NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — The temperatures are starting to dip and ag producers in our region are getting ready for the chill to set in.

In Friday’s Eye on Ag and Energy, we take a look at what farmers and ranchers need to look out for ahead of the first frost of the season.

According to the NDSU Extension in Burleigh County, weed spraying should have been done already. Because plants hurt by the frost are most likely not going to be protected by the sprays.

On the livestock side of things, our local extension agent says to bring the cows closer to home and graze them out on your cover crops or on the regrowth from your hay fields.

When it comes to the harvest, things are looking good, and he says the same can be said with the upcoming sunflower harvest.

“We’re definitely clicking along and going pretty fast. And then on the sunflower side, I know there’s quite a bit out there. And it looks like they’re already desiccated. So, you know anytime I’m sure sunflowers are going to start their harvest season there now,” said Tyler Kralicek, an NDSU Extension Agent.

When it comes to sunflowers, he says farmers typically ship them to Bismarck’s Hubbard Feeds, which deals a lot in birdseed. Then the confection sunflowers — which everybody loves to have at the football games — get shipped mostly to the eastern side of the state.