Swank Tour Brings Ag Community Together In Roosevelt County
For the 44th year, area farmers and producers headed to rural Roosevelt County for the Swank Variety Test Plot Tour on Wednesday, July 16.
Lois (Swank) Weber explained that the farm features 26 varieties of wheat and 12 varieties of durum. As she was preparing for that night’s meal, she noted that her brother, Mark, is the farmer in the family.
When asked about the start of the Swank tour, Weber said that MSU Extension was conducting a dryland plot tour many years ago in another field, which wasn’t overly impressive. It was then that her father, Eugene, stepped in.
Lois said that her dad offered to use the farm if Extension wanted a tour with a good, clean plot. Later, a farmer said he would provide steaks if 100 farmers went to the tour.
The event now attracts between 80-125 individuals each year to the third-generation farm and still features a great steak meal.
The Culbertson Chamber cooks the steaks and brats, which are provided by area businesses. “Other various neighbors bring salads and desserts,” Lois said. “It’s a real community contribution event.”
Gordon Oelkers, one of the volunteer cooks for the Culbertson Chamber, explained that Extension asked the chamber to perform the duty starting in 1990. He mentioned that other annual contribution include Arne Sutton Insurance of Circle providing the ice cream.
This year’s program included Dr. Chengci Chen, superintendent of the MSU Eastern Ag Research Center, and Doug Holen, MSU Foundation Seed Program director, discussing cereal grain breeding and grain quality of wheat varieties.
The night also featured a presentation by Culbertson High School student Felixe Becker of his alfalfa variety trial for dryland MSU Extension.
