Hansen Farms, Lamb honored by Havre Chamber at NARC Field Day

The 2017 Northern Agricultural Research Center Field Day brought together about 300 farmers, ranchers, vendors and other Montana ag supporters Thursday afternoon.

A bulk of the field day, a joint venture between NARC and the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, focused on tours of the research grounds, while the dinner portion of the day featured speakers like Department Head of Research Centers Barry Jacobsen, Ph.D, and Vice President of Agriculture Charles Boyer, Ph.D.

Jennifer Dees and Dominique Preputin of the Havre Chamber's Agribusiness Committee presented two awards, the Outstanding Agriculture Advocate Award and Outstanding Agriculture Leader.

NARC research scientist Peggy Lamb won the Outstanding Advocate Award for her work on cereal cultivars and her pioneering work on evaluating other crops like oilseeds and pulse for production in the Havre area and across the Golden Triangle, among other contributions.

"Mrs. Lamb not only does an exceptional job on conducting adaptive research and transmitting the findings to area producers, she has authored and co-authored more than 26 scientific journal or proceeding publications and she is a well-known and recognized agronomist in the high plains regions of the USA and Canada," Dees said.

Hansen Farms won the Outstanding Agriculture Advocate Award. The family is a member of the Montana Grain Growers organization, and through his involvement in Grain Growers, Todd Hansen promoted the MSU Endowed Chair faculty position in plant science, Dees said.

The family has been extensively involved with NARC and has helped support the building of facilities at the research center.

Jacobsen, who will be retiring as of July 1, spoke of the impact the seven research centers throughout the state have on local economies. NARC employs 21 full-time employees and 16 part-timers in Havre, he said. The contribution to the north-central economy, Jacobsen said, is about $1.2 million from the NARC alone.

Boyer also boasted about MSU's consistent growth.

"We are the fastest growing university in the intermountain west," Jacobsen said.

Student enrollment has been on a consistent incline, he said, and there appears to be no stagnation or decline in the foreseeable future.  

Boyer asked those in the audience to help tell the story of how research by the MSU system impacts their ranch or farm.

"We need you to help tell our story," he said.

NARC Superintendent Darrin Boss, Ph.D., said, after the Field Day concluded, that, no matter the challenges, "Montana ag is always great."

"That's what makes Montana tough - they've weathered a lot of storms. We grow some of the highest quality wheat in the world," he said. "We grow the best and have some of the largest seed stock operations and beef. We rely on quality. We may not always get quantity, we rely on quality."

Boss credited research as the reason state ag producers have weathered storms.

"We've gone through three worse droughts than the dirty '30s, when the dust bowl hit and people foreclosed on ranches and farms. You don't see the people running for the hills and foreclosing," he said. "What it is is a combination of good research, outstanding stewardship by the producers, adaptive varieties. So the stuff we are talking about here today is real world stuff. It helps ranchers and farmers."

Boss said he is optimistic, and a large portion of that optimism is directly related to technology. For example, ranchers are using unmanned aerial vehicles to track down cattle and farmers are using them to scout their crops, he said. And thanks to Triangle Communications, farmers and ranchers can sell their product from their combine or a middle of a field on their cellphones. Technology has made ag more efficient, he added.

Boss, who grew up in Ohio, said family is what sets Montana ag apart.

"The Hansen family, there's a great example," he said. "You don't do it alone. It's about having them kids on the farm, it's a way of life, it's not always about money."