Title: Bioenergy from Sugarbeets
GRV is developing a large sugarbeet to energy processing facility near East Fairview North Dakota. The facility will take locally grown sugarbeets and process them into low-carbon biofuels (ethanol and Renewable Natural Gas) to be used primarily in the transportation sector. GRV will be discussing this facility and its size, scope and technical overview.

Title: Drying and Storage Guidelines
for MonDak Crops and Climate
Recommended practices vary depending on local climate and crops. The presentation will cover current technology and guidelines applied to MonDak crops and climate. Understanding the fundamentals of drying and storage enables you to adjust practices for weather variability.

OWNER OF BUCKSHOT SEEDS

Buckshot Seeds is facilitating a seed crushing 
project in Trenton, ND at the Savage Services site.  
Capacity is projected at 1000 metric tons.
75% Canola and 25% as Soybeans per day. Mark Erickson is the owner of Buckshot Seeds, a dealer of Gold Standard Seed, was awarded an APUC (Ag Products Utilization Commission) grant from the North Dakota Department of Agriculture to use towards a feasibility study. His goal is to determine if a seed-crushing plant would be successful in the Western North Dakota, eastern Montana area.

BASICS OF ESTATE PLANNING
Lauren's office looks to help their clients do life together. Emotionally charged situations can be difficult to process but having the right team on your side to walk with you can make all the difference. Lauren has worked with estate attorney Andria Mueller out of Minot, ND. Andria specializes in creating estate plans and trusts, she is licensed in North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska. Learn the basics of what to expect when you start the estate planning process. Andria will break down the terms and help you understand more of what goes into planning an estate.

CARBON CREDITS

In this presentation, Tara will give a focus on carbon markets, defining carbon credits, consumers of the credits, and verification. Chris Mehus will cover the basic principles and strategies for improving your grazing systemand benefits to plant communities and soil health, which in turn leads to the opportunity to trade the carbon credits. Chelse will provide a rancher perspective and direct benefits on the ground of the management and funding.

As an Analyst for the Northern Great Plains Grasslands Program, Tara Povalish helps develop, maintain, and manage grazing plans, maps, reports, and other key project data. She works directly with participating ranchers in Montana to collect and manage reporting data, supports and facilitates access to improved ranching management resources, and oversees adherence to program objectives. Tara works closely with Western Sustainability Exchange with the on the ground, day-to-day program activities in Montana. Born, raised, and educated in Montana, Chris Mehus has always maintained a joint passion for agriculture and the outdoors. He has applied his degrees in Wildlife Biology and Range Science to assist and advocate for ranchers who have a strong conservation ethic. After 10 years of ranching experience in Southern Montana putting his education to practice in numerous areas of grazing management and planning, Chris spent many years working in rural business, economic, and financial planning giving him unique insight into the workings of a ranch business to understand economic drivers and incentives that make ranching with nature a more profitable operating model than typical conventional practices. He is an outspoken advocate for the Ranching For Profit, Integrity Soils, Holistic Management International, and related schools of thought and how they can be applied to create a thriving ranch business while creating healthy, functioning ecological systems with rich soil and diverse wildlife populations.

LIVESTOCK RISK PROTECTION
Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) is an insurance policy that is designed to insure against declining market prices. In recent years, the program has evolved to be more rancher friendly. There are different coverage levels and different classes of species to protect against a decline in livestock prices. Learn about the program, eligibility, coverage, and restrictions that is making this program an opportunity to protect against risk factors for ranchers.

Wendy Becker received her degrees from Northwest College, Montana State University, and North Dakota State University, in Animal and Range Science. She has worked as an extension agent for the last 19 years in both the county and reservation setting. Her extension program focuses on agriculture, natural resources, 4-H and youth development, and community development. She also farms and ranches with her husband and 3 sons. Her office is currently located in Culbertson.

AGRICULTURE & GOVERNMENT

Wild pigs are expanding across the US and Canada spreading their destructive behaviors that can impact ag producers and landowners. This presentation will share why wild pigs are such a problem, their threat to Montana, and the best way to respond to this threat. Speakers from the Montana Department of Livestock, MSU Extension, and USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services will share information and answer your questions.

In this presentation we review warm season grassy weeds, their ecology, and management. Warm season grasses are C4 grasses that grow best in the warmest areas of the state. Warm season grassy weeds can be very problematic especially in irrigated settings, and some species have evolved herbicide resistance. 

This session will provide an update on current crop market conditions and provide an outlook for prices moving forward.

Dr. Olson conducts educational programs and research in evaluating crop marketing strategies, crop outlook and price analysis, and the economics of crop contracting. Dr. Olson received his PhD from the University of Missouri in Agricultural Economics, and his M.S. and B.S. in Agricultural Economics from North Dakota State University.