Chouteau County

Chouteau County, established in 1865, was one of the original nine counties of the Montana Territory. Once the largest county in the Montana Territory and second largest in the United States, Chouteau County covers 3,972 square miles. With a population of almost 6,000, Fort Benton, Big Sandy, Geraldine and Highwood are the largest communities, with smaller communities in Carter, Loma, Floweree, Shonkin and Square Butte. As part of the Golden Triangle in north central Montana, agricultural production and related businesses are the top industries in Chouteau County.

Contact

1308 Franklin St.
Fort Benton, MT 59442
406-622-3751
https://www.montana.edu/extension/chouteau/

Engaging Kids in the Kitchen

Fall 2025 kicked off the third year of the 'Cooking With Kids' series at Fort Benton Elementary School. Barely into the second week of school starting, we were bombarded with inquiries of when the cooking classes would start. This popularity grew from previous sessions held January through June earlier this year. Youth participants made homemade baking mixes, which included making pancakes, hot chocolate and herb dressing mixes from scratch; made green eggs and ham sandwiches and read in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday; made cookies, grilled beef and cheese tortilla sandwiches, and fruit pies. This fall we began with making strawberry cooked jam and blueberry freezer jam.

In the fruit pie session, kids make pie crust from scratch, roll it and place it in the pan. They wash and prepare fruit, make the filling, add it to the pie crust and clean up while waiting patiently as pie bakes. Their pies were entered into the annual Fort Benton Woman’s Club Pie Contest and Auction, and six of the seven who participated received top placing in their age division. Their pies raised money during the auction for local community projects.

Cooking With Kids is a collaboration between the Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H & Youth Development MSU Extension Agent, Janell Barber, and volunteers from the GFWC Fort Benton Woman’s Club. The program goal is to provide hands-on experience preparing and cooking simple food options, kitchen and food safety principles and additional life skills such as sharing, patience, creativity, discovery of new foods, and reading and math applications using recipes. When possible, we incorporate locally grown foods.

Youth and adults are very appreciative and recognize the significance this opportunity provides. One third grader said he wanted to come to cooking class 365 days a year. A kindergartner told his sister and other kids “I learned how to cut.” He also asked for a chair because he could not see inside the pot of jam while it was cooking.

The best part is when kids see instructors outside of school and ask when the next date is for cooking class. This year, the Cooking With Kids program and the Fort Benton Woman’s Club was awarded the National Creativity Award in Juniors’ Special Project - Advocacy For Children through the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Caption: Cooking With Kids participant making a green egg and ham sandwich.

Credit: J. Barber

Agricultural Producer Education and Outreach

Agricultural education and outreach for farmers was achieved through the Golden Triangle Cropping Seminar (GTCS), the Golden Triangle Barley Seminar (GTBS) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) classes.

A total of 35 producers attended the GTCS. They learned about winter barley research, insect pests in pulses, noxious weeds in cropland and pesticide updates. Five producers stated they would look into water quality when mixing pesticides and improve their tank mixing to promote efficacy. If each of these producers improved their spray efficacy and cut their spray bill by 20%, close to $5 per acre could be saved. Total economic impacts of five winter wheat farms at 3,000 acres each would save $75,000. Enhanced management helps individuals and families improve their quality of life through increased economic stability.

GTBS was a collaborative effort between the Golden Triangle MSU Extension agents and barley industry representatives. Twelve producers stated they would improve their barley management program to promote profitability. Conservatively, if these 12 producers made a $2,000 economic impact by following through with changes, total economic impacts would be $24,000. Given the approximately 80 producers and consultants in attendance, the economic impact from this seminar would be much greater. Many positive comments were included in the evaluations. 

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) classes held in Havre and Great Falls educated 50 producers on IPM of wheat stem sawfly and taught 15 master gardeners about IPM in an urban landscape. MSU Extension pest management education helps individuals, families and industry producers save money and protect the enviroment when managing pests.

Caption: Green pasture in Chouteau County.

Credit: J. Barber

Increasing Teen Leadership Opportunities

In response to declining teen participation in the Chouteau County 4-H program, Janell Barber, 4-H & Youth Development MSU Extension Agent, focused on providing opportunities for the Chouteau County Ambassadors to increase their leadership and communication skills. In return, the expected outcome was to see the Ambassadors share their knowledge and skills with the younger 4-H members and serve as a catalyst to show them what they can look forward to and encourage their future participation as teen leaders, maybe even county Ambassadors.

During the first part of the year, two Ambassadors participated in six hours of training, planning and development of a workshop for Rec Lab, a statewide 4-H leadership and communication event. At the end of March in White Sulphur Springs, they successfully presented their 4-H Rec Lab leadership and collaboration workshop to 14 teen participants. A third Ambassador joined them to present the workshop to three Chouteau County 4-H teens at a Project Day in June.

One Ambassador attended and helped prep for 4-H Congress with an additional Ambassador joining us for the rest of the week of Montana 4-H Congress this past summer. 4-H Congress is a multi-day leadership and presentation competition with workshops. 4-H members make connections and engage with other 4-H teens from across the state, broadening their leadership, communication and team building skills, gaining information about programs and faculty at Montana State University and experiencing living and being on campus.

A key goal for our 4-H Ambassadors this year was to host a dance at the fair. Our summer intern, Victoria Kirby, taught Ambassadors how to promote an event using written and verbal media, and guided them through a hands-on activity to prepare for radio interviews to promote the dance and the fair. Ambassadors planned and set-up snacks, drinks, decorations, music, and a dance floor for the outdoor dance. They created a flyer, promoted the event through social media and personally invited friends to come. With all ages of youth dancing and/or moving to the music, talking or watching, the dance met their goal to provide a fun event for kids during the fair. As far as we know, this was the first 4-H dance held at the Chouteau County Fair, and Ambassadors hope it can become an annual event.

Caption: 4-H sponsored dance during the 2025 Chouteau County Fair.

Credit: J. Barber