MSU Extension: Who Are We and What Do We Do?

If you drive past 103 West Legion Ave in Whitehall, you might notice the MSU Extension office in the old Bordens Hotel. If you're wondering what it is exactly that we do, the easiest answer might be to explain what we don't do. We are currently a team of three, Kaleena Miller serving as our Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Merissa Ford serving as our 4-H and Youth Development Extension Agent, and Sadie Gooch serving as our Program Assistant. In a nutshell, we provide education to the residents of Madison and Jefferson Counties. How do we do this? We work one-on-one with folks who visit our office, call us or email us and we develop group programs in communities throughout the two counties.

If you are a farmer or rancher, you might drop off a soil or forage sample to be tested. If you are a gardener, it's a good idea to test your soil every few years, or perhaps more frequently if there is an issue with your plants. Residents on well water can pick up water testing kits at our office, you can read more about what to test for at this website: https://waterquality.montana.edu/well-ed/. If you are a landowner/manager who has a diseased tree or plant, an insect infestation in your yard or on your crops, or you've been staring at a plant that you just can't identify, reach out to us and we can work with the Schutter Diagnostic Lab on campus in Bozeman to help answer your questions. Over the past few years, we've held Rancher Roundtable classroom-style workshops, and field days – at a local orchard and one at a ranch. We've also partnered with the Whitehall Garden Club to bring community presentations on composting, water-wise planting, tree pruning, and more. Last year, we held workshops for smaller acreage landowners, addressing topics such as water, wildlife, weeds, and pasture management.

We also manage the 4-H program for over 330 kids across the two counties. What is 4-H you may ask? It's the nation's largest youth development program with programs in almost every county in the country. The H's of 4-H stand for Head, Hands, Heart, and Health. Every 4-H club begins their meetings by pledging their heads to clearer thinking, their hearts to greater loyalty, their hands to larger service, and their health to better living, for their club, community, country, and world. As a club, they learn about leadership, and citizenship, and serve their community with yearly service projects. Individually, the kids can choose from over 200 different projects to learn about in depth. We have everything from robotics to rabbits, sewing to swine. They can also participate in the county-wide workshops hosted by our office. So far this year, we have had workshops on cookie decorating, ceramics, pyrography, and parliamentary procedure. We will have workshops on interview skills, animal quality assurance, and record-keeping in the coming months. The kids also have the opportunity to share what they have learned, created, or raised at the county fair.

The 4-H program is always looking for new volunteers. Volunteers can put on workshops, judge at fairs, help plan events, or become club leaders or project leaders. We are currently in need of volunteers to put on workshops for Robotics, Woodworking, Welding, and Art. We will also need volunteer judges at the fair in August. If you'd like to volunteer some time to pour into our kids, please reach out to us. Don't hesitate to give us a call at 406-287-3282 or stop by the office at 103 West Legion Avenue.