Karbon Kounty Moos

I apologize for a communication failure on my end.

Mike recently switched from lurker to commenter.

***** Updated 21 Mar 2005 9:30AM *****

Well, here goes nothing! I’d love to introduce you all to Mike, but I’ll let him start by answering these:

1. Tell us a little about your role/interest in the “Ag Community”.

I grew up on a family farm in Montana and though I’ve spent some time away, I always knew I’d return in one form or another. Went to MSU for my initial ag degree and then onto Cornell for a Master’s in Crop & Soil Science. After returning from a stint in the Peace Corps I started a crop consulting company called “Applied Agronomics,” and have been trying to use some of the $$ I make from that to throw back at the operation. A few years ago I inherited 28,000 acres from my uncle. The land stretches in patch-work fashion from near Cut Bank to Sidney and south to the Big Hole Valley. We’re currently growing wheat, sugar beets, and certified seed potatoes. I live on 40 acres near Lolo Pass in western Montana, but will be relocating to near the Billings area probably late this year or early next year. Growing anything in Montana is challenging because of our razor-thin margins but it’s still necessary and rewarding work. Despite the best efforts of a number of friends to talk me out of it I’m now getting involved in starting a cow-calf operation…just bought a number of cows via auction last week…god help me! On a professional level I helped with some research years ago on drought tolerant wheat varities, which still remains an area of interest to me. As personal interest goes I breed lillies (I once promised my grandmother I would name one after her, and haven’t quite succeeded, yet…) and am interested in Cucurbits of every variety. At some point I’d like to also research the viability of a community supported organic farm/produce operation, and perhaps even donate some land to such an endeavor, but that’s a bit far off at the moment.

2. Please share a story about your time in the Peace Corps.

I initially joined the Peace Corps because when I graduated from Cornell jobs in my field were hard to come by, but most importantly I thought it would be a good way to serve my country without the pesky need to learn how to kill others. I spent most of my time in Cameroon, teaching the locals and a handfull of “university” folks how to selectively improve their crops based upon local growing conditions and how to prevent erosion. It seemed like an easy task… The best part of my posting to Cameroon was the frequent visits to the beaches near Kiribi…absolutely some of the best anywhere. Took a short posting to the Central African Republic, doing the same kind of work took side-trips to the M’Baiki region, with it’s plentiful coffee growing plantations it was quite a change to what I had known in Montana! One could purchase ebony carvings for pennies. The worst time I ever had there was a bus trip I deceided to make from Banggssou to the Congo. A hard rough trip that would have
taken perhaps an hour or two by air but took 4 days thanks to a bus that I still believe was held together with bat spit.

3. What is the most amusing thing you’ve seen in the Missoula area? The most amazing?

The most amazing is the alpenglow during sunrise as it hits the mountains. I’ve traveled a lot of places but no where is it as spectacular as in western Montana! The luminesence of the distant pines played against the slate gray of the sky is breathtaking. That’s surely is one of only a handfull of things I will miss about the Missoula area. Amusing? That would be me and the wife bringing along a flask and planting ourselves next to a hotel in downtown Missoula and watching the tourists, who probably just unloaded a thousand-plus for a complete fly fishing outfit, not including a Winston rod, make complete asses of themselves trying to cast in the Clark Fork. It’s really rich, and I highly reccomend it as the cheapest form of entertainment in all of Missoula. I think I remember reading on another Montana blog out there somewhere the hypocrisy involved in almost any visit to the “Good Food Store” in Missoula. Exactly how “organic” are people who wear that much tattoo ink and have that much metal protruding from piercings on the uncovered parts of their
bodies?

4. What do you miss about Longuyland?

I spent some time in Glen Cove when the company my father worked for at the time, Pan Am, kept a house for him and my mom there. It worked out perfectly because I was studying at Cornell during this time. They lived on Daniels Drive in GCLI and what I miss is sitting in the family room and looking out at Long Island Sound. I also miss the frequent trips into “the city.” Spent a lot of time doing the touristy things but fell in love with the Lower East Side. Katz’s deli and Streits Bakery were among, and remain among, my favorite places in the world. I have a place there in a rent-controlled building on Ludlow near Canal which pays for itself 4 times over with what I charge to sublet…ain’t life great. Bought a ticket for the wife and I to attend one of the Prairie Home Companion shows at Town Hall on April 16th. Give the show a listen…I’ll try to put a “hello” out, and mention KKM if Mr. Keillor will read it
:-)

5. When can we expect you to begin a blog? That’s how most of us started, lurking, commenting then blogging! We’d be glad to have you join us.

Start a blog? I’ve probably bored everyone to death with this! It’s been on the burner for some time. I think I would have to learn something more about blogspot or another outfit…and learn some of the code required to post some of those ‘fancy’ links I see you and Sarpy Sam doing. What fun is a blog without photos? Yep, would have to learn how to do that also. While I’ve been online since the days when you would use a “dumb box” from Tandy/Radio Shack to call up a local BBS and display the
results on your TV screen, I’m a screaming moron when it comes to understanding how to do all of this stuff (why else own a Mac these days?) and just when I think I have the time to start, something turns up to suck away my time. One day…and sooner rather than later. If I do, just promise you’ll be critical of everything I do and offer tons of advice for improvement. I’m not the kind of guy who takes personal offense at suggestions for self-improvement

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