Valley Voices

16 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

Valley VoicesSpring 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

2 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 DAILY NEWS • 15

C-W VALLEY CO-OPCurt Bjertness-Manager

WOLVERTONELEVATOR

218 995-2565

AGRONOMY

218 585-4151

FERTILIZER

218 995-2176

COMSTOCKELEVATOR

218 585-4616

GRAIN • SEED • FERTILIZERFUEL • CHEMICAL

CUSTOM APPLICATIONBULK FUEL DELIVERY

The Valley may go from flooding to drought conditionsBY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS

[email protected]

Although the season is officially spring, the Red River Valley area feels as if it is stuck in the middle of winter. The snow and cold will have an affect on upcoming farming ac-tivity.

“We are expecting cold weather and a very cold snow pack,” said Greg Gust, National Weather Service in Grand Forks. “We’ve had near record cold temperatures and at this point we don’t see us reaching a high tem-perature above freezing for the next two to three weeks.”

The most melting, Gust explained, would happen over areas of concrete with sun melts, however, it will take much longer for the actual snow pack to disappear.

“The general out-look through the end of March is well below normal,” Gust said. “The snow pack itself melting will take multiple warm days.”

Besides when the snow-pack will thaw, many ag-riculture producers are worried about last year’s drought conditions.

With the heavy snow fall experienced in the second half of winter, it seems that conditions would be good for help-ing moisten the ground for farming. North Da-kota State University Cli-matologist Adnan Akyuz explained that due to the ground being frozen, much of the water on top from the melted snow will not have a major im-pact on land that was left dry in 2012.

“Added moisture is only sitting on the ground. The snow is go-ing to melt much ear-lier than the ground will

thaw.” Akyuz said. What he is expecting to

happen is the top layers of soil will be the parts of the ground getting the most moisture.

“Given that our region is flat, the water will overland flood and the top layer will become sat-urated. It will help some-what,” Akyuz said.

Gust agreed with Aky-uz, the state climatolo-gist.

“We expect the top soil to be somewhat wet with a bit of infiltration,” Gust said. “There is sufficient moisture for planting.”

The problem with his scenario is that there ap-pears to be enough mois-ture to start planting, but the deeper soil could still be rather dry. Conditions won’t get any easier with the lack of moisture ei-ther, as Gust predicts that the climate will be-come hot and dry over the summer, with above normal temperatures al-ready possible in April.

In effect, both Aky-uz and Gust said the Red River Valley will, in all likelihood, go from spring flooding to drought conditions. If the drought label is to go away, the Valley needs precipitation to fall after the fields have thawed.

“Early termination and early growth will still be dependent on how much moisture falls in May to recharge the soil levels,” Gust said.

“It is crucial that we receive some actual liq-uid precipitation in the spring,” Akyuz said. “What happens in the spring is going to dictate if the drought (which reached its maximum in-tensity in Oct. 2012) will continue or end.”

The vast amounts of snow and ice that has already begun melt-

ing on roads and side-walks, were brought on by Arctic circulations, which sometimes in-vades southern latitudes more than they normally would, according to Aky-uz.

“It’s getting a lot of chance to invade our latitude and bring this

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

two years, including 25,000 acres of farmland and numerous miles of roadway and farm ac-cess roads.

Heavy rainfall at any time can lead to flooding, even in areas where overall risk is considered low. The latest information for your specific area, including official watches and warnings should be obtained at: http://water.weather.gov

Heavy Rainfall and FloodingThe information presented

in this report focuses on spring flood potential, using evaluation methods analyzed on the tim-escale of weeks to months, not days. Heavy rainfall at any time can lead to flooding, even in ar-eas where overall risk is consid-ered low. Rainfall intensity and location can only be accurately forecasted for days in the future, therefore flood risk can change rapidly.

Stay current with flood risk in your area with the latest official watches and warnings at weath-er.gov. For detailed hydrologic conditions and forecasts, go to water.weather.gov.

This Spring, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion implemented a new Ex-perimental Long-Range River Flood Risk web page available at: http://water.weather.gov/ahps/long_range.php.

Stakeholders and Federal wa-ter partners, including FEMA and the US Army Corps of Engi-neers, have expressed a strong desire for nationally consistent,

long-range flood risk informa-tion displayed on a national map. This objective assessment of long range flood risk is based on probabilistic river forecasts, which were previously avail-able only at individual forecast points, without a means of eas-ily assessing the risk at these forecast locations. To address this issue, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has improved decision support services with a new “Experi-mental National Long Range River Flood Risk” web page. Here, stakeholders can access a single, nationally consistent map depicting the three-month risk of minor, moderate, and major river flooding. This risk information is based on En-semble Streamflow Prediction (ESP) forecasts which are gen-erated for thousands of river

and stream forecast locations across the nation. With this new capability, a stakeholder, such as a local emergency manager, can quickly view flood risk at the levels which are known to affect their specific area of concern. These en-hancements improve the value of the National Hy-drologic As-sessment, by clearly and objectively c o m m u n i -cating flood risk at the lo-cal level.

The flood categories are defined

by the National Weather Service:• Minor Flooding – minimal

or no property damage, but pos-sibly some public threat (e.g., in-undation of roads).

• Moderate Flooding – some inundation of structures and roads near stream. Some evacu-ations of people and/or transfer of property to higher elevations.

• Major Flooding – extensive inundation of structures and roads. Significant evacuations of people and/or transfer of property to higher elevations.

For example, on the Red Riv-er of the North at Fargo, ND, Moderate Flood Stage is 25 feet. At that height, city parks and recreation areas near the river are impacted. The impacts of all floods are local and, as such, this information is unique for each forecast location. To access local flood impact information, visit water.weather.gov and click on any river service location

Heavy snows over the winter

have established a deep snow-pack over frozen ground in the Red River and Souris Basins. This region is no stranger to major flood impacts. In fact, the Red River of the North has seen major flooding three of the last four years. Interestingly, the Northern Plains had been suf-fering from drought impacts pri-or to this winter, so soils are not saturated to deep layers, but the upper most layers are frozen be-neath another heavy snowpack.

Current National Weather Service outlooks call for wet and cool conditions to persist into early April. At this time, large scale snowmelt and runoff conditions look to be delayed until the early or middle part of April. Such a delayed onset generally means an increased risk for a more rapid thaw in April, and an increased risk for isolated heavy rain events to oc-cur while snowmelt flooding is underway.

SNOW PACK: Weather officials call for early to mid-April before any significant thawing starts to occur in the Red River Basin

‘A lot of farmers are just getting ready, gearing up and doing what they can do, but right now it’s just waiting for that opportunity to get in the field. they just don’t know when it’s going to happen.’Jason GoltzRichland County Extension Agent

SEE WEATHER OUTLOOK, PAGE 14

As of March 27, 2013

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 DAILY NEWS • 314 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 201

Scott A. MuehlerElectric, Inc. �

701-642-4708500 8th St. S.

Wahpeton

Tyler Farm SupplyTyler Farm Supply

18165 Co. Rd. 16 • Wahpeton • Office: 701-642-8827 • 701-642-2498

•Walinga Grain Vacs•Hurricane Ditchers•Batco Conveyors•Unverferth Grain Carts•Feterl Augers•Ultrapacker Land Rollers

XNLV80

814

The Ultimate in Auto Service

209 S. 4th Street, Wahpeton •Since 1978Call Us Today for an Appointment

642-5194

• Radiator Repair & Recoring • Brake Service• Shock & Strut Installation • Drive Train• Front End Allignment • Transmission

• Tire Sales & Tire Repair • Custom Exhaust• Tune Ups & Troubleshooting

BIG

JO

HN

’S

National hydrologic assessment shows interactive mapBY NATIONAL OCEANIC AND

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION’S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

Based on the above normal amount of water in the current snowpack and seasonal forecasts of continued above normal precipitation, a potential for exceeding moderate and major river flood levels exists for the Red River of the North, which forms the state line be-tween eastern North Da-kota and northwest Min-nesota, and the Souris River in North Dakota for Spring 2013. These ar-eas experienced major to record flooding two years ago in the spring of 2011.

Devils Lake and Stump Lake are located within a closed basin in northeast North Dakota. The basin

has experienced flooding since the 1990s, rising more than 30 feet, which has destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and inundated thou-sands of acres of produc-tive farmland.

Last year, these lakes dropped nearly three feet from their 2011 record height. Currently the lakes are at an elevation of 1451.5 feet MSL, taken in mid-March and due to an above normal top-soil wetness and above normal snowpack, they have a 50 percent chance of rising approximately two feet. The immediate impact of a 1.5- to 2.5-foot rise is the loss in ground recovered over the past

COURTESY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICENational Spring Flood Risk defined by risk of exceeding minor, moderate and major flood levels. SEE SNOW PACK, PAGE 15


weather, it’s why we’ve had blizzards in back-to-back weeks and bring our snow levels well above normal.”

Because of the heavy snowfalls, it’s likely that farm productivity will be pushed back, however, when it will start remains unclear. Jason Goltz, an extension agent with North Dakota State Uni-versity, said when produc-ers ask for a start date to

begin their spring plant-ing he has to tell them “it’s too early to tell.”

“The reason is that we have a pretty good amount of snow cover,” Goltz said. “So how long the snow is going to stay here, and how long the frost is going to stay here, we can’t accurately say. The change from last year to now is a good ex-ample of how unpredict-able it is.”

At this point, Goltz said, “A lot of farmers

are just getting ready, gearing up and doing what they can do, but right now it’s just wait-ing for that opportunity to get in the field. They just don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

Once the snow is gone and the farmers can get into their fields, success will be about how well their tillage equipment can work. The moisture in the soil will dictate how that will work, Goltz said.

WEATHER OUTLOOK: It’s too early to tell when planting will start

17885 Hwy 13 • Wahpeton, ND • 642-2621

Wide Variety Of Agricultural Products To Serve You!

COURTESY METRO CREATIVE GRAPHICSIn order to come out of drought conditions, area producers are dependent upon precipita-tion falling after their fields thaw out.

Planting and early conditions for springBY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AG

Weather plays a large role in corn planting, growing conditions, grain development and final grain yield and quality. Overall, 2012 was a difficult growing year in large portions of the U.S. Corn Belt, with much of the growing area experiencing heat and drought stress. Key events of the 2012 grow-ing season include:

• Record heat and drought throughout much of the growing area re-duced overall yield and starch production, while increasing grain protein. However, these conditions did not adversely impact test weight and density.

• Some areas received timely rains, especially Minnesota and North Da-

kota in the Pacific North-west and Gulf ECAs and as a result, had closer to av-erage grain development. Minnesota is projected to have record yields.

• Macroclimate – lati-tude, temperature and precipitation – as well as microclimate (within field factors such as low-lying

field areas, or relief from the sun due to shading from trees or the land slop-ing to the north or east) conditions led to great variability in production and quality this year.

Hybrid selection was a crucial factor for toler-ance of the drought and heat.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 DAILY NEWS •134 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

The Red River Valley & Western Railroad is proud to be of serviceto the agricultural industry of this area.

In partnership with the agricultural community we have strived tomeet our customers’ needs.

To this we add our deep appreciation toour customers and employees who havecontributed measurably to our success inthe past and to our prospects for thefuture.

Red River Valley & Western RailroadSalutes The Agriculture Industry!

Wahpeton • Milnor • EdgeleyProudly Serving Our Rural

Communities For Over 70 Years!

For your agriculture& automotive needs

642-5533121 Dakota Ave • Wahpeton, ND 58075

Serving The Community Since 1922

Spring planting outlook for west-Central MinnesotaBY CARRIE MCDERMOTT • DAILY NEWS

[email protected]

There’s no predicting as to when crops will be planted or how they will perform based on our winter weather, accord-ing to Doug Holen, crops extension educator at University of Minnesota, Morris.

Even though we’ve had substantial snowfall, we’re still in a drought. The difference this year, is that we’ll be much more dependent on rain events coming at critical times because there’s no moisture in the roots to utilize, he said.

“The crops will be more at risk than we’ve seen in some time,” Holen said.

“Drought is defined as

the amount of moisture in the soil profile going into winter,” he said. “The fact we had little or no rain for much of the growing season last year puts us in this situation.”

Although there’s mea-surable moisture in the snowpack, the ground is still frozen and the melt-ing runoff will be good for filling up rivers, streams, sloughs and lakes, but it won’t recharge the soil moisture.

“It indicates a good pat-tern, we’re having mois-ture leftover routinely,” he said. “The conditions right now are more nor-mal than the conditions we had last year.”

Last year, planting was done unusually early, and this year, crops will

be planted on the late side.

“The reference to me was guys being able to seed wheat in west-cen-tral Minnesota by April 1,” he said. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be early this year. There’s a lot of snow to melt, then we have ground to thaw. Once that dries out, we get ready for seed bed prep and planting. “

One good thing about early planting and har-vest last year, is there’s not much catch up work to be done in the fields this spring.

“Agriculture today isn’t like it was 20 or 25 years ago. It used to take 10 to 14 days to plant a middle-sized farm, but with the equipment now,

the speed they can plant, the width of the equip-ment, lots of farming gets done in a quicker amount of time,” Holen said.

As April 1 nears, in a traditional year, small grains and sugarbeets would be going in the ground within a week or two. Any passing day could mean a loss in yield, he explained.

“It can shorten the season for cool season crops. You want as much growth to take place in spring,” Holen said. “Ide-ally, in a couple weeks we’d like to have some things moving around in the fields.”

Holen said he will keep a close watch on how the fields and pastures come back to life this spring.

Following deeply dor-mant, dry conditions last fall, he is curious to see how productive those fields of alfalfa, grass and grazing pastures will be in the spring.


The honey bee colonyDepending on the part of

the country and other en-vironmental factors, a typ-ical colony can produce 80 to 120 pounds of surplus, or harvestable, honey and 10 to 18 pounds of pollen in an average year. Besides selling honey and other bee products — including beeswax, pollen, royal jel-ly, propolis, bee venom or queens — beekeepers can also provide pollination services to farmers and orchardists.

The Department of Agriculture annually li-censes all beekeepers, registers bee yard sites and inspects colonies for diseases and parasites.

A strong bee popula-tion is crucial for a good colony. The queen lays a full brood pattern, and the colony population reach-es about 75,000 bees dur-ing the summer, which includes 30,000 or more field bees. Drones, male bees, appear in the spring but are forced out of the hive in the fall. The main function of drones is to be ready to fertilize a recep-tive queen.

The queen bee has no control over the hive. Her sole purpose is to serve as the reproducer — she is an “egg-laying machine.” A good queen of quality stock, with good nutrition and well mated, can lay

up to 3,000 eggs per day during the spring build-up and live for two or more years. She lays her own weight in eggs every couple of hours and is continuously surrounded by young worker atten-dants, who meet her ev-ery need, such as cleaning and feeding.

Worker bees are non-reproducing females that perform certain tasks in support of a bee hive. In the summer, 98 percent of the bees in a hive are worker bees. In the winter, besides the queen, all bees are worker bees. They feed the queen and larvae, guard the hive entrance and help cool the hive by fanning their wings. Worker bees also collect nectar and make honey.

In addition to gathering nectar to produce honey, honey bees perform a vital second function — pollination. According to The National Honey Board, about one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of this pollination. Hon-ey bees are responsible for pollinating a variety of fruits, vegetables, le-gumes and nuts.

Honey is also a natural sweetener, energy food, emulsifier, humectant — it attracts and retains moisture — and a cough suppressant.

Sources: National Honey Board, American Beekeep-ing Federation

BEE KEEPER: In addition to gather nectar for honey, bees are responsible for pollinating 80 percent of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts

FREE Delivery Within Our Service Area

XNLV80900

Sale Now Through

April 30, 2013

MOBILBulk Delvac1300 Super15w-40

BULK MOBIL424Fluid

ALSOAVAILABLEBulk

Anti-Freeze

DEF Fluid

55 Gal. Drum(Diesel Exhaust Fluid)

DEF Tote(Diesel Exhaust Fluid)

SHELLRotella T15w-40

CHEVRONChevron Ursa15w-40

Delo 40015w-40

Chevron1000 Fluid

DeloGrease

Chevron 15w-40 and 1000 Fluid Save 40¢/gallon on Bulk Farm Delivery

$1075

$975

$849

$250

$220

$1295

$1150

$1155

$1078

$2930

PerGallon

PerGallon

PerGallon

COURTESY METRO CREATIVE GRAPHICSApril 1 is the traditional start for many small grains in west-Central Minnesota.

COURTESY ALEXANDERWILD.COMLeft: Honey is a natural sweetener, energy food, emulsifier, humectant and a cough sup-pressant. Above: An active honey bee colony.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 DAILY NEWS • 512 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

Open 8 a.m.-Midnight Mon.-Sat.Open Sundays Noon-8 p.m.

Liquor•Wine•Beer•Cigars

��

��

��

FREEICEW/Purchase

PRAIRIE SPIRITS..of Wahpeton

“OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK”(Right Behind the Fry’n Pan Restaurant)

“You Save More With Ed Moore”��

Breckenridge, Barney, Kent & Wyndmere

For All Your Chemical, Seed & Fertilizer NeedsCall: 218-643-6130

Call:218-643-8464

Dry Bulk Fertilizer andFertilizer Spreading

Call:218-643-6128

“Shuttle Train Loading”

Minn-Kota Ag ProductsWill Help You With

All Grain Needs

Your Locally Owned Tire Store!

2010 N. 9th St.,Wahpeton, ND 701-642-4689

Comfort and safety for long hours in the field(NAPSI)—Today, the

average U.S. farmer feeds 155 people. Part of this success is due to a group of dedicated yet largely unheralded ag-ricultural workers, the professional applica-tors who help ensure a safe and abundant food supply.

A Demanding JobThey spend long

hours in the field, day after day, racing the clock and pushing their application equipment to the limit to spray or spread fertilizer and crop protection prod-ucts over millions of farm acres.

Operating their highly sophisticated machines is a demand-ing job that takes skill,

endurance and dedica-tion. The professionals who operate RoGator self-propelled spray-ers from AGCO Cor-poration, for example, must navigate 33-foot-long machines through narrow rows of crops, while simultaneously controlling multiple switches and functions, including 120-foot spray booms longer than the wingspan of a midsize commercial jet.

Comfort and Safety AdvancesThat’s why recent

advances in applica-tion equipment have focused not only on pro-viding greater preci-sion and productivity, but also improved cab comfort and safety.

Enhancements to Ro-

Gator include:• Unobstructed cab

visibility in all direc-tions during opera-tion due to a six-post cab design with large windows on all four sides, including a wide, panoramic front wind-shield and curved win-dows in the corners.

• Wider cab entry for easier operator ac-cess; a one-level, slat-ted walking platform for firmer footing; and a lower first step from the ground onto the walkway.

• Right-side armrest that holds all the func-tions needed for field operations, so opera-tors don’t have to reach or search for a control while operating the ma-chine.

• Positive cab pres-sure and a three-level air filtration system that keep the air inside the cab virtually dust- and odor-free.

• Sound-dampening material strategically placed throughout the cab to reduce external noise.

• An “air ride” cab suspension system and semi-active seat sus-pension for a more com-fortable ride over rough field terrain.

COURTESY NAPSIRight: Cab comfort and safety features help applica-tion equipment operators protect our crops so Ameri-ca can continue to feed the world.


The oral component and the expertise of the judges adds to the dif-ficulty of this phase. This was Niesche’s third year presenting, and Hensch’s first. Herman-Norcross High School, another Bois de Sioux Watershed District-sponsored team, earned a fourth-place honorable mention in this catego-ry.

Fellow competing Riv-er Watch teams selected the Campbell-Tintah poster for the third-place Bronze Award in the “People’s Choice” category. Each partici-pating team votes for the two poster presenta-tions they judge to be the best in the competition. Campbell-Tintah River

Watch students felt the award validated their conclusions and presen-tation decisions, since the students voting for the Campbell-Tintah presentation were work-ing to present informa-tion on related topics, indicating Campbell-Tintah River Watch had earned the respect of their peers.

“I’m very proud of this group of students,” said Campbell-Tintah River Watch advisor Roy Mayeda. “The qual-ity and amount of work they do is phenomenal. They do field work dur-ing the school year and during vacation, in all kinds of weather. They give many hours of per-sonal time in analyzing data and preparing to share their conclusions

with the community. Each year, two students are Minnesota Pollution Control Agency-certified in water quality moni-toring – same certifi-cation as professional adult monitors. When we finish a project, they immediately start dis-cussing how they can improve for the next time or what new proj-ects they are consider-ing. It’s great to see them get recognition for all of their hard work.”

Though only three Campbell-Tintah stu-dents were able to attend the forum, the awards were the result of the entire team working throughout the course of the whole year. Along with Hensch, Meyer and Niesche, members Alex Viger, Taylor Wiertze-

ma, Eli Christensen and Faith Goettle gathered water quality data all year, collected snow wa-ter content data for flood modeling and forecast-ing, studied the history, process and benefits of the Bois de Sioux Wa-tershed District’s North Ottawa impoundment project and worked on preparing the presenta-tion materials for the fo-rum. Viger and Hensch served as project coor-dinators, preparing ma-terials and helping to ensure teammates were on the right track with their project work.

As winter winds down and spring begins, the River Watch season rolls on. Campbell-Tintah River Watch will con-tinue to gather data on snow pack, relaying it

to the National Weather Service, which is using the information to con-struct and test flood pre-diction models for the Red River Valley. Snow depth, amount of water that will be produced during melting and depth to which the soil is frozen will be monitored though the spring thaw. At a National Weather S e r v i c e - d e t e r m i n e d date, Campbell-Tintah River Watch will test “infiltration” – the rate at which water sinks into the ground – to help the Weather Service bet-ter predict how much of the melting snow pack will run off into rivers. April will find Campbell-Tintah team members monitoring the quality of water within the Rab-bit River area at the be-

ginning of another water sampling year.

Campbell-Tintah River Watch is sponsored by the Bois de Sioux Watershed District. River Watch is a program of the Inter-national Water Institute, with primary funding support from the Red Riv-er Watershed Manage-ment Board, individual watershed districts, Min-nesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Leg-islature through Clean Water Legacy Funds, and the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.

For anyone who would like more information about River Watch pro-grams, please contact Danni Halvorson at 218-280-0515, [email protected] or Wayne Goeken at [email protected].

RIVER WATCH: Team members are working with the National Weather Service, relaying snow pack information for prediction models


Red RiverChiropractic Associates

James Cook, DC . . . . . . . . . . . . 642-1913David Cook, DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642-1913Michael Jacklitch, DC . . . . . . . . 642-5600Alisa Mitskog, DC . . . . . . . . . . . 642-6480Robb Dohman, DC. . . . . . . . . . . 642-6480

Bobcat of Wahpeton-BreckenridgeLocated in Lillegard’s • 2 1/2 Miles West of Wahpeton on Hwy 13

701-642-9129 or 888-310-9129

A Century Of Service 1913-2013

We’ve got you covered.

Call WILBUR-ELLIS today toschedule all your applications of

crop protection products.

(701) 642-1300Ken Packer - Manager • Skyler Holzbauer - Agronomist

Eric Klindt - Pilot • Mark Haberer - PilotWahpeton, ND

Customer Focused • Quality Driven

SPRING PARTS ROUTE

Delivery Truck Will Leave RDO Monday-Friday At 9:30 a.m.

RDO Breckenridge Will Be Delivering Parts To:• Foxhome • Campbell • Fairmount • Hankinson• Lidgerwood • Wyndmere • Mooreton • Colfax

SPRING PARTS ROUTE

Hard work earns C-T River Watch group three awardsCOURTESY CAMPBELL-TINTAH

RIVER WATCH

The Campbell-Tin-tah High School River Watch team worked hard this winter. That work earned the group three awards at the 18th an-nual River Watch forum held March 20 at the Uni-versity of Minnesota, Crookston campus.

The Campbell-Tintah River Watch team’s poster presentation on drought planning and water management in the Rabbit River area was selected by members of the Red River Water-shed Management Board as the best poster pre-sentation of the forum, earning them the Water-shed Managers’ Choice Display Award. This is

a new award, presented this year for the first time.

Campbell-Tintah River Watch members Sky-lar Niesche and Dylan Hensch earned the sec-ond-place Silver Award in the “Judges Select” category. Niesche and Hensch gave an oral pre-sentation of the project to a judging panel from the International Wa-ter Institute explaining the team’s findings and answering the panel’s questions. The panel members then examined the team’s poster and dis-cussed the performance of all competing groups to determine award win-ners.

PHOTO COURTESY EVELYN ASHIAMAH-FINCHStudents from Campbell-Tintah take part annually in the River Watch Program. Above are: Jerome Deal, Brandon Meyer, Dylan Hensch, Skylar Niesche and Roy Mayeda, River Watch advisor.SEE RIVER WATCH, PAGE 12


pristine water quality of the nearby Flathead River to determine back-ground levels and ascer-tain what aquatic life would normally be pres-ent in the Elk River were it not so polluted.

Compared to the Flat-head River, the UM study found nitrogen levels in the Elk River were 1,000 times greater, while sul-phate levels were 40-50 times greater, and seleni-um levels were seven to 10 times higher. In Michelle Creek, a tributary of the Elk River, selenium lev-els were 57 times higher.

The pollution from the mines is also killing off smaller organisms like caddis flies, a vital part of the food chain. The UM study states that “all coal mining sites had in-

creased nitrogen loading, increased sulfate load-ing, increased selenium loading, higher algal pro-duction as a result of in-creased nitrogen loading, and a decrease in mac-roinvertebrate diversity and abundance particu-larly of species sensitive to pollution.”

Clint Muhlfeld, an aquatic ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Glacier National Park field office, said the trans-boundary Kootenai River Basin contains critical habitat for the endan-gered bull trout, the west-slope cutthroat and the endangered White Stur-geon below Libby Dam. Migratory bull trout from Lake Koocanusa migrate up the Elk River and spawn in the Wigwam River, where juveniles rear before moving back

downstream into the Elk River and Lake Kooca-nusa, where they grow to maturity. He said redds, or spawning nests in the Wigwam can exceed 2,000.

“It is an amazing wa-tershed,” he said. “We al-ready know that this large scale open-pit coal mining is degrading water qual-ity, fisheries and aquatic life, and these additional proposed coal mine field expansions are posing unprecedented risk to aquatic resources in the Kootenai River Basin.”

Trevor Selch, fisheries pollution biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said he’ll be-gin a fish monitoring study in April, with an eye toward elevated lev-els of selenium in bull trout, burbot, Kokanee salmon and longnose suckers

FISH THREATENED: Pollution is also killing smaller organisms Organic farming business growsATTLEBORO, Mass.

(AP) — Cooks who favor organic ingredients in their salad could be get-ting their next batch of bean sprouts or lettuce from an indoor farm.

Friends and health food enthusiasts Ashley Driscoll of Seekonk and Brad Rao and John Irving of Attleboro have teamed up to raise thousands of sprouts, herbs and starter seedlings of lettuce, toma-toes and other produce in an unexpected place — the top floor of a 19th Century jewelry factory on County Street.

The entrepreneurial trio and several employ-ees and volunteers began growing plants from seed in December. They aim to sell trays of locally grown seedlings this spring

through farmers’ markets and commercial garden and health food stores.

They also have other big plans, including opening their own outdoor farm-er’s market and eventual-ly processing wheat grass and other greens for com-mercial sale. There’s also talk of an organic food res-taurant.

Driscoll and company are calling their business Indoor Organic Farm of Attleboro, and plans to raise vegetable and fruit seedlings for sale to gar-deners on a seasonal basis. They’ll grow sprouts and other crops year round to supply health food stores and other retailers.

IOF already has a con-tract with a Boston garden retailer to supply thou-sands of trays of plants.

Driscoll, who serves as president of parent com-pany Bridge Organics, said the business is a re-sult of consumers’ grow-ing awareness of healthy foods grown from natural soil without the interven-tion of artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

“People want to con-sume foods that make them feel better,” said Driscoll, a bookkeeper by profession who said her health and energy level have improved since she changed her diet to in-clude fewer processed foods and more live and organically grown veg-etables.

Irving, a career contrac-tor, also swears by organ-ics.

“I’ve lost weight and I feel a lot better,” he said.


Nobody can protect yourFARM any better than we can!

Jacklitch & Associates Insurance602 2nd Avenue North, Wahpeton

www.jacklitchinsurance.com 642-6022

Look to us for thequality Farm

owners coverageyou need for your

home, yourequipment,

your livelihood. Call UsToday.•Auto •Home

•Business •Farm•Commercial•Life •Health

Back Row: Paul Jacklitch, Kirby Steffens, Justin WoodsFront Row: Greg Savoy, Harriet Buchholz

Leasing

&

Financing

Available

Spring Is Here!

Fix Those Necessary Repairs While There’s Still Time.

Check Out Our Good SelectionOf New & Used Harvesting Equipment.

Excellent Equipment -- Unbelievable Prices!

Call 701-642-5787 or 1-877-642-5787

ALLIED BEETSERVICE, INC.

Your Sugarbeet Equipment Specialists

Call Mike or Willie To Discuss Performance Enhancing Modifications

That Are Proven To Increase Production!

•Higher Yields & Improved Crop Quality •Less Compaction•Faster Soil Warm-Up •Larger/Deeper Toots•Better Soil Aeration •Allows Earlier Planting•Increase Yields In Dry Years •Lower Nitrogen Loss•Remove Toxins •Less Erosion•One-time Expense •Lower Drying Costs

•Higher Yields & Improved Crop Quality •Less Compaction•Faster Soil Warm-Up •Larger/Deeper Toots•Better Soil Aeration •Allows Earlier Planting•Increase Yields In Dry Years •Lower Nitrogen Loss•Remove Toxins •Less Erosion•One-time Expense •Lower Drying Costs

Contact Valley Farm Tile Today!

218-641-1106

Contact Valley Farm Tile Today!

218-641-1106valleyfarmtile.com

Beekeepers help N.D. lead nation in honey productionBY CARRIE MCDERMOTT • DAILY NEWS

[email protected]

North Dakota leads the nation in the production of honey for the seventh year in a row. The Agri-culture Department stat-ed production in the state last year totaled 46.4 mil-lion pounds, 34 percent higher than 2009.

During 2010, there were 510,000 producing colo-nies in North Dakota, a record high, which is up 13 percent. Yield per colony increased from 77 pounds to 91 pounds.

Honey production across the country in 2012 from producers with at least five colonies to-taled 147 million pounds, down 1 percent from 2011. Honey prices increased to a record high in 2012,

to 195.1 cents per pound, up 11 percent from 2011.

California ranked second in production last year at 27.5 million pounds, and South Da-kota was third at 15.6 mil-lion pounds.

How honey is madeHoney gets its start

as flower nectar, which is collected by bees, naturally broken down into simple sugars and stored in honeycombs. The design of the honey-comb, in addition to the constant fanning by the bees’ wings, causes evap-oration to take place, creating the honey. The color and flavor of honey varies from hive to hive based on the type of flow-er nectar collected by the bees.

Beekeepers harvest the honey by collecting the honeycomb frames and scraping off the wax cap that bees make to seal off honey in each cell. Once the caps are removed, the frames are placed in an extractor, which is a centrifuge that spins the frames and forces honey out of the comb. The hon-ey is spun to the sides of the extractor, where grav-ity pulls it to the bottom where it can be collected.

After the honey is ex-tracted, it’s strained to remove any remaining pieces of wax or other particles. After strain-ing, the honey is bottled and labeled and distrib-uted to retail outlets.

SEE BEE KEEPER, PAGE 13

Briefs lSpring planting likely to be later in ND this year

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The planting of crops in North Dakota this spring is likely to begin later than last year.

The Agriculture Department says in its latest crop progress and condition report that producers on average intend to begin fieldwork by April 22, com-pared to April 2 last year. An average starting date of April 22 still would be earlier than the 2011 average start date of May 7.

The average snow depth statewide is about 1 foot, compared with almost no snow cover last year at the same time.

Volunteers to replant fire-ravaged area in Northern California

SUSANVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Volunteers will join the staff of the federal Bureau of Land Manage-ment’s Eagle Lake office this weekend to plant up to a thousand bitterbrush seedlings across a swath of eastern Lassen County scorched in a wildfire last summer.

The Sacramento Bee says the conservation proj-ect Saturday is part of Field and Stream magazine’s

“Hero for a Day” program, now in its third year.The workday is being held on a portion of the light-

ning-sparked Rush fire, which burned over 318,000 acres in eastern Lassen County and northwestern Nevada in August.

The Field and Stream program connects volun-teers with workdays across the country to raise awareness of conservation groups’ local efforts.

The Lassen County project is one of 10 that the publication will spotlight throughout the spring.

Finish date pushed back for gas plant in Western Virginia

NATRIUM, W.Va. (AP) — Construction of a $500 million natural gas processing plant in West Virgin-ia is running months behind schedule.

The plant in Natrium in the state’s Northern Pan-handle is being constructed by Virginia-based Do-minion Resources.

While a firm finish date has not been set, a rep-resentative with a company partnering with Domin-ion told The Intelligencer of Wheeling it will likely be finished later this spring.

The Marshall County plant is part of a $1.5 billion processing and transportation venture between Do-minion and Caiman Energy. It is part of a network

that will move gas and liquids out of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

The partners say the plant’s location along the Ohio River will make it a focal point for the shale industry.

Spring snow not likely to harm D.C. cherry blossoms

WASHINGTON (AP) — The spring snow is not expected to affect Washington’s famous cherry blos-soms.

National Park Service spokeswoman Carol John-son says Monday’s snow should not affect the pre-dicted peak bloom dates for the flowering trees. The cherry blossoms are still expected to reach peak bloom between April 3 and April 6.

Johnson says the snow itself doesn’t have any ef-fect on the trees. But the cold weather has already slowed the blossoms’ growth, pushing back bloom dates to April. Johnson says Washington is lucky that the trees did not bloom early because the heavy wet snow could have knocked the flowers off the trees.

The cherry blossoms draw about 1 million visitors each spring. This year marks the 101st anniversary of the gift of trees from Japan.

SUBMITTEDHoney production across the country is down 1 percent from 2011 statistics. However, in North Dakota, honey production is up 13 percent.

8 • DAILY NEWS FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013 DAILY NEWS• 9

701-642-8434 Toll Free 877-642-8434 615 Second Avenue North, Wahpeton, ND

American Federal helping Farmers grow since 1891.

Michael L. MatzAg/Business [email protected]

Lawmakers uphold fertilizer veto On last day of South Dakota session, Legislators failed to override Gov. Daugaard’s veto increasing fertilizer fees

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota lawmak-ers ended their session Monday after failing to override Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s veto of a mea-sure that would have in-creased a fee imposed to fund the state’s inspec-tion of commercial fertil-izer.

Supporters said the bill was needed to provide extra money for research into when, how much and what kind of fertil-izer should be applied to the state’s farmland. Op-ponents agreed with the governor’s argument that the fee increase was an unneeded tax in disguise.

The Senate voted 22-13 in favor of the bill, falling two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor’s veto. Both chambers ad-journed at about 12:45 p.m. CDT after taking care of some other minor business.

The bill would have raised an estimated $300,000 a year by dou-bling the 15-cent-a-ton fertilizer inspection fee, with the money going to finance research into commercial fertilizer and manure at the Agricul-tural Research Station at South Dakota State Uni-versity.

But Sen. Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg, said the fee is supposed to be used only to ensure the qual-ity and safety of fertilizer sold in the state. The fee increase would have act-ed like a tax because the money would have been collected from one group and then given to another program, he said.

The fertilizer compa-nies that backed the fee increase would have passed on the added cost

to farmers who bought their products, he said.

The measure’s main sponsor, Sen. Shantel Krebs, R-Renner, said ag-ricultural organizations and farmers supported the fee increase to sup-port research on the use of fertilizer in the state. It would have raised fertil-izer costs by only 2 cents to 4 cents an acre, she said.

Supporters of the mea-sure said environmental groups have filed a law-suit seeking to have the U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency regulate fertilizer use and runoff in the entire Mississippi River drainage area. In-dependent research is needed to find out what standards fit South Da-kota’s soil so the state is not subject to national standards tailored to dif-ferent kinds of soils, they said.

“Our producers, our growers, need to know what the standards should be,” Krebs said.

Sen. Bill Van Gerpen, R-Tyndall, a farmer, said he sees no reason for state

government to duplicate research already being done by the fertilizer in-dustry.

Krebs countered that the research should be done by an independent group attached to a uni-versity because research done by fertilizer compa-nies would be seen as bi-ased.

Sen. Mark Johnston, R-Sioux Falls, said he sup-ported the fee increase be-cause research is needed to make sure South Da-kota farmers can boost grain production safely.

“With the world’s popu-lation growing as fast as it is, we’re going to have to produce more food on less acres with less water in an environmentally sus-tainable way,” Johnston said.

The House on Monday failed to override the governor’s vetoes of a few lines in some spend-ing bills. The governor did not block any spend-ing, but instead asked the Legislature to use more recent enrollment figures when dividing some mon-ey among schools.

‘With the world’s population growing as fast as it is, we’re going to have to produce more food on less acres with less water in an envi-

ronmentally sustainable way.’Sen. Mark Johnson

R-Sioux Falls, S.D.

The measure’s main sponsor, Sen. Shantel Krebs, R-Renner, said agricultural organiza-

tions and farmers supported the fee increase to support research on the use of fertilizer in the state. It would have raised fertilizer costs

by only 2 cents to 4 cents an acre.

Pollution from Canada threatens fish downstream WHITEFISH, Mont.

(AP) — A study by Uni-versity of Montana re-searchers shows that pol-lutants leeching into the heavily mined Elk River drainage in southeastern British Columbia have reached alarming levels, particularly as a metal-like element called sele-nium threatens critical fish habitat in Canada, as well as downstream in Montana.

The Missoulian reports the study was commis-sioned by Glacier Na-tional Park and carried out by Ric Hauer, a pro-fessor of limnology, and Erin Sexton, a research scientist, both at the Flat-head Lake Biological Sta-tion of the University of Montana.

Hauer gathered data on

the Elk River as part of a broader study comparing the watershed to the near-by Flathead River, which flows into Montana and Glacier National Park. The Flathead watershed is largely pristine, and researchers used it as a baseline when turning to the nearby Elk River to compare the environ-mental effects of open-pit coal mining.

There are currently five coal mines in the Elk River Valley that are causing toxic pollu-tion, and four of the coal mines have launched ex-pansion proposals that are in the project review stage. A new coal mine proposal and three explo-ration projects are also under way.

“The science is clear:

Selenium from the mines has polluted the river to levels known to be dan-gerous to fish,” said John Bergenske, executive director of Wildsight, a B.C. conservation group. “The selenium bio-accu-mulates and could lead to fish population collapse because it affects repro-ductive organs in fish. Eating them could also affect human health.”

The Elk River joins the Kootenai River at Lake Koocanusa, and officials with the B.C. Ministry of Environment say they are developing a water quality monitoring pro-gram for Lake Kooca-nusa, led by the Montana Department of Environ-mental Quality. Other partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-

neers, U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency and Montana Fish, Wild-life and Parks.

The development in the Elk River Valley has prompted both of Mon-tana’s U.S. senators and a coalition of tribes to call for international scruti-ny of the mines and their downstream impacts in Montana.

“Drainage from the Elk Valley mines present se-rious risks to the Koote-nai Basin water quality and valued trout fisher-ies,” U.S. Sens. Max Bau-cus and Jon Tester, D-Mont., wrote in a letter to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

A separate joint let-ter from the Confeder-ated Salish and Koote-nai Tribes, the Ktunaxa

Nation and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho asked Clinton to refer the mat-ter of impaired water quality in the Elk and Kootenai river basins to the International Joint Commission.

Chris Stannell, a spokesman for Teck Re-sources Ltd., which oper-ates the five coal mines in the Elk Valley, said a water quality manage-ment program is in place, and Teck is constructing a water treatment plant at its Line Creek opera-tion.

“We take environmen-tal issues very serious-ly,” Stannell stated in an email. “That is why we are taking action through our valleywide Selenium Management Action Plan, which is

one of the largest water quality management pro-grams of its kind in the world. The plan outlines significant measures, based on extensive scien-tific research, to protect aquatic health while sup-porting sustainable min-ing activities in the Elk Valley.”

Over the next five years, Teck will invest up to $600 million on wa-ter diversion and treat-ment facilities, aquatic monitoring programs, and research and devel-opment to improve sele-nium management, he said.

The UM researchers tested above and be-low mines and used the

SEE FISH THREATENED, PAGE 11

Valley Voices

Documents

Transcript of Valley Voices