May 26, 2013

Make changes or face water shortages

Looking at the Colorado River as it flows through Grand Junction, it's hard to believe the scale of the demands placed upon this modest stream, where rubber rafts scrape gravel bars in summer. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado River and its tributaries provide water to nearly 40 million people and irrigate nearly 5.5 million acres of land across seven U.S. states plus Mexico.

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Agriculture

Apply for specialty crop grant

The Specialty Crops Program at Colorado State University is accepting applications for grower research and education grants for the 2013 production season. The application deadline is Jan. 1, 2013.

The request for proposals is intended for research, demonstration, and/or education projects addressing specialty crops production, processing, and marketing issues faced by small farmers, beginning farmers or socially disadvantaged farmers in Colorado.

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Agriculture

Food and farm forum set for Jan. 10 in Montrose

If you're a small-acreage farmer or livestock producer, or if you're interested in becoming one, you won't want to miss the inaugural Western Colorado Food and Farm Forum (WCFFF). This new conference, which will be Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, at the Montrose County Fairgrounds in Friendship Hall, will focus on sustainably improving the production, marketing and consumption of locally grown food products.

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Agriculture

Grant will aid ATV club’s efforts to maintain trails

c08 atvPhoto by Pat Sunderland A grant through the Yamaha OHV Access Initiative enabled Thunder Mountain Wheelers to fabricate three power dump trailers which will be used for OHV trail maintenance, restoration and repair on area public lands.The Thunder Mountain Wheelers (TMW) ATV Club, with help from Grand Mesa Motor Sports of Delta, applied for and received a $7,315 grant from the Yamaha OHV Access Initiative for the fabrication of three power dump trailers to use for OHV trail maintenance, restoration and repair. TMW volunteers maintain 175-plus miles of designated OHV trails each year through the Forest Service and BLM "Adopt A Trail Program" on the Grand Mesa, Gunnison and Uncompahgre public lands.

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Agriculture

Beef Roast tickets make excellent gifts

Delta County 4-H Beef Roast tickets, now available from local 4-H clubs, make excellent Christmas gifts. This is the 63rd year this fine meal will be offered.

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Agriculture

Get ‘em before they’re gone

Integrated Resource Management (IRM) "red books" offer a wide variety of management information for beef cattle producers, including tips on nutrition, reproduction, genetics and finance. The Red Books are now available at the Delta Extension office for $5 each.

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Agriculture

Mountain snow pack is a great concern

My family and I went cross-country skiing on Grand Mesa over the Thanksgiving holiday, and found excellent conditions: about a foot of snow with smoothly groomed tracks (thank you Grand Mesa Nordic Council – gmnc.org) under brilliant blue skies and no windchill whatsoever. In fact, despite being at nearly 11,000 feet of elevation in late November, the temperature was well above freezing.

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Agriculture

Slash pile burns planned in area

The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests have plans to burn "slash piles" in several areas. Forest fire management officials anticipate burning the piles in early December and continuing into January, as conditions warrant.

The following burns are planned in the area:

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Agriculture

Plan now to attend pest management worksop

The 2013 Tri River Area Extension Pest Management Workshop will be held at Two Rivers Convention Center in Grand Junction on Feb. 19 and 20, 2013.

This workshop is held annually and is designed to give licensed commercial and private pesticide applicators the opportunity to receive all of the continuing education credits they need at a single reasonably priced event.

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Agriculture