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Ag and Extension

Ag and Extension Briefs

Common tree concerns and suitable tree replacement options for SW MN Pipestone and Murray County Extension Offices and Pipestone County Master Gardeners invite the public to an informational tree program focused on common tree diseases, pests and suitable tree species replacement options for southwest Minnesota. Homeowners, farmers and industry professionals should make plans to attend this free program presented by Regional Forestry Extension Educator Gary Wyatt. He will discuss the most common tree issues affecting southwest Minnesota trees, how to recognize and diagnose common ...

Soil health

While the following topic can seem somewhat boring to many, the need to understand soil health is a big one. Healthy soil makes healthy and productive plants. Healthy and productive plants make healthy and productive gardeners! As this is true for those who are farming, it is also true for those who are gardening. Data driven research through the U of M over many years, finds that our garden and lawn soil does not need phosphorous. Garden and lawn soils have an average of around 68 parts per million (ppm) while our farm fields are around 26 ppm. 20 ppm is enough to raise a healthy lawn ...

Register now for Strategic Farming: Field Notes

Registration is open for the Strategic Farming: Field Notes program. The Field Notes program is designed for farmers and agricultural professionals as a weekly webinar program addressing all your crop-related questions in real-time in an interactive, discussion-based format. The Field notes program will begin on May 11 and will continue throughout the 2022 growing season on a weekly basis from 8-8:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. The program will feature a live webinar with interactive discussion with attendees, addressing in-season cropping issues as they arise. Weekly topics will be ...

USDA offers CLEAR30 option for agricultural producers to enrolll Land

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the signup period for its Clean Lakes, Estuaries, And Rivers initiative (CLEAR30) — a nationwide opportunity for certain landowners and agricultural producers currently implementing water quality practices through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to enroll in 30-year contracts, extending the lifespan and strengthening the benefits of important water quality practices on their land.  Producers may apply for CLEAR30, a voluntary, incentive-based conservation program, through Aug. 5    “Farmers, ranchers, and agricultural ...

Water quality and plants

Water quality affects many different things in our world and this includes plants. In particular, houseplants can suffer from poor water quality or from substances added into the water that we are using to provide a drink for those houseplants. There are some houseplants that are not affected very much by water quality while others are greatly affected. We might not see how they are affected, but over time, it adds up in the soil that our houseplants sit in. The two biggest challenges that houseplants try to overcome are chlorine and fluoride in the drinking water that we may use to ...

If your trees have EAB

As we slowly creep our way into spring, I have been fielding quite a few questions from area residents about Emerald Ash Borer. As many of you probably know, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is now in Redwood County and so it is time that this summer we should be looking for this pest in our ash trees. The problem with ash trees is that there are several diseases that may cause you to think that your tree has EAB. In the spring Ash trees are susceptible to a disease called Ash Anthracnose, which causes them to lose their leaves. This is something that happens when it is particularly wet outside ...