Prairie Grains News Briefs

Welcome to Prairie Grains, MGGA members
With this issue, Prairie Grains is now being received by members of the Montana Grain Growers Association. The magazine is now received by about 20,000 “prime-time” grain growers in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and “Big Sky” country.

Sept Meeting to Outline ’02 Grain Market Strategies
The Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers and the North Dakota Grain Growers Association will host a marketing seminar on Wednesday, Sept. 11, focusing on grain marketing strategies for the 2002 harvest. This meeting will also be a followup on meetings held earlier in the summer, on grain marketing in light of the new farm bill.

Betsy Jensen, NCTC Ag Commodity Instructor; Mike Lockhart, NCTC Farm Business Management instructor; and Mike Krueger, AgriMark will speak on the Farm Security Act of 2002, how marketing will be affected by the new farm bill, and how you can maximize your benefits with marketing strategies. Attendees will get up-to-date information on LDPs, counter cyclical payments and local basis. This seminar is free to NDGGA and MAWG members. Registration begins at 4:30 p.m., with the meeting beginning at 5 p.m. and a complimentary supper at 7:30 p.m.

Ransom named NDSU Extension Agronomist
Joel K. Ransom has been named North Dakota State University extension agronomist.  He replaces Michael Peel, who moved back to his native Utah to become a USDA-ARS research geneticist.  Ransom will join the NDSU faculty in mid-September, responsible for extension programs in small grains—as well as corn—at NDSU.

A native of Idaho, Ransom is a graduate of Brigham Young University and received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Minnesota. Ransom has been the leader of a regional maize project in Nepal for CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.  Prior to his work in Nepal, Ransom helped develop techniques for screening wheat germplasm for stress tolerance, tested wheat genotypes in northern Mexico and was a regional maize agronomist for CIMMYT in East Africa.

Mark these Wheat Annual Conferences on Your Calendar
December 4-6 --  47th Annual Montana Grain Growers Association Convention & Trade Show, Best Western Heritage Inn, Great Falls, MT.

December 11 -- Minnesota Association Wheat Growers, Minnesota Barley Growers Assn annual Prairie Grains Conference, Alerus Center, Grand Forks, ND.

November 19-21 -- North Dakota Grain Growers Association, International Inn, Minot, ND.

December 9-11 -- Ag Horizons Conference (including South Dakota Wheat Inc), Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center, Pierre, SD.