Montana: Bozeman Business Finds Value in Damaged Wood
Forestry experts estimate that at least 1 million acres of Montana forests have succumbed to the mountain pine beetle, leaving enormous amounts of standing dead trees. Finish carpenter Neil Wilbert finds the distinctive blue streaks caused by a fungus introduced by the pine beetle beautiful.

Thus he created Beetle-Kill Boards, a business that cuts and mills beetle-killed trees. Wilbert sells his beetle-killed lumber to other builders and woodworkers and incorporates it into furniture he builds in his workshop. Recently he’s been making blue-tinted storage crates, folding camp chairs and Adirondack-style lounge chairs to sell at Bozeman’s Sweet Pea Festival.

Iowa: Ottumwa Restyled into Video-Game Capital
After declaring itself home to the International Video Game Hall of Fame last year, Ottumwa inducted its first class of video-game honorees during a four-day festival at the local convention center. The festival, named Big Bang 2010, features legendary Donkey Kong players, a Pac-Man birthday party and bands with names like ComputeHER. The construction of a video game museum will take place in the next five years.

Nationwide: 772,000 Extra Heifers from Sexed Semen
According to estimates by Albert DeVries, a dairy specialist at the University of Florida, US dairy producers will have 772,000 more heifers available from 2008 through 2012, thanks to sexed semen technology.

“The first heifer calves conceived with sexed semen in early 2006 were starting to enter the milking herds in late 2008,” he says. “A total of 722,000 extra heifers are projected to calve in the five years from 2008 to 2012.” About 48 percent of the pregnancies would have been heifers with the use of conventional semen. The sexed semen provides 7 to 8 percent more heifers.

For more information contact Virginia Wolking, virginiaw@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1017.