County agents from Pierce, McHenry and Bottineau counties will be offering a Design Your Succession Plan workshop series in the tri-county area February 25, March 4 and March 11. Registration deadline is February 5. If we don’t have enough participants registered by this time the workshop will be cancelled.

– Session 1, Monday, February 25, 2019 6:00 p.m. @ Pierce County Courthouse, Rugby

– Session 2, Monday, March 4, 2019 6:00 p.m. @ McHenry County Courthouse, Towner

– Session 3, Monday, March 11, 2019 6:00 p.m. @ Bottineau County Courthouse, Bottineau

* Please note that attendance is required at all three sessions. A light meal will be provided at each location.

Design Your Succession Plan is a multi-session workshop to help farm and ranch families:

– Get started on a succession plan using a workbook during and after the workshop

– Open lines of communication with family to create a shared vision for the family business

– Work with professionals to construct a plan and documents to put the family’s vision into action

Registration deadline is February 4. Please call the McHenry County Extension office at 701-537-5405 to register for the Design Your Succession Plan workshop series.

2019 Field to Fork Webinar Schedule Set

North Dakota State University Extension again will host the Field to Fork webinar series starting in February 2019.

Experts from across the region will provide information about growing, processing and serving specialty-crop fruits and vegetables safely.

The “Field to Fork Wednesday Weekly Webinars” will begin Feb. 6. They’ll be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Central time through April 17.

The webinars are free of charge but preregistration is required. The webinars will be held on Zoom. The Field to Fork website (www.ag.ndsu.edu/fieldtofork) has a link to register for the webinars.

With advance notice, the Pierce County Extension is willing to accommodate those who don’t have internet capabilities that are interested in participating in the weekly webinars.

Topics that will be covered are:

* Feb. 6: Successful Seed Starting at Home – Randy Nelson, Extension home horticulture and agriculture production systems educator, University of Minnesota

* Feb. 13: Hops in North Dakota: What You Need to Know Before You Get Started – Kyla Splichal, horticulture research specialist, NDSU Williston Research Extension Center

* Feb. 20: Growing Apples in North Dakota – Tom Kalb, NDSU Extension horticulturist

* Feb. 27: Trendy and Healthy Houseplants – Esther McGinnis, assistant professor and NDSU Extension horticulturist

* March 6: Cool Fruits for Cold Climates: Selections From the Northern Hardy Fruit Evaluation Project – Kathy Wiederholt, fruit project manager, NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center

* March 13: Let’s Not Waste Food: Exploring Food Preservation and Composting – Julie Garden-Robinson, NDSU Extension food and nutrition specialist

* March 20: One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four: Best Management Practices to Produce More – Susie Thompson, NDSU associate professor, potato breeding

* March 27: How to Identify, Manage and Prevent Common Diseases in Your Garden – Jesse Ostrander, plant diagnostician/director, NDSU Plant Diagnostic Laboratory

* April 3: Pollinator Gardens – Janet Knodel, professor, NDSU Plant Pathology Department, and McGinnis

* April 10: Getting Started With Herb Gardening – Yolanda Schmidt, NDSU Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Pierce County

* April 17: Best Practices on Health and Hygiene When Handling Foods for the Public – Julie Wagendorf, director, North Dakota Department of Health’s Division of Food and Lodging

This project is made possible with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service.

With advance notice, the Pierce County Extension is willing to accommodate those who don’t have internet capabilities that are interested in participating in the weekly webinars.

For more information, visit NDSU Extension’s comprehensive Field to Fork website or contact your local NDSU Extension office.

Schmidt is the NDSU Extension agent for Pierce County.