Prairie County

Prairie County is a rural county, covering 1,730 square miles with a population of 1,091. Terry is the only incorporated town in the county and serves as the county seat with a population of 566. Agricultural production and agriculture business form the basis of the economy in Prairie County.

Although the population of the county is small, the clientele needs are diverse. MSU Extension’s role is to provide a wide range of educational opportunities and services for the people of Prairie County. Local topics of interest include agriculture, 4-H and youth development, family and consumer sciences, and community vitality.

Contact

217 West Park, PO Box 7
Terry, MT 59349
406-635-2121
https://www.montana.edu/extension/prairie/

Prairie County 4-H provides members opportunities to learn leadership, citizenship, and life skills

The Prairie County 4-H program provides educational opportunities in a wide variety of 4-H project areas. Of 4-H members, 86 percent participated in at least one project workshop during the 2024-2025 4-H year. Projects and skills highlighted were horsemanship, sewing, visual arts, small animals, livestock, leathercraft, foods, and shooting sports. 4-H members demonstrated competence and confidence in these project areas during the 4-H interview judging process at All Events Day and the Prairie County Fair.

In 4-H, leaders are intentional about providing youth opportunities to gain communication, leadership and teamwork skills to enable them to become contributing citizens. Volunteer leaders and 4-H teen leaders engaged to lead project workshops with the county agent. Of Prairie County 4-H members over the age of 14, 50 percent participated in leadership training or served in county-wide leadership roles during the 4-H year by coordinating county events and teaching at project workshops.

Each year 4-H members look forward to participating in regional and statewide 4-H activities. Forty percent of Prairie County 4-H members took advantage of these events, participating in Southeastern Montana 4-H Camp, Junior High Youth Oreo trip, Eastern Montana Regional Small Animal Judging, Champion of Champions beef contest, Montana Range Days, and Montana State 4-H Congress. These experiences provide an opportunity for 4-H members to network with other 4-H members, gain communication skills, and take on leadership roles outside of the county.

Caption: A Prairie County 4-H teen leader leads a bread baking activity at a project workshop.

Credit: Sharla Sackman

MSU Extension in Prairie County offered many critical services to help agriculture in 2025

MSU Extension in Prairie County tests forages for the presence of the toxin nitrate. As a result of educating producers about the importance of testing their small grain forages for nitrate, producers brought 76 feed samples to MSU Extension for testing. Of the forage tested, 81% was safe to feed, 14% tested at a level high enough that dilution of feed would be necessary to feed to pregnant cows, and 5% tested high enough that producers delayed cutting or grazing due to high levels of nitrate. This information provided producers with critical information to make decisions about timing of cutting a crop, how to minimize risk when grazing, and how to safely feed the forages tested.

Forage quality testing is an important component of ration balancing and marketing forage for sale. MSU Extension assisted producers in submitting 25 forage samples to accredited laboratories for nutrient analysis of crude protein, total digestible nutrients, and net energy values to aid in feeding and marketing forages.

Caption: Prairie County sunset

Credit: Madison Sackman

MSU Extension hosts agriculture education events

MSU Extension hosted two main agricultural education events for ag producers in Prairie County in 2025.

MSU Extension specialists were invited to speak in Terry and nine other towns across Southeastern Montana in January for the Southeastern Montana Winter Ag Series. Topics included troubleshooting tree and turf issues, Palmer Amaranth invasive weed management, herbicide resistance in weeds, and developing a vitamin supplement program for the cow herd. Winter Series is the largest adult education event in Prairie County.

Since the early 1990s, the Prairie, Fallon, and Wibaux County MSU Extension offices and Weed Districts have teamed together to put on the Tri-County Weed Tour. Many years the tour has taken place in the Cabin Creek area where the three counties intersect, but this year the tour took place in Baker for the opportunity to view a site with two weeds of interest, absinth wormwood and poison hemlock. Other tour topics included current tools and variable rate technologies available for weed control in precision farming, disease resistance of crucial Montana ag crops, and strategies for a sustainable approach to managing pests.

Caption: MSU Extension Cropland Weed Specialist Dr. Tim Seipel talks to Prairie County producers at Winter Ag Series

Credit: Sharla Sackman

MSU Extension helps community with project planning and implementation

MSU Extension in Prairie County supports local government and organizations in their community and economic development efforts through facilitation of community discussions, assistance in project planning and implementation, and infrastructure development.

One project MSU Extension in Prairie County is facilitating is the transformation of the Prairie County Fairgrounds from a facility that was historically used primarily for the county fair and rodeo events into a multi-use facility for a wide variety of community events year-round.

MSU Extension has been working closely with the Fair Board, County Commissioners, and Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation on improving water availability and waste disposal at the Fairgrounds. Additionally, MSU Extension hosted a series of facilitated discussions beginning in November 2022 to explore improvements to livestock and community facilities at the Prairie County Fairgrounds. As a direct result of these discussions, a special committee was formed of 4-H and Fair Board representatives to explore facility options.

With permission from the Prairie County Commissioners, the joint committee conducted a financial feasibility study and enlisted the help of the Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation to research funding possibilities. With the assistance of MSU Extension, the county submitted a grant to the Montana Department of Commerce to have a preliminary architecture report done to further explore facility options.

Caption: Prairie County Fairgrounds

Credit: Keifer Lewis