Farm And Ranch Day Is Next Wednesday
The Mountrail County Ag Improvement Association will be holding their annual Farm and Ranch Day program on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in Stanley at the Mountrail County South Complex. The program is open to all farm and ranch producers in the region.
The day will start with coffee and cookies at 10:00 a.m. followed by the first speaker of the day Josh Dipippo of Spotters Ag Service. Dipippo founded Spotters Aerial Ag in Killdeer, ND to provide a higher quality of application for producers in western North Dakota. His goal has always been to increase production and profitability in pasture, and range land for his customers.
With a growing team of pilots, and fleet of spray drones, Dipippo and his team look forward to each spraying season, and how they can make advancements and profitability for producers. They have done aerial ag in several states which include work in spraying mesquite in Texas, orchards in California, crops in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan as well as North Dakota.
They do aerial spraying of any row crop, pastures, orchards, fence lines, rough terrain, and the list continues. There is also a dry spreading feature as well. Re-seeding, cover crop, dry fertilizer spreading can all be taken to new levels of efficiency with the drone technology. This will be an exciting presentation by one of the best.
At 11:15 a.m. the annual dessert contest awards will be announced and the dessert auction will be held. Proceeds from the auction help fund the ag improvement association scholarships. The contest is open to anyone who likes to make desserts. There are two divisions, adult and youth. There are cash prizes for the top three in each division and apron prizes for the top five in each division. Desserts must be dropped off between 7:30 and 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Rules and registration can be found on the Mountrail County Ag Agency Facebook page.
The noon meal will be served, sponsored by the Mountrail County Ag Improvement Association and served by the Stanley FFA. Everyone is welcome to join them and enjoy lunch with your Mountrail County Ag Improvement.
At 1:00 p.m., Brandon Bock of the Bock Family Farm, Minot, ND will be the second speaker. His topic is Regenerative Farming in North Dakota. Brandon and Jessie Bock, together with their children, Grace, age 15, and Lyle, age 14, own and operate Bock Farms, about 20 miles north of Minot. Jessie is a stay-at-home mom, having raised both of their children at home. Brandon says she is his “right-hand woman”, helping on the farm, keeping the books, running after parts, operating grain carts, among other important tasks.