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Meet Our Specialist
Craig Olson leads our team that makes our next-day delivery policy happen. As Millborn Seeds Warehouse Supervisor, Craig oversees all shipping, receiving and seed testing. In order to have the seed and product you order delivered to you the next day, Millborn's warehouse is well stocked. "Some weeks we receive three semi loads of seed - that's 44,000 pounds in each semi that we test, organize and store," says Craig, who enjoys his work and the Millborn team. When he's not overseeing the warehouse, Craig enjoys spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and their two boys. Time To Vote!
You could win a $100 Cabela's giftcard! If you've sent us your favorite hunting photos this season, thank you! Now we're asking for our readers' help. We've received so many great hunting photos that we need your help to select a winner! How: Visit our Web site, www.millbornseeds.com, check out the numbered photos and send your vote to Jason Tronbak. Check out some of the contestants...
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Our team of specialists at Millborn Seeds has seen successful stand establishment achieved by customers who follow the six steps that we outline for them - many in their first year. Because we are confident that you too can have successful stand establishment, we offer the exclusive Stand Establishment Guarantee or SEG, if you follow the six steps listed below. To learn more, contact Jason Tronbak at 888-498-7333. 1. Select the correct species and varieties: Based on your goals, Millborn can help you select the species that will give you the results you're looking for. Once we review your growing conditions and soil type, we'll suggest the specific varieties or mix of varieties that will work best on your land. 2. Use high quality, cleaned and conditioned seed: Millborn Seeds does much more than simply clean your seed - we follow a 19-step process that results in a pure, conditioned bag of seed. Conditioned seed allows for easy seed calibration and even distribution of seeds across the land. 3. Seedbed preparation: Many native seeds are no larger than a pin-head; their establishment depends on you providing them with the proper seedbed preparation. Ideally, you want a clean, smooth, firm seedbed. Soybean stubble works the best because there's less field residue and it is firm. A firm seedbed is one that, when you step on it, you don't sink more than an inch into the soil. Seeds should only be planted a π-inch in depth. If you see seed lying on the surface, that's OK. Herbicide pretreatment is crucial to seedbed preparation. One of the biggest detriments to establishing a stand is weed pressure. This is why we recommend a combination of glyphosate and Plateau®, which we carry. Plateau® is a pre-emergence herbicide that most all native grasses and forbs can tolerate and it will suppress most broadleaf weeds and annual grasses like pigeon grass (foxtail) for 6-8 weeks. Contact Jason Tronbak to design a Plateau® tolerant mix for your project. After 6-8 weeks, another application of Plateau® can be applied to give you weed control all growing season. 4. Timing of seeding: Seeding depends on whether you are planting warm or cool season grasses and forbs. If you're planting cool season plants, it's best to plant in the spring, late summer or dormant (usually after November 1). With warm season plants, it's best to plant late spring (May to Mid-June), or dormant (usually after November 1). 5. Seeding Technique: No-till drills or special grass drills are the best drills to use when planting native grasses and forbs. It's important to make sure you're using the correct seed box when planting - we most often only use the grain box. Unlike with the grass box (fluffy seed box), using the grain box allows infinite control of how much seed we are putting out, saving you time and money. Because our seed is refined and conditioned, we commonly mix the wildflowers and grass seed together. If you need help calibrating your seeder, let us know. Our staff is ready to assist. 6. Post seeding maintenance: Many times I say this is the most important aspect of a successful stand. After the seed is planted, don't neglect it. We'll let you know what you need to do. About five years down the road, we encourage you to burn, hay or graze. Prescribed burns are hands-down the best way to maintain a healthy stand long-term. Contact Jason Tronbak if you have any questions, 888-498-7333 or jasont@millbornseeds.com.
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Encouraging Pheasant Habitat for the Future "We didn't have a single bird anymore. I wanted to bring the land back to where it was when I was growing up. Restore it for our family unit so we can hunt together and enjoy it together," says Jarding, of the farmland his dad purchased when he returned home from World War II. Jim began his quest by contacting me when I worked as a farm bill biologist with Pheasants Forever/USDA-NRCS. I connected him with Rocco Murano, private lands habitat biologist for the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks. Together they put in ditch plugs and inter-seeded the old pastureland with wildflowers and forbs from Millborn Seeds. This spring Jim asked me what more he could do to encourage pheasant populations. I suggested he put in food and cover plots. So far, his efforts have paid off. "I've noticed a substantial difference - from no birds to several pheasants! I want to do even more next year," says Jim, who plans to put in a plot of Rooster Trail Mix and expand the number of acres that he manages for pheasant habitat. Most of Jim's wildlife development projects have been cost-shared with S.D. Game Fish & Parks. (Below: Standing in Jim's food plot.)
"Habitat development is an on-going process. Every year there is something new that we'll find we need to do - I enjoy this," Jim says. If you want to increase wildlife populations on your land, give me a call, 888-498-7333 or send me an e-mail, jasont@millbornseeds.com. I'd be happy to guide you.
Saline soil is caused by high water tables where water moves to the soil surface and evaporates, leaving a salty crust on the soil's surface. Not familiar with saline patches? You've probably seen the result; white crusted patches of soil with little plant life. Permanent vegetation is the best way to repair and reclaim this salty soil, says Jeff Hemenway, State Conservation Aronomist with South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "It takes permanent vegetation to repair the soil. This is where the challenge comes in - finding species that will establish and thrive in these salty conditions," says Jeff, who explains that vegetation utilizes moisture, lowering the water table and allowing the surface salt to seep back into the soil. In order to discover grasses and forbs that are salt-tolerant enough to survive, Jeff is working with the Hutchinson County Conservation District and the local NRCS field office to plant 17 plant species in three test plots. Millborn Seeds helped supply the seed that they drilled this winter. "Millborn was great to work with. Many of the species we seeded are difficult to find. Many are not typically planted here," he says, adding that at this point the most commonly seeded species they know to be saline tolerant is tall wheat grass. "We want to explore all our options - native and non-native grasses and forbs - to discover a broad spectrum of species that will work to encourage species diversity." (Photo below shows Jeff's team planting one of 17 test plots.)
We will keep you posted on the test plots' results. If you have any questions, please give me a call, 888-498-7333, or send me an e-mail, jasont@millbornseeds.com.
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Exclusive Stand Establishment Guarantee For Conservation
Growing up, Jim Jarding remembers pheasants on his family's farmland. A few years ago he noticed that not a single bird called the family's land west of Alexandria, S.D., home.
