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Purple-brown caterpillar with orange head on a green corn leaf.

Common Stalk Borer Activity Estimate: June 5, 2025

In the southern counties of South Dakota, degree day estimates indicate that common stalk borer caterpillars are beginning to move from weedy hosts along field edges into corn fields.

Green corn leaf with ragged holes through-out caused by common stalk borer feeding.

Start Scouting for Common Stalk Borer Activity

Enough degree days have accumulated in some areas of South Dakota for common stalk borer caterpillars to start moving to corn end rows.

Map of South Dakota with Mesonet stations marked with blue dots.

How to Use the South Dakota Mesonet Small Grains Tool

South Dakota Mesonet Small Grains Tool is an easy-to-use and efficient tool that can help identify disease risks associated with wheat leaf rust, wheat leaf spot diseases, and Fusarium head blight.

Rhubarb plant with broad, green leaves.

Rhubarb: How to Grow It

Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that can be very long-lived, often being productive for 20 years or more. Learn some expert tips for planting, growing, and harvesting it in this resource!

A logo of a cow with a calf over the words Sweetheart Ranch

SDSU Extension hosting hands-on soil health workshop at Iona ranch

June 18, 2025

South Dakota State University Extension is hosting an educational soil health workshop for women and couples involved in agriculture at the Sweetheart Ranch near Iona.

Young woman holding an older woman’s hands.

SDSU Extension to host Chronic Disease Awareness Day gatherings

June 12, 2025

South Dakota State University Extension Better Choices Better Health – South Dakota will host an educational webinar and community gatherings at locations throughout the state on July 10, 2025, for Chronic Disease Awareness Day.

Young sunflower plants emerged in a vast field.

Overlapping Residual Herbicides May Be Necessary for Effective Weed Management

Weed management in sunflowers poses unique challenges. Compared with many other crops, there is a limited number of herbicides selections, especially postemergence herbicides.

Grasshopper with red hind tibia. It’s sitting on a green grass stem.

Survey of Grasshoppers in South Dakota

Fact sheet on the abundance and species diversity of grasshoppers in South Dakota

A nest of Asian Needle Ants.

No Documented Sightings of Asian Needle Ants in South Dakota

Despite reports from major news networks citing that Asian needle ants are in South Dakota, we have no evidence that the ant is established or has ever been documented in the state.

Two pictures of two different species of thistle. Both pictures are filled with a green thistle plant and various green plants in the background.

Thistle Species Are Budding in South Dakota

Thistles are starting to bud across South Dakota. This is a critical growth stage for management, as the plants are beginning to produce seeds and herbicides are not effective.