Sue Roesler, Farm and Ranch Guide Journalist Profile

Articles

4-H ambassadors set up for archery shoot at Luhman Ranch June 21

1 week ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

GLADSTONE, N.D. – Taiton Axtman, 21, a 4-H ambassador and senior at North Dakota State University (NDSU) with a double-major in weed science and ag economics, deftly turned the tractor pulling the drill around at the end of the rows. He was planting pinto beans at his uncle’s farm near Fessenden, N.D., and usually helps with the growing and harvest season in the summer. “It’s going great, and it is so nice to get back in the fields after the big rains last week (late May).
Testing continues for autonomous technology in agriculture

1 week ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

In late May, on a sunny production week, a Deere autonomous tractor pulling a 50-foot 2660VT Variable Intensity Tillage machine, emerged from behind the rolling hills of Morton County, with no one sitting in the cab as it moved forward through the corn stubble, leaving behind a smoother field. “No one is in the cab operating it,” said Jim Campbell, equipment specialist lead for Gooseneck Implement. “We operate the autonomy from the Operations Center mobile app standing outside the machine.
Old Beulah mine being converted to process minerals

2 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

On May 28, Talon Metals Corp. announced it had found its site to develop the Beulah Minerals Processing Facility on 256 acres of the former Westmoreland Mining coal mine near Beulah, N.D.The venture will be a first-of-its-kind opportunity for collaboration across energy, mining and mineral industries, converting the former coal mine into a critical minerals facility, according to a Talon spokesperson.
Waterhemp continues to spread westward in North Dakota

2 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

Farmers are turning to post-emergent herbicides, but concerns about certain weeds, such as waterhemp, last until harvest. Waterhemp continues to be a major weed problem for soybeans in North Dakota, with confirmed resistance to glyphosate, group 2 herbicides, and group 14 herbicides in many counties.
Klostermans start herbicide applications, find cold damage on corn leaves

2 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

WYNDMERE, N.D. – Fields at the Klosterman farm have dried out after a stretch of warm weather swept through the region. After the rain events in Richland County on May 15-16, Carson Kosterman, who farms with his dad, Tom, and wife, Haley, discovered more rain had fallen on the fields than they originally thought, with some fields receiving nearly double what others received.
Kitzmans rolling soybeans, start post-emergent applications

2 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

UPHAM, N.D. – Chance Kitzman, who farms together with his dad, Shawn, was trading off planting crops, spraying fields, and other farm duties in an effort to work as efficiently as possible, taking advantage of the warm, dry weather over the past week and a half. “It’s in the mid-70s with a nice breeze, and right now, I am rolling soybeans. I’ve only done a couple hundred acres so far,” Chance said, adding the main reason for rolling the beans is to keep the land even and level for harvest.
Screwworms likely to be in U.S. later this summer

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says the screwworm, a parasitic pest, is likely to cross the southern border of the United States later this summer. “It’s no longer a question of whether or not we see a return of New World screwworms in the U.S. It’s a matter of when. Probably sometime later this summer,” he said.
Looking at new genetics available for forages

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

Jeff Jackson, alfalfa and forage specialist with WinField United, showed and explained the new and solid-line forages, such as alfalfa, sorghum, hybrid rye and a new triticale variety last summer at a WinField Answer Plot. The hybrid rye is from WinField United’s partnership with KWS Seeds, and the triticale is through their partnership with Northern Star. “These products, in my mind, truly give you the benefit of higher yields, better consistency.
Trials find exact time to cut forage sorghum for good quality hay

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

If producers cut their forage sorghum at the right time, they can achieve good quality hay, according to James Rogers, NDSU Extension forage crops production specialist and the assistant interim director at NDSU’s North Central Research Extension Center (NCREC). Research by Rogers and others showed that the right time to cut forage sorghum to gain the most protein, energy, and other nutritional needs is at the boot stage, just before heading.
BASF gives recommendations for prevention of tar spot in corn

4 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

Tar spot in corn was discovered in nine southeastern counties in North Dakota for the first time in 2024. The fungal disease is spreading quickly in the country and especially in the Midwestern states, spread by wind and overwintering, according to with Kim Tutor, BASF technical marketing manager. “It’s continuing to spread very rapidly,” Tutor said.