Sue Roesler, Farm and Ranch Guide Journalist Profile

Articles

Trials find exact time to cut forage sorghum for good quality hay

5 days 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

1 week 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.
Potential option for corn growers being tested for adaptation at Menoken Farm

1 week ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

MENOKEN, N.D. – Open-pollinated corn, with its long ears of yellow, red or orange tinted kernels, was grown and harvested for the first time last year at Menoken Farm, a conservation demonstration farm owned and operated by the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District in Menoken, N.D. Jay Fuhrer, Menoken Farm conservationist, explained an open-pollinated corn seed is the kind of corn seed that farmers planted in the past because there weren’t any companies breeding higher-yielding hybrids...
Crops thriving as Klostermans experience unusual May weather

1 week ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

WYNDMERE, N.D. – Now that the crops are in the ground at the Klosterman farm, Carson and his dad, Tom, are turning to crop scouting and post-emergent herbicide applications, while Carson manages growing calls for farm equipment on rainy days for his StripTill For You agribusiness. The weather has been variable over the past couple of weeks. There were a few days of unseasonably hot and windy weather where temperatures soared into the high 90s.
Kitzmans nearly finished with seeding crops this planting season

1 week ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

UPHAM, N.D. – Across most of the state, rain fell in steady beats or lightly sprinkled for three days from Wednesday, May 14, through Friday, May 16, bringing much-needed moisture to many counties. In McHenry and Bottineau counties, where Chance and Nicole Kitzman’s farm fields are located, they received “just enough” moisture to give a boost to the new crops. “Actually, we got just enough. I probably wouldn’t have wanted it to be anymore.
Strong demand for bonds softens noise for drop in interest rates

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

The U.S. federal deficit and debt have been growing rapidly in recent years, with the debt now over $36 trillion, according to NDSU ag finance specialist Bryon Parman. “The federal debt as of March 31, 2025, was around $36 trillion, and this changes by the second,” he said, adding that in the last 15 years or so the federal debt has kept climbing. “The federal debt keeps increasing because we keep running yearly deficits.”There have been years when the deficit has been much higher.
Small business owners hoping for new information about funding freeze

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

MEDINA, N.D. – When Joe Deede and his wife, Melinda Kramlich-Deede, owners of Kramlich-Deede Meats in Medina, needed a mixer grinder to grow their meat processing business, he applied for a USDA Business Builder Award through the North Central Regional Food Business Center (RFBC). “These grants to small farms and businesses are so important to rural communities like ours,” Deede said.
Mostly dry conditions allow Klostermans to get an early start on planting

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

WYNDMERE, N.D. – With mostly dry conditions this spring, Carson Klosterman and his dad, Tom, were able to hit the fields with a fury on April 9, planting sugarbeets continuously with their corn planter until rain events moved in. After receiving much-needed rain in the first half of April, they returned to the fields on April 18, where they switched over to corn for a few days. Once that was complete, they started on soybeans on April 23.
Kitzmans seeding oats, plan to start on corn next

3 weeks ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

UPHAM, N.D. – Planting is in full swing at the Kitzman farm, where sixth-generation farmers Chance and Nicole Kitzman farm with Chance’s parents, Shawn and Melodie Kitzman. “My dad and I are working on seeding oats right now,” Chance said on May 2.
Weed-pulling robot technology has potential to ‘revolutionize farming’

1 month ago | agupdate.com | Sue Roesler

For the last few years, undergraduate and doctorate students in the North Dakota State University (NDSU) ag biosystems and engineering departments have been working with their professors on developing robots to identify and in some cases, eliminate weeds in farm fields. The robots were so successful that two teams of NDSU students entered a thermal weed control robot and a precision weeding robot in the 2025 Farm Robotics Challenge. The winners will be announced May 8.