News

The 2016 drought forced Shawn Freeland to make a difficult decision. “I sold two-thirds of our replacement heifers. It was the hardest thing to do because we had put a tremendous amount of work into their genetics,” says the 45-year-old Caputa, S.D. rancher. He based...

David Kruger and Todd Boesen don’t know each other. But these two South Dakota farmers share a desire to test out practices on their farms. “I guess I’m a tinkerer,” explains Boesen, a Kimball crop and cattle producer. “It’s fun to try things out. If I hear it won’t...

Soil health practices help fields hold up in wet conditions Levi Goetz was leery rolling into the field to plant corn after a 2-inch rain, but it was already mid-May. Time was starting to run out. It turned out he had nothing to worry about. He had to steer around a...

OVERVIEW: If you're looking for an opportunity that ties your skills for creating compelling communications with your passion for agriculture and conservation, consider the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition (SDSHC) Communication Coordinator position. Our vision is a...

Soil health producer says his way of management helps him in difficult times The record wet year in 2019 left many acres in South Dakota unsuitable for planting, but on Doug Sieck's cropland near Selby, South Dakota, he was able to plant every acre he wanted to. He...

Private landowners play a critical role in caring for South Dakota’s nearly 100 thousand miles of streams and rivers explains Kris Dozark, an environmental scientist with the S.D. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SD DENR). Some examples of practices...

Results of a three-year soil health study focusing on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi proves there is still much to learn about soil microbes. “This is the purpose of research,” explains Mike Lehman, Soil Microbiologist for the U.S. Department of...

If there’s one message Dan Forgey hopes to convey to South Dakota farmers and ranchers, it is the fact that this aggressive weed could take up residence in their fields in 2020 if they don’t take the threat seriously. “Producers can’t brush this off,” says Forgey,...