“It was a shock to think you were a no-till farmer for that long (23 years) and then have somebody tell you really weren’t no-till farming,” said Jason Brewer, farmer in Rosebud County. Jason changed both his frame of mind and his management decisions.

Katie Mumford is the 2017 Earth Team Individual Volunteer of the Year award winner for the USDA NRCS in Montana. In all, Katie contributed 817 hours of volunteer service to the Townsend, Mont., NRCS field office in 2017 as an Earth Team Volunteer.

June 1, 2018, has been set as the application cutoff for agricultural operators to be considered for 2019 conservation program funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

MSU soil scientists have identified fields in 15 Montana counties with soil pH levels below 5.5, some as low as 3.8. Because many Montana soils have pH levels greater than 7.0, soil acidification received little attention until recently when yield-limiting acidity was identified in Chouteau County.

The landowners on ten Montana farms and ranches are utilizing NRCS assistance to reach their goals and improve the health of their natural resources.