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COVlD-19 response longest in Guar
BISMARCK Last month the
North Dakota National Guard
marked its one-year anniversary of
COVID—l9 response operations in
support of state and community
health agencies.
The first North Dakota Guard
members were activated for COVID—
19 duty on March 16, 2020.
The ongoing COVID—l9 support
mission is the largest and longest
state mobilization in North Dakota
history. On Nov. 19, 2020, the North
Dakota National Guard logged
67,495 personnel—days surpassing the
previous record of 67 ,264 personnel-
days recorded during response eff01ts
in support of 2011 statewide flood-
ing. As of March 15, the North Guard
National Guard has logged 97,914
personnel—days of support in this
mission.
“We are deeply grateful for the in—
credible contributions of the men and
women of the North Dakota National
Guard who have risen to the chal—
lenges presented by this historic pan—
demic,” said Gov. Doug Burgum.
“Their dedicated service and support
has been critical in our whole-of-
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FFA awards
Above: The Golden Valley
County FFA Chapter was repre-
sented at the recent Hettinger
FFA Contest. Shown, from left,
are Adam Trask, Kade Manhart
and Andrew Trask, who com-
peted in the Agriculture Sales
and Service Career Development
Event. The contest consisted of
a test and individual sales pre-
sentations.
All three received
bronze awards. Left: The Golden
Valley County chapter was also
represented at the recent Killdeer
Contest.
Evaluation:
Results: Livestock
Chance Manhart,
fourth-place high individual, and
he received a gold award. Dillon
Manhart received a high bronze,
(and in Agriculture Sales and
Service, Kade Manhart received a
high bronze. Shown are Chance
Manhart, left, and Dillon Manhart
(Courtesy Photos)
,5 m, _,
Sgt. Chase Bode, left, and Spc. Isaac Bolton, both assigned to
the 816th Military Police Company, work as data collectors at the
COVlD-19 mobile testing site inside the Bismarck Event Center.
(Courtesy File Photo)
government response to this unparal—
leled threat to public health, and our
entire state is thankful.”
Members of the North Dakota Na-
tional Guard have supported the
North Dakota Department of Health
and local municipal health agencies
during this response. Soldiers and
airmen have planned, conducted and
. Guard.
(Continued on Page 8)
Housekills Senate seat belt bill
By Dylan Sherman
NDNA Education Foundation
BISMARCK —— Despite passing
in the Senate, a bill to allow primary
enforcement of seat belts and require
all passengers to be buckled failed in
the House by a vote of 45 to 49 on
March 23.
Senate Bill 2121 had over two
hours of testimony in support of the
bill during the House Committee
hearing on March 18. Support for
the bill came from law enforcement,
health agencies and seat belt ad-vo-
cates. ‘
“A person’s choice to buckle up
does not only affect that individual
and their loved ones,” said Andy
Schneider, sheriff of Grand Forks
County, during the hearing.
Schneider provided testimony on
the numerous crashes he has re—
sponded to where a person was
ejected from their vehicle and killed
Experience Is A Great. Teacher
Especially in agriculture. Over the years, we’ve learned a
lot by working with the farm families of this area. If
you’re looking for an experienced ag bank, come
see us. Put our experience to work for you.
because they were not wearing a seat
belt.
There is also a mental toll for of-
ficers having to deal with identifying ,
bodies that have been ejected from
vehicles, Schneider said. “If you are
in a critical incident like that, we
give you administrative days off,” he
said.
Seat Belt
(Continued on Page 8)
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~worry producers
By Dylan Sherman
NDNA Education Foundation
BISMARCK —— Lower snowfall
and rain this year has brought about
drought conditions in North Dakota,
which could be an issue for farmers
in the spring.
North Dakota Agriculture Com-
missioner Doug Goehring said there
are varying degrees of drought
throughout the state.
“Central—west toward the northern
part of the state is probably the most
severe,” he said.
According to the latest U.S.
Drought Monitor Index, 84.5% of
North Dakota is dealing with a se-
vere drought, up from 80.1% a week
ago. Severe drought includes poor
crop conditions, low soil moisture
and low hay yields. ,
Extreme drought covers 27.5% of
the state, according to the index, up
from 16.9%. That level of drought
can cause crops to stop growing and
pastures to go dormant, and it can
mean a high chance of wildfires.
Maps by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
show drought is an issue for many
western states.
Goehring said it isn’t completely
unusual for there to be less precipi—
tation during this time of year and
when the state is still during the dor—
mant season. “Rain can heal a lot of
things,” he said. “It is amazing what
could happen in April when you start
getting rain during the growing sea-
son.”
Goehring said livestock are most
at risk during a drought as they need
water and there is no supplement for
it.
“It is an animal humane issue,” he
said. “You have to get water and feed
to them, and water is the most cru—
cial.”
There are 11,000 to 13,000 live-
stock producers in North Dakota, ac-
cording to Goehring, but he said it is
not uncommon for most farmers to
have some animals.
In order for some farmers to get
access to water they might have to
drill a new well, which could cost as
SO".
much as $140,000, or pay to have
water hauled in.
If drought conditions persist,
Goehring said his department would
seek assistance from federal pro-
grams. “What we do at this point is
we start to engage USDA and FSA
about conditions and issues,” he said.
“Our engagement is to address the
possibility of having access to (the
Emergency Livestock Assistance
Program).”
Rep. Dennis Johnson, R-Devils
Lake, chairman of the House Agri—
culture Committee and a farmer by
trade, said the risk of drought comes
with the territory of farming.
“It is always a gamble,” he said.
“You pray for rain and see that crop
grow, and if it doesn’t rain you sit
back and pray for the day it will.”
Johnson said the drought is af—
fecting everyone, and he has heard
from farmers who are concerned
about getting a crop out of the
ground. “It has been dry for the last
three or four years, but we’ve caught
a few showers to pull a crop off,” he
said. “But we have not had extra sub-
soil moisture to get a crop going .”
Johnson said he is seeing com—
modity prices rise this winter, but
farmers are reluctant to forward sell
as there is no guarantee they will be
able to grow enough crop to fill the
sales.
“You’d like to sell enough to
cover your operating expenses, but
you also have to make sure you have
the bushels,” he said.
Johnson said he hasn’t seen a real
crop failure in his lifetime.
“Even on dry years we’ve gotten
enough showers to pull a crop off,”
he said.
Golva Medora Beach
872-3656 623-5000 872-4444
Member
'FDIC www.fsbofgo|va.com
“Rain can heal a lot of things. It is'amaz-
ing what could happen in April when you
Start getting rain during the growing sea-
Doug Goehring, North Dakota
Agriculture Commissioner
First State Bank
ATM in Beach Medora lobby
There are protections farmers in
which can invest, like crop insur-
ance, to help cover the losses, but
Johnson said it is never the same as
getting a crop.
Devan Leo, McKenzie County
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Extension Agent, said it has been
very different for the county com-
pared to how wet it was in 2019.
“McKenzie County is the driest it
has been ever,” she said.
According to the drought map, a
majority of McKenzie County is in
the extreme drought category.
Leo said there are concerns about
getting crops into the ground, and
even more about getting them to ger-
minate. There isn’t enough moisture
in the ground now to sustain a
seedling, she said.
“We need about 17 inches of total
(precipitation) to make up for our
deficits,” she said. “That is an awful
lot to accumulate in a short period of
time because we need it by mid-
April.”
Leo added that while low water in
wells and ponds will affect livestock,
ranchers and farmers are being told
to test the water for toxins that can be
found in the water during a drought.
“Evaporation of water causes salts
to hang around, and those salts can
accumulate in toxic numbers and kill
livestock off,” she said.
Rep. Keith Kempenich, R—Bow-
man, a rancher and crop adjuster,
said this drought is shaping out to be
one of the worst in his lifetime.
“This is concerning,” he said. “I
got two dugouts right now that you
Drought
(Continued on Page 8)
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