BROOKINGS, S.D. – SDSU Extension will host a bus tour on Aug. 24 highlighting precision agricultural strategies used by farmers to mitigate saline soils while also maximizing productivity and profitability.
Tour participants will learn how three producers in Brown, Spink and McPherson counties have utilized resources and insight gained by participating in the Every Acre Counts program. The tour lasts from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting at 38352 S.D. Highway 20, Northville, near the grain bins.
The event is co-sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pheasants Forever and the Spink County Conservation District.
Every Acre Counts is a program designed to assist South Dakota producers with strategies to improve opportunities for successfully managing “marginal lands,” which are lands that do not have strong agricultural production due to poor soil quality or other conditions.
Anthony Bly, SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist, said the tour will showcase three producers dealing with common issues who have successfully reduced how saline, or salty, the affects to their lands are.
“Nearly all producers can relate to these producer’s situations,” Bly said of Every Acre Counts. “Come and see how the precision profitability process can be used to make your farm more profitable, and how plants can transform salty soils back into productive uses again.”
Registration is required to reserve a seat on the bus. Lunch will be provided.
For more information or to register, call or text Anthony Bly, SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist, at 605-690-4563; or Cristin Weber, Pheasants Forever South Dakota Precision Ag and Conservation Specialist, at 605-999-3905.
