February 2021

Faith Builders

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Nestled between two businesses on Main Street in Lewistown is a small church. Minus the stained glass windows or the organ that typically accompanies hymns of praise, the small church of approximately 40 parishioners still provides the peace of a gathering place to worship, find fellowship and connect with God.

Local veterans receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

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Two hundred local veterans are now one step closer to being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after the county’s first Montana VA Health Care System vaccination clinic, held Wednesday at the Fergus County Fairgrounds.
The Montana VA has held approximately 30 vaccination clinics around the state since January, and this is the first one held in Fergus County. The clinic is part of a national VA pilot program to deliver vaccines to rural veterans.

Study will help measure snowpack from space

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What does NASA have to do with snow on the prairie of Central Montana? Researchers from Montana State University, Syracuse University in New York and the Central Montana Ag Research Center are working to develop systems to measure snowpack from space. The project is part of SnowEx, a five-year program to address the most important gaps in snow remote sensing knowledge and lay the groundwork for a future snow satellite mission.

Math, Skills USA and basketball the focus of Winnett junior’s year

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Cy Nunn is looking at the last third of his junior year at Winnett High School, and is happy to see the semester winding its way to the end.

“It’s not too bad,” Cy said about being a junior. “It’s one year closer to the end of high school.”

Cy hasn’t quite decided what that “end” means for him, but he is reviewing the options.

“I haven’t totally decided,” he said. “I might go to college for a business degree, or I might work on a ranch. Or I might leave Winnett and see what living in a larger community is like.”

Support Ag literacy on your 2020 tax form

The State of Montana has a voluntary tax check-off designation for Agricultural Literacy. These funds have the potential to provide materials and agricultural curriculum to teachers and schools across the state providing adequate knowledge of agriculture for students.

On your 2020 Montana tax return, choose the voluntary check-off program to support ag literacy in Montana schools. These funds have the potential to provide materials and agricultural curriculum to teachers and schools across the state.

Winter wheat condition is rated 69% good to excellent

The month of February produced cooler winter conditions and fluctuating temperatures across the state of Montana, according to the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

USDA to survey farmers’ planting intentions for 2021

As the 2021 crop production season begins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will contact producers nationwide to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season.

New technology helps ranchers maximize grass production

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One out of every three acres in the U.S. is rangeland. Two-thirds of these are privately owned, mainly by ranchers who graze their livestock in the open country of the American West.

Our rangelands produce premium beef, wool, and dairy. But it’s the plants that feed these livestock that are the foundation for profitable agriculture in the West.

But ranchers haven’t had a good way to measure how their grass is faring, until now.

Welcome to the deep state and the swamp

Dear Editor,

Better know your history

Dear Editor,

In an attempt to block a punt, the defender jumps toward the kicker to block the ball. Untouched, the kicker falls as if struck by lightning. Why? Fool the referee; draw a penalty; defeat the other team. Dishonest, unethical, of course; but winning trumps honesty or integrity. TV announcers cannot call this a “football move”— suggestion; call it a “Democrat move.” Anyone observing even five minutes of Democrats impeaching Trump or talking about their fears of fellow Republicans will get it.