contact him at 307-766-2159 or at caleb.boardman@uwyo.edu.

CALEB BOARDMAN

‘I’m looking forward to working with the outstanding livestock producers throughout the state ...’

Caleb BoardmanJudging coach

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING CATTLE NUTRITION STUDY APPROVED

Livestock lunchtime

Boardman coaches UW livestock judging team

Darci Jo Shuler, 5, serving as an unofficial assistant during the Market Beef Show at the Park County Fair on July 23, hands a blue ribbon to Sara Reed (right). Reed’s 1,336-pound steer won the Market Beef Medium Frame Division, Class 2, and later was declared the overall champion of the show. On the left is Val Murray, who helped with administrative duties at the show. Tribune photo by Ilene Olson

BLUE RIBBON BEEF

A recently approved University of Wyoming study will determine which forage is the best for cattle. This will allow for better decisions when deciding what types of grass to plant for future grazing. Tribune photo by Toby Bonner

307-202-1280Mini Excavator

& Skid StEEr

Skid Steer Attachments

& Trailer Rental

P A G E 8 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

From seeds to suds — Briess is a leading manufacturer and marketer of handcrafted specialty malts and other natural ingredients. From its Powell Seed Plant and Ralston Elevator in Wyoming to multiple malting and processing facilities in Wisconsin, Briess connects growers with craft brewers, craft distillers, beverage, pet food and food manufacturers throughout the U.S.A. and world.

For your future barley contracting needs please contact Rick or Judy.Office 307.754.9544 | Rick Redd 307.272.9470 | Judy Bullinger 307.272.9505

1457 Hwy 14A, Powell, Wy | 625 South Irish Rd., Chilton, WI | www.Briess.com

Briess_Best-Wishes-Ad.indd 1 8/3/15 8:55 AM

Your Miller Coors Distributor

Local beers are all the rage!Drink Local. Drink Coors.

P L E A S E D R I N K R E S P O N S I B L Y ~ 2 1 M E A N S 2 1

Proudly made with Big Horn Basin Barley.

BY TESSA SCHWEIGERTTribune Features Editor

In garages and homes around Powell, beer is brewing.

Local homebrewers have made their own ales, lagers, stouts and porters for years, and a new group is bringing them together to exchange ideas and advice. The Heart Mountain Hop Heads group meets month-ly in Powell, and is open to new-bies and veteran brewers alike.

When Chris Cox, a co-founder of the WYOld West Brewing Company, moved back to Powell about eight years ago, he didn’t know anyone else who brewed their own beer. But over the years, he has met a lot of local homebrewers.

“There’s a tremendous amount of interest out there,” Cox said.

After talking about starting a local group for a long time, he and other homebrewers formed the Heart Mountain Hop Heads several months ago.

“We can help people under-stand it’s not super complicat-ed,” he said.

As new brewers get started, veteran brewers can answer questions and provide guidance.

“We’ll be there to help guide you along,” Cox said. “Before long, you’ll be making your own fantastic beer at home.”

The group recently held a brewing day, and is planning another this fall. Homebrew-ers also have invited others over while they’re making beer at home so they can see the process first-hand. It’s a fun social activ-ity, Cox said.

In the Powell Valley, there’s po-tential for home-brewers to use local ingredients in their beers. One of the group members is growing hops. Cox

said he’s also excited about the possibilities for using local

barley in home-brewed beer.

Briess Malt and Ingredients, which owns the Ralston barley fa-cility, is a leader in homebrewing, Cox said.

Park County Homebrewers, a group based in

Cody, recently started a grain co-op, offering a lot of different

varieties for area homebrew-ers.

For those starting out with homebrewing, kits and supplies are available locally at Bloe-dorn Lumber, Cox said.

About a dozen homebrewers have attended the meetings, which are informal in nature and open to the public. The next meeting is at 7 p.m. Aug. 27 at the WYOld West Brewing Company. For more informa-tion, brewers can join the Heart Mountain Hop Heads group on Facebook.

HOMEBREWERS EXCHANGE IDEAS, TIPS IN NEW GROUP

Hops, shown here growing in a local yard, are a key ingredient in beer.Photo courtesy Micah Humphreys

‘We can help people understand it’s not super complicated.’

Chris CoxBrewer

B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 P O W E L L T R I B U N E • P A G E 9

‘I think pretty much everybody has good beans in our area.’

Rick StrohLocal farmer

BY GIB MATHERSTribune Staff Writer

Although the Powell area bean crop is looking pretty good for the most part at least one

farmer is praying the weather is not too inclement preceding harvest.

“I think pretty much everybody has good beans in our area,” Rick Stroh said.

Powell area farmer Fred Hopkin said he believes his beans are coming along nicely. “I think they look fine for this time of year,” he said.

Pinto beans are the dominant bean crop in the Powell area. Either yellow or northern beans would be the No. 2 bean cultivated here, Hopkin said.

Yellow beans normally require a longer growing season than pinto beans. “They’re (pinto beans) a hit because they mature faster,” said Klodette Stroh, who farms the Powell area with her husband, Rick Stroh.

Rick said he has about 500 acres of beans.

Hopkin said he is farming 250 acres of pinto beans this year. “All the beans I grow are pintos,” he said.

Rick Stroh has 150 acres of corn for grain. “Corn looks awesome here,” he said.

The Strohs are raising yellow and pinto beans this year. They have also grown navy or white beans, Klodette said.

Typically Hopkin raises 500 acres

of beans, but bean prices are prob-ably the lowest they’ve been in eight years. “The prices are down, so my acres are down,” Hopkin said.

“Right now they’re (bean prices) really low,” Klodette said.

Yellow beans are selling a little higher, Rick said.

Yield in dry farming fields like North Dakota dictate the price of beans, Klodette said.

If the Red River Valley in places like Minnesota, North Da-kota and Iowa have a good bean crop yield it will lower the price. That is tough for farmers around these parts, because un-like Red River farmers, Powell producers have the added production cost of irrigation. “It makes a huge difference here,” Rick said, “we have to ir-rigate everything.”

Cheaper fuel has reduced production costs.

He buys and stores his fuel in the spring. Lower fuel prices have helped, but the price of fertilizer and chemicals did not lessen, Rick said.

The price of seed, fertilizer, equipment and parts continue to rise. Oil prices may be plummet-ing, but a tractor tire cost $2,500. “Crude prices are coming down, but you don’t see tires coming down for farmers,” Klodette said.

Early September is when he usually harvests his beans, but that has gone as late as November. “It just depends on the weather,” Rick said.

“The weather has been pretty good,” he said. The cool spring aided barley, but at the same time, spring was warm enough to bring up the beans in a timely manner, Stroh said.

In a field just east of Powell, on the south side of Cemetery Road is a Stroh field of yellow beans. It’s gorgeous. Following a recent shower, the air is fresh and clean. Puffy clouds hug the horizon and the verdant green plants seem to stretch to infin-ity. Klodette snaps off a yellow bean pod. The beans are crisp and sweet.

A freeze last fall claimed many beans. “We lost a lot of beans last year,” Rick said.

That was the second week of

September. The freeze really dev-astated what had been a promising bean crop, Hopkin said.

If the freeze would have delayed itself for one week last year, they

could have harvested their beans, Klodette said.

Hail hit July 27. Hopkin said his Pow-ell area crops were OK, but his fields east of Lovell didn’t fare as well.

Thirty-five acres of his barley was rav-aged east of Lovell. However, his sugar beets and sunflowers there should be fine,

Hopkin said, hopeful the weather is not too inclement before the beans are in. “Weather and the Lord will-ing, we’ll get a good crop,” Rick said.

Beans look pretty good as farmers pray for mild weather

Klodette Stroh, who farms the Powell area with her husband Rick Stroh, points out yellow beans Aug. 4 just east of Powell. ‘This is a labor of our love,’ she said. Tribune photos by Gib Mathers

BOUNTIFUL BEANS

The yellow beans — pod and all — are quite tasty when picked fresh off the leguminous plants. At right, most yellow bean flowers are yellow, but some blossoms display an exquisite white.

Made with Wyoming

Made with Wyoming

Barley

Barley

P

r

o

u

d

l

y

P

r

o

u

d

l

y

Thanks to all our

farmers who support

our local communities

Thanks to all our

farmers who support

our local communities

A WORKSHOP ON DIRECT HARVESTINGfor dry beans will take place from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at the Powell Research and Extension Center. RSVP by Friday at 307-766-5082 or at jnorton4@uwyo.edu.

� Each have 250 ft hose� Boomless nozzels� Rental fee: $40 per day

Noxious weeds taking over your property?

We have the tools to help you take it back!

� Both pick up and ATV types� Use with eco-bran bait� Rental is free but deposit is required

� Comes on a trailer (2 inch ball)� Pull behind your ATV� Used for small acerage re-seeding� Roller/packer that is filled with water to help compress seed into soil� Rental fee is $40 per day

To check availability please call 754-4521All equipment listed above requires a Debit/Credit card prior to leaving our property. This is for a security deposit for mis-use, non-returned items or

any damage done to any equipment while in your possession.

� Comes on a trailer (2 inch ball)� Useful for planting large number of trees� Rental fee is free but a deposit is required

Water Jet Stinger

Dew Drop Seeder� Excellent for small patches or areas difficult to access� Rental fee is $5 per day

� Fall applications for row crops� Call our Powell Office at 754-4521 for more information

4 Gallon Backpack Sprayers

Glyphosate

200 Gallon Slide-in & Pull Behind Sprayers

Grasshopper Bait Spreaders

Proposed Fall Spraying Cost Share Program� Cost share will be made available for- alfalfa, small grains, and row crops grown in Park County (total program funding determined by PCWP Board)� Quarantine Release required to qualify� $500 maximum available to any producer� $5 per acre allowed towards the spraying

costs (herbicide + application). Commercial applicators allowed.� Producers may purchase glyphosate from PCWP and apply it themselves� PCWP approval prior to treatment� Program available from September 15-November 30

Park County Weed and Pest

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

Not all plants are created equal when it comes to supporting livestock and

wildlife. Removing bad plants such as Russian olives and tama-risks is just the beginning, a study is underway to determine what

the best replacements are for those invasive plants.

Washakie County Conserva-tion District recently received funding from the state for a new project on land productivity and conservation benefits after Rus-sian olive and tamarisk removal in the Gooseberry Creek Water-shed.

The ground is salty once salt cedar and tamarisk are removed, said Chris Wichmann, manager of the Natural Resources Policy Division of the Wyoming Depart-ment of Agriculture. This project should determine what will grow best under those conditions and which plants will work best for livestock and wildlife.

Trials will be conducted to determine which species from a diverse selection of desirable grasses, forbs, shrubs and woody species can survive in the Goose-berry Creek Watershed where soils can have high salt concen-trations, high pH, and average annual rainfalls of 5-7 inches, similar to the Park County region.

The district proposed the proj-ect to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture earlier this year and requested $9,935 from the Agriculture Producer Research Grant Program. Its request was approved in full by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture’s board of trustees on July 16 in Powell.

The district is providing $16,163 toward the project.

P A G E 1 0 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

fcsamerica.com

Farm Credit Services of America is built for

today's agriculture. Along with specialized products

and services that give you an edge, we have the

financial strength and capacity to help you grow.

call farm credit services of america and see for yourself.800-359-0235.

Garrett HortonFinancial Offi cer

Shane ThompsonInsurance Specialist

Crop Insurance // Crop & Livestock Operating Loans // Real Estate Loans Facility & Equipment Financing // Line of Credit

PIPE & IRRIGATION SUPPLIESTriple L Sales

TO HELP YOU BRING IN YOURBEST HARVEST YET!

WE OFFER MORE WAYS TO MOVE WATER WISELY

3460 BIG HORN AVE | CODY (307) 527-5715

Worming and Vaccinations

Strep (distemper)Equine Herpes (Rhino Virus)

Influenza shots by Ray Acker, DVM

Equine Dental Special

Call for discounted pricing and to schedule an appointment.

WASHAKIE CONSERVATION DISTRICT SEEKS TO FIND BEST

OPTIONS FOR PLANT LIFE AFTER SALT CEDAR REMOVAL

Participants in a Cody intro-ductory chainsaw class especially for women will learn to safely and effectively use a chainsaw to fell small tees and cut firewood, orga-nizers said.

The workshop takes place from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. University of Wyoming Extension and The Nature Conservancy are offering the session.

Participants will receive in-struction and will remove Rus-sian olives along the Shoshone River, said Caitlin Youngquist, an extension educator and class instructor. Workshop information is at http://bit.ly/chainsawclass.

Instruction begins at the Cody public library but, “Most of the day will be spent running saws,” Youngquist said. “Instructors will also be available on Sunday for more practice time, and The Nature Conservancy will gladly let you cut as many Russian olives as you want.”

Russian olives have become a problem in some areas.

“We are excited to have help clearing these invasive Russian olives from the river corridor,” said Katherine Thompson, North-west Wyoming Program director for The Nature Conservancy, “be-cause they impede public access

to the river and reduce wildlife habitat quality.”

Robert Groce, a 40-year log-ging veteran and former coach of the Washington State Univer-sity Logger Sports team, is also an instructor. Under his direction, they were the top collegiate team in the Western Region for two consecutive years.

Cost is $75, which includes lunch, snacks, fuel and bar oil. Class size is limited, said Youngquist, and scholarships are available to offset costs. Regis-tration is required by contacting Youngquist at 307-347-3431 or at cyoungqu@uwyo.edu.

E N G A G E M E N T SSEPTEMBER CHAINSAW CLASS TARGETS RUSS IAN OL IVES

Farm Bureau crop insurance is tailor-made for your needs.

Attention• Livestock Risk Protection (LRP)• Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI)• Pasture, rangeland, forage, and alfalfa seed sales closing date - Sept. 30• Spring crop closing date - March 15

762 East 3rd St.Powell, WY307-754-5769

Betsie GettingsCrop Production

Assistant

Larry FrenchMultiline Agent

Farmers & Ranchers

227 Yellowstone AvenueCody, Wyoming ~ 587-0007

Certified: Cummins, Duramax & Power Strokes

Performance Products

Available!» Exhaust» Injectors» Turbos

» Banks Diesel Chips & Tuners,

Superchips & Tuners» Edge Chips & Tuners

» High Performance Transmissions & Clutches

& Power Strokes

WYOMING DIESEL

R.A.M. Enterprises, Inc.

The owner has over 40 years

of Diesel Truck and Equipment

Experience you can trust!

SPECIALIZING IN DIESEL PICKUP REPAIR

Park County Weed and Pest employees remove Russian olives in a field near Wyo. Highway 295 in this file photo. Tribune file photo by Gib Mathers

A study is underway to determine what the best replacements are for invasive plants, such as Russian olives. Courtesy photo

Production MachineNeed Repairs Headinginto Harvest Season?

We fix harvesters. digger wheels, grab rolls, and more!

Ag supplies - Hydraulic Fittings, Components & Hoses - Repair Facility

B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 P O W E L L T R I B U N E • P A G E 1 1

Supplement to the Powell Tribune

INSIDE: hunting doesn’t affect sage grouse numbers: Page 7 why i hunt: Page 9

THURsday, sepTembeR 4, 2014

Original Ford Equipment Parts

Hunters, make sure your truck is ...

Off-Road Ready!

NOW HiriNg!Now Hiring a Service Manager and a Service Adviser. Inquire with General Manager Mike Hobbs.

From major mechanical repair to oil changes, brakes, batteries and tires!Ford Factory-Trained Master TechniciansKnowledgeable, Friendly and Courteous Staff!

1000 U.S. Highway 14A

Powell, Wyoming1-866-754-70991-307-754-7099

ASE Certified Technicians

Pictured following a successful mule deer harvest last fall are Cody Polestar Outdoors mentor Joel Proffit with hunter Heydan O’Hara, 15, of Cody. Photo courtesy Polestar Outdoors

BY GIB MATHERSTribune Staff Writer

I’ve got the best job in the world,” said Ron Vining.He is executive director of Polestar Outdoors. He founded the organization in Powell with his uncle Wes Vining to introduce youth to

hunting and the outdoors.

“We’re into our seventh year,” Vin-ing said.

Polestar Out-doors, based in Powell, uses hunt-ing and fishing as outdoor venues to bring adult men-tors and teenagers together, said Pole-star’s website.

“We are striving for long-term relationships that have both spiritual and outdoor recreational benefits through greater appreciation of nature, the development of hunting and fishing skills, sportsmen’s eth-ics and conservation practices,” the website says.“All this is free,” Vining said. They ask kids to purchase their own licenses. “But, Polestar will buy a license for any student that can’t afford one,” he said. Polestar’s quarry includes upland birds, waterfowl, small game, big game and mountain lion hunting. “I took a teen-ager mountain lion hunting this year,” Vining said.

Polestar accepts youth 11 to 18 years old. However they must be 12 or over to shoot big game in Wyoming, Vining said.Wyoming law requires indi-viduals to take a hunter safety

course if they were born on or after Jan. 1, 1966.Polestar Cody and Powell chapters teach hunter safety courses, Vining said. Polestar has guided Robby Bleak for four years. Bleak, 17, of Powell said he thinks it’s a sweet deal.

“I get the joy of being outside,” Bleak said.

He has harvest-ed two bucks and two doe deer so far with Polestar.

“It’s a blast,” Bleak said.

Bleak’s father, Don, an ordained Southern Bap-tist minister, was an avid hunter. Bleak’s mother is Laura Bleak of Powell.

In the past, Don provided venison for the family. Now Don suffers from Alzheimer’s dis-ease, so Bleak is hunting to put meat on the table, Vining said.The Bleak hunting tradition will continue. “When I turn 18, I get the choice of his (Don’s) shotgun or rifle,” Bleak said. “He’s a great kid,” Vining said of Robby.Vining guided Bleak to his first deer. Jon Allen has men-tored Bleak for the last three years, but Vining and Bleak will be partnering up again. “Robby is going with me on his first elk hunt Sept. 1,” Vin-ing said.Bleak said he is hoping to take a bull.“And he’s really excited about his elk hunt this year,” Vining added.

dozens of yoUTH paRTIcIpaTe

Fifty-four deer were taken by Cody and Powell kids in 2012. He didn’t have an exact count, but five or six elk, sev-eral antelope and dozens of deer were harvested by Cody/Powell youth in 2013, Vining said. “We’re still signing kids up for the 2014 season,” Vining said. “I would say there are 40 or 50 kids that we’re taking out.”Polestar Cody/Powell chap-ters serve several hundred youth per year. About 70 to 80 are hunters. The rest are en-gaged in outdoor-related activi-ties, Vining said.

For example, 500 youth fired paint balls at animal targets during Lovell’s Mustang Days in June this year, Vining said.Polestar pitched in at Cabe-la’s Outdoor Adventure Day in May in Billings. Polestar taught BB gun and archery shooting, how to cook elk in a Dutch oven, rock tumbling, leather working, fish casting and fly tying. “We had a little over 300 kids plus their parents,” Vining said. Bleak was a leader in July at Camp Wannabe/Polestar Out-doors Summer Camp in Powell. Polestar offered shooting, fish-ing, canoeing, swimming, paint-ball, outdoor survival skills, campfire building fire, compass use and more, Vining said.

“One day I hope to actually be a mentor for Polestar,” Bleak said.“I think he’ll be an excellent mentor,” Vining said. Polestar organized a campout the summer of 2013 where

Polestar teaches youth hunting, outdoor skills

‘My satisfaction is passing on the tradition of hunting and fishing to our next generation.’

Ron ViningPolestar Outdoors

See Polestar, Page 3

anTelopeOverall, pronghorn hunting in the Big Horn Basin is going to be tougher than previous years due to extended drought causing a reduction in pronghorn num-bers and seasons designed to reduce numbers to address agricultural damage on private lands.

All pronghorn populations in the southern Big Horn Basin, which include the Copper Mountain herd (areas 76, 114 and 115) and the 15-Mile herd (areas 77, 83 and 110), are below target population objectives. Hunting seasons in these areas are going to be fairly conservative to either maintain or promote population growth. Damage on private lands from prong-horn in cultivated crops have subsided in recent years, therefore the 2014 hunting season will have fewer doe/fawn licenses in most hunt areas. In addition, type 1 and 2 (antlered) license quotas will be re-duced in hunt areas 77, 110 and 114. Pro-longed snow cover and several sub-zero cold snaps last December, January and February had negative effects on these pronghorn herds. Hunters should expect

conservative seasons for the next several years to allow these herds to increase. In area 80, both buck antelope and doe/fawn licenses have been reduced to allow this herd to grow. Areas 78, 81 and 82 should have similar seasons to 2013 and hunting should be good. Near Greybull, Game and Fish suspect hemmorhagic disease also impacted overall numbers of antelope. Staffers are seeing fewer an-telope associated with private farm land so doe/fawn hunters may have to hunt a little harder. Hunters with a type 1, any antelope tag should be pleased with the quality of buck antelope this year. “Buck quality is as good as I have seen it for several years and is likely due to good spring forage conditions,” said Greybull Warden Bill Robertson. mUle and wHITe-TaIled deeRMule deer numbers are still strug-gling in the southern portion of the Basin and because of this, the 2014 hunting season is predicted to be mostly fair to poor hunting. For the past few years, the populations have struggled with harsh winters along with yearly outbreaks

of hemmorhagic disease. Because the populations are below target levels, doe/fawn license quotas have been reduced

or eliminated in many areas to help build these populations. Some limited quota areas, such as hunt areas 37, 119 and 125, should see fair to good hunting, while areas 116, 118 and 120, along with most general license areas, will likely be tougher hunting.

However, as long as hunters put forth some good effort, they still should be able to find a few deer.For those hunters looking to pursue white-tailed deer, they will likely see fewer than past years. In 2013, hem-morhagic disease caused a significant die-off of white-tailed deer in most areas. Because of this, most hunt areas will have fewer licenses and hunting opportunities in 2014. It will likely take a couple years for these populations to rebound, barring any more disease outbreaks, so hunters should expect reduced deer numbers and tougher hunting for a couple years.For the northern portion of the Big Horn Mountains, buck numbers have been holding steady with a slightly decreased buck harvest in 2012, and a slight improvement in 2013. The overall population still has not increased to lev-els seen in the mid-2000s so buck hunting will be fair to good, whereas the doe/fawn hunting opportunity will be less in some areas.

Near Greybull, field personnel report numbers are down from previous years. There have been some nice older bucks observed but younger bucks are not as numerous, indicating poor fawn and

w y o m i n g g A m E A n D F i S H L o C A L H U n T i n g F o R E C A S TThe forecast calls for fair hunting this fall

A Wyoming mule deer is pictured during winter of 2013. Mule deer numbers are still struggling in the southern portion of the Big Horn Basin and because of this, the 2014 hunting season is predicted to be mostly fair to poor hunting. Photo courtesy Katie Theule/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

See Forecast, Page 5

Contact Linda, Toby or Rob

307-754-2221linda@powelltribune.com • toby@powelltribune.com • rob@powelltribune.com

Call today to reserve your spot in this year’s Sportsman’s Guide!

Sportsman’s Guide

P A G E 4 • p o w e l l T R I b U n e T H U R S D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 4

SPORTSMAN’S GUIDE

Call the Park County Dispatch Center 754-8700Planning a controlled burn?

JerkyDry Ice

Trail MixSandwiches

Chips & Snacks331 West Coulter • Powell, WY • 307-754-3122

The hunt doesn’t stop with Baggin’ the Big One!

We’ve got seasonings for game products, freezer paper & tape, baggies &

aluminum foil!

Fuel,Beer & Package Liquor

We’re open 24 hours for all your hunting needs!

Jerky • Dry IceTrail Mix • Sandwiches

Chips & Snacks

1734 SHERIDAN AVENUE • CODY • 250-4712

Grizzy Country outdoors

- Guns - Ammunition - Outdoor Gear -

PROFESSIONAL, ON TIME GUNSMITHING

Receive any new gun at 10% over cost with presentation of this ad! Good Sep. - Oct.

633 East South StreetPowell, Wyoming • 307-754-9709

Alan & Betty Skalsky

Hunters on Horseback!Complete Horse PelletsAlfalfa Hay & CubesCertified Weed-Free

Special PricingVolume Discounts

50 Pound Bags!

BY GIB MATHERSTribune Staff Writer

showing potential, but struggling monetarily, a bass fishing team com-prised of University of Wyoming students is hoping to get finan-cial backing this year from their school.

As the fall semester begins in Laramie, the team’s president, Mike Barbero, an engineering student from Arvada, Colo., is re-building the new team and seek-ing support from the UW. In 2013 the team competed in Western States Division tourna-ments.Team members Tyler Sting-ley and Tyler Webber, both of Powell, Taylor Armstrong of Dover, N.J., and Barbero placed in the top 15 in May at the Fish-ing League Worldwide California Delta in Bethel Island, Calif.

“That was pretty cool,” said former team member Stingley.Stingley graduated in May, but he still maintains ties with a couple of the guys. “I’m more of a consultant now than a member,” he said. The guys came in 35th last October at the Clear Lake Invita-tional in Lakeport, Calif.At Clear Lake only a pair of two-man teams were able to make the competitions. There are two anglers per team who share a boat, Stingley said.They had to pay their own travel expenses to compete in the California competitions, Stingley said.However, they did accrue some financial backing last year. “Laramie Peak Anglers set us up with custom team jerseys as well as a lot of support,” Stingley said. “Vision West, Inc. in Powell

also set us up with custom T-shirts we sold to raise money for traveling.”Dave’s Guns in Laramie gave the team a shotgun to raffle to raise money

for the Califor-nia trip, Bar-bero said.

B a r b e r o supplied his own boat and Forrest L Wood Ranger Boats loaned the other team a boat for the Cali-fornia tournaments, he said.

If the university would ac-

knowledge the team as a “club” sport, like rugby or the hockey team, it could help back the an-glers financially, Stingley said.“We’re out there promot-

ing the school, too,” Barbero said.

C o l o r a d o State and Kan-sas State uni-versities have bass teams, Barbero said.

If his team can raise more money, he hopes to convince UW to match what those funds, Barbero said.

Barbero also plans to ask the Wyoming Bass Federation to al-low his team to compete in Fed-eration tournaments, he said. For the Western Division, the regular season usually starts in January or February and ends about October, Stingley said. Now the team is in recruitment mode.Four or five anglers wanted to join the team during the 2014 spring semester. Another eight hope to join during the fall se-mester. “There are a bunch of guys excited about fishing,” Barbero said.

UW students seek support for fledgling bass fishing team

‘Yes, that is my personal best bass (8 pounds) caught while pre-fishing in Clear Lake, Calif.,’ said Tyler Stingley of Powell. Stingley graduated from the University of Wyoming in May, but is still helping develop a bass fishing team comprised of UW students. Courtesy photo

Tyler Stingley of Powell and Mike Barbero of Arvada, Colo., the former, a University of Wyoming graduate, and the latter, a UW engineering student, are organizing a UW bass team. From left are Mike Barbero, Taylor Armstrong, Tyler Webber and Tyler Stingley. Courtesy photo

This should be a good year for the Cutt-Slam program, accord-ing to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.Typically, most entries are received in late summer and fall following the spring runoff as an-glers take advantage of improved fishing conditions.Anglers who complete the Cutt-Slam are recognized for catching Wyoming’s four subspecies of cutthroat in their native range in Wyoming. The four subspecies

are the Yellowstone, Snake River, Bonneville and Colorado River cutthroat trout.Over the years the Cutt-Slam has enjoyed nationwide popular-ity. Anglers completing the slam come from most states and sev-eral foreign countries.In 2013, Wyoming’s Cutt-Slam program continued to be popular with a record 141 anglers receiv-ing recognition for completion of the program. Since the Cutt-Slam started in 1996, the program has

recognized 1,083 anglers. Rules for completing the Cutt-Slam are quite simple. To qualify, an angler needs to provide a pho-to of each fish and information on the date of catch and water where it was caught. There is no mini-mum size requirement. Releasing of fish is encouraged and may be required depending on the regu-lations for different waters.

One of the key components of the Cutt-Slam is that each of the fish must be caught in their na-

tive range in Wyoming. Over the years, several of the cutthroat subspecies have been stocked in waters outside of their native drainages. Cutthroat caught in these waters do not qualify for the Cutt-Slam’s native range requirement. A map showing the native range of the different drainages where the four subspe-cies can be found is on the Game and Fish website at wgfd.wyo.gov. Click on Fishing then on Cutt-Slam.

Should be good year for the Cutt-Slam, says G&F

2603 Big Horn Ave. 601 E. Coulter Ave. Cody, WY Powell, WY (307) 587-6875 (307) 754-4885(800)746-8839

TRUCKS • HORSE TRAILERS • CAMPERS • ATVsWe do tires and brakes, bearing packs, trailer brake controllers, wiring—lights & more.

in Cody and Powell

HEART MOUNTAINROD & GUN CLUB

Annual family memberships available

at Linton’s Big R for $40.

OPEN FREE TO THE PUBLIC: SATURDAYS 10:00AM - 4:00PM

Advertising Deadline: August 24

Published in conjunction with the Powell Tribune Thursday, September 3

Truck and Trailer Repair

Computerized Alignment AC Work

Get your trucks and trailers ready for harvest!

There is much talk these days about the disap-pearance of our honey-

bee population. This is a topic that should concern all of us. In 2006, the history and trend toward decline was labeled as colony collapse disorder.

The cause of this disorder is not com-pletely understood and many factors may be responsible. In 2010, the U.S. De-partment of Agricul-ture reported that bee samples tested for viruses showed high levels of viral instances, pesticides and parasites. These results suggested that environmental stresses may weaken worker bees and make them more susceptible to pests and dis-ease.

Honeybees are losing habi-tat due to many environmental influences with just one ex-ample — we want our lawns to be pristine green with no lawn weeds and clovers. Colony collapse is very important in our world today because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees. The success rate of pollination is diminished without bees. Crop reduction will certainly follow.

Most gardeners are familiar with a few of the plant pollina-tors such as butterflies, hum-mingbirds and bumblebees. There are many other crea-tures that pollinate like flies, beetles and wasps.

Among the native bees in this area, only a few are ag-gressive and sting. The rest

are non-aggressive loners that repro-duce in nests they construct in holes in the ground, trees and other struc-tures. Honeybees are not out to sting you. If they land on you, stay still and they will fly away. They can sense fear and will sting if swatted. It is a good idea to note the dif-ferences between honeybees and

wasps. Honeybees die after they sting humans; wasps do not. Wasps are carnivores that are attracted to your lunch or sweet drinks. Honeybees are vegetarians. They forage pol-len and nectar from flowers up to 3 miles from their hive.

There are some things we can do to preserve our native bee populations.

First, provide plants that at-tract bees:

• Cultivate a variety of na-tive plants and herbs.

• Plants with flowers of dif-ferent shapes and colors ap-peal to a wide variety of bees.

• Cluster your plantings if you can.

Also, try to have a continu-ous flower bloom from early spring through fall.

Remember to provide clean water. Place a stone in your birdbath, this breaks the sur-face of the water to provide bees and butterflies access to

the water.It is very important to

practice integrated pest man-agement by using a thought-ful, educated approach to chemical use for the control of garden pests and weeds. The reduction and ultimate elimi-nation of their use would be a great help.

Let your lawn live a little — clover and dandelions are a haven for honeybees.

Also, provide nesting sites like a little bare ground, tree stumps or a nesting box.

The final chapter in the

survival of the native bees depends, in part, on all of us. People are being made aware of the fragile condition of their future. Each of us can have an impact on this cycle by how we manage our environment. The survival of our many pol-linators depends on how well we are aware of their relation-ship to the environment and how hard we are willing to work to encourage and sup-port their presence.

(Suzanne Larsen of Cody is a Park County master gar-dener.)

PRESERVING NATIVE BEES

Local bees benefit when gardeners cultivate a variety of native plants and herbs.

SUZANNE LARSEN

Guest columnist

Opt to Adopt!

M-F 9-10am, 3:30-6:30pm---Sat 12-3pm

754-1019 • 638 West North St.POWELLANIMALS

Caring for

Opt toAdopt!

POWELLANIMALS

Caring for

Monday – Friday9-10am

& 3:30-6:30pm

Saturday12-3pm

754-1019 638 West North St.

Opt to Adopt!POWELL ANIMALS

caring for

M-F 9-10am, 3:30-6:30pm

Sat 12-3pm

754-1019 638 W. North St.M-F 9-10am & 3:30-6:30pm

Sat 12-3pm

POWELL ANIMALS

BINGO

Opt to Adopt!

M-F 9-10am & 3:30-6:30pm

Sat 12-3pm

754-1019638 W. North St.

caring for

POWELL ANIMALS

caring for

638 W.North St.754-1019

Opt to Adopt!

BINGO

OPT to

ADOPT!

POWELLANIMALS

Caring for

M-F 9-10am, 3:30-6:30pm---Sat 12-3pm

754-1019 • 638 West North St.

Due to many environmental influences, honeybees are losing habitat, which impacts pollination and crops. Few of the native bees are aggressive and sting, but all of them promote plant life. Photos courtesy U.S. Department of Agriculture

www.deerequipment.com1025 West Coulter Avenue in Powell, Wyoming

307-754-5123 • 1-800-343-5702

Wishing all the farmers

a safe and successful harvest!

BRANDT’S MINI-STORAGE

307-202-1280 • 1191 Road 9 • Powell

14x50 units available!...with electric door openers!

6’x16’ = $35/monthOutdoor storage space available!

P A G E 1 2 • P O W E L L T R I B U N E T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 B A R L E Y , B E A N S & B A L E S

www.lintonsbigr.com

HARVEST TIMEat Linton’s Big R

Keeper

Ratchet Strap10,000 lb. rated capacity

52-inches tall

Cody to Powell Toll Free 587-2668Toll Free 1-800-698-2145455 S. Absaroka, Powell, WY

754-9521

100% Wyoming Owned and Operated

8B (Ductile Iron)

Guards

Big R Price$1198

Crop-Saver Pickup

Scott Shop Towels

200 Towels

GoJo Hand

CleanerKinco Chore Gloves

WITH 20” BAR CHAIN

2” x 27’

Sale Price

$1497

Low Big R Price$124.95

Big R Price$2.49

Big R Price

$3695

MS271

Big R Sale Price

$41999

Natural Orange7.5 oz.0951

Plastic & Sisal available.Net wrap is also

available.

All at Low Big R

Prices!

Baler Twine

Powder Mountain 12-Foot Gate

EssickAir Evaporative

CoolerCarhartt

Chore Jacket

WC37

Cools up to 900 square feet

Big R Price$46999

Big R Sale Price$39999

Big R Price$7999

Perfect Aire Air Conditioner

10,000 BTUCools up to 450 Sq. Ft.

Full range air direction control with slide-out filter access.

Electronic controls with remote control. Auto restart function,

sleep, dry and energy saver

modes.

Incredibly Low Big R Prices!Limited to Stock on Hand

Toro MowersDeal and Wheel Sale

MONDAY-SATURDAY ------- 7:30AM-6:00PMSUNDAY ----------------------- 10:00AM-4:30PM

Big R Price

$1997

12 PairStyle 814

J97 FRB

Larger Sizes $84.99

Big Horn Co-op311 South Bent Street • Powell, Wyoming

Phone 307-754-3491 • Fax 307-754-5835

We’re here to help make this The Best Harvest Ever!

See Us for All Your Agricultural Needs!

BY MATT NABERTribune Managing Editor

Insecticide keeps bugs from destroying crops — but what can be done with goats? That’s the answer University of Wyoming North-

west Area Rangeland Resources Educator Mae Smith is seeking to find out.

Smith is evaluating the effectiveness of goat grazing herbicide treatments and a combination of goat and herbicide treatments in reducing noxious weeds such as Russian knapweed and whitetop.

“People use goats to target un-desirable species, and goats will eat anything,” said Chris Wich-mann, manager of the Natural Resources Policy Division of the Wyoming Department of Agri-culture.

Basically, the goal with Smith’s project is to see what combina-tion of herbicides work best when also using goats to eat the weeds as well, he said.

The Wyoming Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey completed a weed survey in 2013 and es-timated that Russian knapweed covered 40,000 acres in Big Horn County and whitetop covered 150,000 acres — and they are spreading.

If effective, the use of goat grazing and herbi-

cides would reduce the amount of invasive plant species while increasing biodiversity, which is good news for wildlife and livestock.

Smith will select separate locations along the Big Horn River with similar Russian knapweed density, and four other sites will be chosen for whitetop. Each site will be fenced in by about 150-by-60 feet with smaller experimental plots within the fence. From there, five treatments will be conducted — goat grazing in the spring, goat grazing in the spring and fall, goat grazing in the

spring and herbicide in the fall, herbicide application in the fall, and a non-treated control section.

Vegetation will be assessed be-fore and after grazing treatments each year, beginning in 2016 and concluding in 2018. Data collec-tion will resume 10 years later, even if funding sources are gone, according to Smith’s grant ap-plication.

Smith proposed the project to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture earlier this year and requested $20,000 from the Agri-culture Producer Research Grant Program. Her request was approved in full by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture’s board of trustees on July 16 in Powell.

Smith’s project is providing a 36 percent in-kind match of $7,200.

‘People use goats to target undesirable species, and goats will eat anything.’

Chris WichmannNatural Resources Policy

Division manager

UW EXTENSION EDUCATOR TO STUDY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOAT GRAZING AND HERBICIDES ON WEED REDUCTION

Grazing goatsGoats will eat anything, and a UW educator is studying the effectiveness of goat grazing herbicide treatments in reducing noxious weeds. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Agriculture

541 Main Street • Ralston, Wyoming • 754-7034

Thank You

WATERWORKS IRRIGATION

Waterworks Irrigation thanks all of our customers and wishes all area farmers a bountiful harvest.