PIERRE, SD – A two-day bus tour beginning in Spink County on Aug. 3 is sure to appeal to people with an interest in soil health, conservation practices and regenerative agriculture. The tour will visit Menoken Farm, a conservation demonstration farm near Bismarck, ND, and Deep Root Ranch near Selby, SD.

At Menoken Farm, tour participants can expect to see corn planted on 60-inch rows, soybeans planted into rye, sunflowers with cover crops, full-season cover crops, grazing cover crops, a rotational grazing system, compost and worm juice, windbreaks, and a garden and greenhouse tour. They will also hear Menoken Farm Lead Educator Jay Fuhrer speak. Fuhrer has over 38 years of experience in cropping systems, grazing systems, cover crops and gardens.

Deep Root Ranch is owned and operated by South Dakota Soil Health Coalition Board Member Doug Sieck. The ranch features intensively managed rotational grazing, grazing of full- and partial-season cover crops, no-till practices, livestock integration on cropland, and a diverse crop rotation.

Participants will need to register for the tour at https://tinyurl.com/MenokenTour2021.

For current members of the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, there is no charge to attend the tour. For all others, the registration fee is $25 and includes a 2021 membership in the Coalition. Travel and lunches will be provided. The tour departs at 8 a.m. on Aug. 3 from the 4-H Grounds on the south side of Redfield, SD, and will return at 3 p.m. on Aug. 4. Participants will be responsible for their evening meal on Aug. 3 and their hotel room. A block of rooms has been reserved at a hotel in Bismarck, ND. Persons requiring special accommodations or materials in an alternate format or language should contact SDSHC Coordinator Cindy Zenk at 605-280-4190 or sdsoilhealth@gmail.com.

The tour is being sponsored by the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, Spink County Conservation District, South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, South Dakota Grassland Coalition, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.