Natural Resources
All Natural Resources Content
Five Range Management Principles: #5 Climate Ready
Understanding your ranching system is critical, and identifying anticipated soil-plant-animal responses during periods of dry, wet, or normal conditions will enable you to develop climate-ready practices. Learn how to get started today!
Grass Tetany: Now Is the Time To Prepare
Grass tetany is a metabolic disorder associated with grazing lush, rapidly growing pastures. Learn the factors that influence its progression along with tips for preventing and managing it in herds.
Selecting a Calving Season Based on Matching Nutritional Needs and Resources
Choosing the calving season is a complex and highly individual decision for each beef cattle producer. A primary consideration in pasture-based cow-calf operations is choosing a calving season that will best match the forage supply to forage demand.
Blue-Green Algae and Livestock
With warmer temperatures, the conditions are right for blue-green algae blooms. Different species of blue-green algae contain various toxins, which can poison livestock, resulting in rapid death.
Nitrates and Livestock Water Quality
Nitrate poisoning is something we think about with forages such as millet, oats, corn, sorghum, sudan, kochia and others that have been fertilized or if there is a drought, but water can also be a contributing factor.
Sweet Clover Poisoning
Hay that contains sweet clover can be an excellent feed as long as the dicoumarol level is known and feeding management is used to prevent poisoning.
Why Is Carbon So Important to Agriculture and Society?
Carbon is not only vital to soil health—it’s the foundation of our long-term food security. Learn some incredible facts about the role carbon plays in our soil and environment.
Five Range Management Principles: #3 Ecosystem Biodiversity
Milkweed can help make rangelands a better environment for both cattle and neighboring plants and animals by having a shielding effect on companion plants, preventing erosion and accelerating the decomposition process, whole also providing nectar, habitat and organic material for ecosystem services.
Five Range Management Principles: #2 Creating a Grazing Plan
Creating a grazing management plan can be overwhelming. Learn the basic steps for outlining a plan, along with several resources to help identify the right strategy for your operation.
SDSU Extension Hosts First South Dakota Watershed Academy
SDSU Extension recently hosted the South Dakota Watershed Academy at the Oak Lake Field Station. The workshop was designed and organized in consultation with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide information on water resources regulation and monitoring.