Friday Roundup: Great News for Montana Teachers & Farm Expo Covg

I got to catch up with some great farmers and ranchers at the Farm Expo in Plentywood. Then, on the drive back from Plentywood- Montana's Superintendent of Public Instruction told me about being in the room at the White House as President Trump signed a new executive order to help Montana schools.

Let's start with the Farm Expo. We caught up with Montana Grain Growers Association President Klayton Lohr, Maggie Johnson from Montana Branded, local farmer Blake Rasmussen, and more during the KATQ Radio Farm Expo. Full audio is below.

We talked with Blake about the panel discussion on variable rate specialties and mapping...and how today's combine can map out the land so well that you know how much fertilizer and herbicide you can lay down on different pieces of your farmland.

And what about the explosion in the region's pulse crops? 

Blake Rasmussen: "I mean, it's not very long ago that we didn't know what lentils were and how to cook a chickpea- so 25 years ago, I mean, guys were just dabbling in this. It was not Main Street by any point. And now where we're at today, it is- our rotation revolves around growing pulses. It's not just the alternative rotation crop. It's- how do we raise more pulses? And it's really diversified."

What about the technology? From combines...to fertilizers...to herbicides...to the science behind it all...how are we doing more with less?

Blake Rasmussen: "Talk about being dry. If you looked at the statistics of rainfall over the last five or six years, there's places it looks a lot- the rainfall totals are pretty similar to the 80s. But we've still grown some pretty good crops. We've still..."

Aaron Flint: "You can do more with less"

Blake Rasmussen: "Absolutely and lentils don't- we've grown some of our best lentil crops on four or five inches of rain, when you get the right conditions and you had some sub moisture and the soil's in better shape. So I'm not saying everything we're doing is right, but it's- I think we're headed in the right direction."

By the way, thanks to Land of Erin Dell for the great photos from the Farm Expo and for letting us share those photos here.

And what about the good news for Montana schools with President Trump's executive order regarding the federal Department of Education? Check out the audio of my chat with Superintendent Hedalen below.

Here's how I summed up the news on X: