The Official Newspaper for Foster County
There is something for everyone at this year's Central Dakota Ag Day.
The annual event will be on Friday, Dec. 15 at North Dakota State University's Carrington Research Extension Center.
The Central Dakota Ag Day program always includes an outstanding line-up of speakers, providing updates on crop production, livestock production and marketing.
This year, the planners of the event have expanded the program to include topics of general interest especially related to ag life.
Mychal and Kimberly Neumiller are owners in the Neumiller Harvesting family, and often share their lives and work on social media. Mychal will talk about the equipment and harvest side of their business, while Kimberly will share many of the behind-the-scenes details that are equally vital to the success of a large custom harvesting operation.
One of the most important steps to having a successful garden is choosing the correct variety, and an easy way to select appropriate varieties is to consult the North Dakota State University Home Garden Variety Trials. NDSU Extension Horticulturalist Tom Kalb will give an overview of this annual project in which hundreds of North Dakotans evaluate promising vegetable and flower varieties in home gardens each year.
How did our ancestors feed themselves? Sue Balcom, aka "Root Seller Sue," owner of The Root Seller farm north of Mandan, will help us "return to our roots" and explore time-worn methods of preserving and preparing foods. Balcom is a frequent guest on Prairie Public's show Main Street Eats.
In another session, Balcom will share recollections of German-Russian holiday traditions gleaned from personal experience as well as interviews with her parents' generation.
Joel Lemer will demonstrate how to create interesting, attractive and lasting grain sheaves and sample exhibits of North Dakota's crop species for shows and home display.
Central Dakota Ag Day begins with coffee at 9:30 a.m.
Linton-area rancher Doug Bichler will open the program at 10:00 a.m., sharing his story "Life Left-Handed" following a traumatic farm injury.
Central Dakota Ag Day is organized by Extension agents and specialists in Foster, Barnes, Eddy, Griggs, Sheridan, Stutsman, and Wells counties, as well as the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center.
Full details about the event are available at https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/events/central-dakota-ag-day .
Sponsors of Central Dakota Ag Day include the North Dakota Corn Utilization Council, the North Dakota Soybean Council, North Dakota Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, and crop improvement associations in the organizing counties.
No registration is required. Lunch will be provided.
For more information, contact Jeff Gale, agriculture and natural resources agent in Foster County at 701-652-2581 or jeff.gale@ndsu.edu.
The Carrington Research Extension Center is three and a half miles north of Carrington on U.S. Highway 281.