Liberty County

Liberty County is in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the prime crop-producing region of Montana. Encompassing 1,458 square miles along the Hi-Line of Montana, Liberty County has approximately 2,000 residents in the communities of Chester, Joplin, Lothair and Whitlash, with Chester serving as the county seat. The Sweetgrass Hills, rising to almost 7,000 feet in the northern part of the county, are considered sacred by local Native American tribes. Tiber Dam and Lake Elwell in the southern part of the county provide recreational opportunities for area residents. Agriculture accounts for much of the economy in Liberty County with approximately 913,000 acres utilized to produce wheat, barley, pulses, mustard and cattle. Two shuttle loader elevators utilize the rail service to export many of the cereal crops to international markets. Additionally, four Hutterite colonies within county boundaries and two nearby contain large-scale hog, poultry and gardening operations that sell goods locally and regionally.

4-H Fun Fridays Arrive

In 2023 Chester-Joplin-Inverness Public Schools began a four-day school week. This left many children with working parents alone on Fridays. The Liberty County 4-H program began a series called 4-H Fun Fridays to help alleviate that problem. This program, open to children in kindergarten through sixth grade, regardless of 4-H membership, met each Friday for an hour. The 4-H Fun Friday program met for two blocks throughout the school year. The fall block featured outdoors activities, with nine youth gaining skills in geocaching, fire starting, wildlife identification, and compass reading. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden Willie Miller, Liberty County Superintendent of Schools Kathy Armstrong, and Tara Hendrickson, Liberty County EMS Director, helped teach some of the classes. The winter session of 4-H Fun Fridays explored potential 4-H projects including horseless horse, fishing, baking and leatherworking. Eleven youth attended, including non-4-H members, with one of them later joining 4-H. The Liberty County 4-H Teen Ambassadors helped teach, as did 4-H volunteers, Liberty County Undersheriff Kyle Heppner, and the County Superintendent of Schools. The program will continue in the fall of 2024 and provides parents with peace of mind knowing their children are still engaged in education on a day without school.

Caption: 4-H Fun Friday participants enjoyed having Willie Miller, FWP Game Warden, in to teach them about wildlife.

Credit: Jesse Fulbright

Agricultural Needs Met Across Liberty County

Home gardeners and agricultural producers would all like to improve their gardening and crop production. Programs offered by MSU Liberty County Extension met those home and commercial agricultural needs. The annual multi-county Cropping Seminar series offered MSU researchers the opportunity to teach about weed resistance issues, crop rotations, marketing tips for crops and vertebrate pests, all topics that can increase production practices. To address the short growing season of Liberty County, Abi Saeed, MSU Extension Horticulture Specialist, presented a workshop on greenhouse gardening. Basics of greenhouse gardening, including types of greenhouses and growing structures for extending the season were taught. Participants learned about different types of greenhouses and season extenders to fit their needs and spaces, making gardens more productive. In July, a field day was offered for growers to learn more about spring and durum wheat variety trials. The field day focused on research done by the Northern Agricultural Research Center and local growers. Eight producers and university researchers had opportunities to network and ask questions regarding farming practices and crop varieties to researchers and state agronomy specialists.

Caption: The Liberty County variety plot tours are a collaborative effort to bring research data to area growers.

Credit: Jesse Fulbright

Bringing Mental Health Preparedness to CJI Students

MSU Liberty County Extension offered Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper training classes to the 2024 Chester-Joplin-Inverness (CJI) Senior class and Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) classes to the freshmen class in 2023 2023 to help educate about suicide awareness. According to research, Montana ranks consistently in the top five states per capita in suicide. QPR Gatekeeper training helps participants learn how to recognize suicide warning signs and clues and is meant to offer hope through positive action. Participants learn how to ask the suicide question, how to persuade someone to stay alive, and how to refer them to someone who can provide help. Fifteen students completed the training and gained an understanding of the difficulty of asking someone if they are thinking of killing themselves. They are better prepared to ask difficult questions of others about suicide and are better equipped to understand the clues to a potential suicide. Students are better prepared to help others if they are potentially thinking about suicide or are in a mental health crisis. YAM was co-facilitated with Logan Health Chester’s Tobacco Prevention Specialist, Lynda Vande Sandt. A five-hour long course, YAM helped students gain awareness of mental health and suicidal thoughts as they develop problem-solving skills related to those issues. Students gain critical thinking skills needed for different stress and crisis situations they might find themselves in. Students stated, "There are healthy ways to deal with depression," and "stress is different from crisis," and “I learned how to understand or listen to people more," that they “can use Montana State as a resource for mental health," and to "already have someone in mind to talk to" if a person needs help.

Caption: Freshmen at CJI High School gain a greater understanding of mental health through the YAM program.

Credit: Brynn Kammerzell

Ambassadors Promote 4-H to Area Youth

The Liberty County 4-H Teen Ambassador team worked to promote 4-H and better themselves in 2024. Meeting twice a month, the five-member team planned a community event, gained valuable communication and leadership skills through leading events and meetings and developed teamwork as they learned each other’s strengths. Ambassadors developed “The Eggcellent Race” as a hybrid Easter event and obstacle course. Developed as a community-wide event for all youth, the teens dyed Easter eggs and organized an obstacle course for 26 youth to run through while carrying the dyed eggs. Two teen ambassadors had the opportunity to attend 4-H Pre-Congress and Congress in 2024. At 4-H Pre-Congress the ambassadors were participated in planning committees and learned critical thinking skills to determine the state officer team and how to work cooperatively with teens from around the state. They also placed in the top three in the 4-H Congress videography and career communications contest. Through local civic events and participation in 4-H Congress, members gain valuable experience and build confidence in their abilities to lead other youth. Additionally, members are encouraged to work towards state-level leadership positions and learn life skills that will apply long after their time in 4-H.

Caption: 4-H Ambassadors represent Liberty County at 4-H Congress.

Credit: Henry Riendeau

Contact

111 First Street East Suite #5
Chester, MT 59522
406-759-5625
https://www.montana.edu/extension/liberty/