The Montana State Hail Board will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls to review the 2021 hail year. An agenda will soon be available on the Montana Department of Agriculture’s website. The Montana State Hail Insurance Program was created at the request of producers in 1917 to provide basic hail insurance coverage on any crop grown in Montana. The program

Montana State University Extension has three new, free publications available about weeds and pests in Montana. “Narrowleaf Hawksbeard: Identification, Biology and Integrated Management” is a four-page MontGuide, or factsheet, written by Shelley Mills, Jane Mangold and Tim Seipel. The authors note this adaptable and difficult-to-control weed is present in northcentral and northeastern Montana,

The Montana Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for health care organizations to help facilitate its Montana Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Counseling Voucher Program. To prioritize mental health in agricultural communities and improve access to trained professionals based in Montana, the department is launching a counseling voucher program to provide free mental health

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has issued the following statement regarding COVID-19 vaccination mandates by employers in Montana: “Despite President Biden’s efforts to mandate vaccinations for employers and their employees, Montana law remains the law of the land, and no employer in our state should use President Biden’s OSHA rule, now halted by a federal court, as a basis for imposing illegal

The Montana Cattlemen’s Association will host its 20th annual Cattlemen’s Day on Saturday, Dec. 4, at the YOGO Inn in Lewistown. Kendra Joyce will talk about “Cutting Fences” which supports individuals in agriculture who have sustained injuries, accidents or have disabilities. Weed coordinator Kelsey Miller will discuss identification and management of invasive grasses and noxious

The state’s COVID-19 vaccine dashboard has been updated to reflect the addition of the newly added 5 to 11-year-old age group now eligible to be vaccinated. As a result, the eligible population percentage of Montanans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has been updated to 50 percent. In addition, the county percentages on the map have been adjusted accordingly as well. The total number