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Mineral Sources May Impact Reproductive Efficiency

It is well-known by producers and feed specialists that trace minerals play an essential role in physiological functions. Minerals like copper, iodine, manganese, selenium, and zinc are important in embryonic development.

Corn earlobe being stored in a bunker for later use as cattle feed.

Valuing High-Moisture Corn and Earlage

A key advantage to using commodities that meet standard specifications and are frequently traded is that it is very easy to establish an economic value that is accepted by most users. The marketplace sets the value of corn, and other feedstuffs on a daily basis, provided those products meet some set of standard specifications.

A storage closet packed to the ceiling with hoarded items.

Understanding Hoarding and the Impact on a Healthy Home

Excessively acquiring items, even when there is limited space, is a sign of hoarding. Hoarding becomes dangerous when the surplus clutter impacts the ability to maintain a healthy home.

Yellow wheat with grey colored wheat heads.

Sooty Mold: A Saprophytic Fungi Observed in Wheat

While out crop scouting, sooty mold was observed in some South Dakota wheat fields. Sooty mold is a saprophyte, which can be easily mistaken for a disease caused by plant pathogens.

Testing Dial Pressure Canner Gauges

For accuracy before use, it is recommended that dial gauges get tested each year. Gauges that read high cause under-processing and may result in unsafe food.

Grassy pasture with a small hill of dirt in the foreground. There is green grass at the base of the mound.

Are Ant Mounds in Pastures Bad?

We often receive reports of large ant mounds in a pastures and rangeland. These mounds are the creation of thatching ants, which are common in South Dakota. Although these mounds are often considered a nuisance, the ants may play an important role as predators of potential pest insects.

A group of ranchers meeting out in the range.

Advocacy in the Beef Industry

Two speakers at the Range Beef Cow Symposium addressed today’s issue of disconnect between consumers and producers. With the majority of the population being at least three generations removed from the family farm, it is important for farmers and ranchers to tell their story and help the consumer understand how their food is produced.

Black angus cattle feeding in a feedlot.

What Goes Into Calculating Yardage?

Yardage cost is the non-feed cost per head for every day that an animal is fed harvested feed in some form of confinement. Yardage is usually associated with calves and yearlings in the feedlot, but this concept can apply to drylotted or wintering cows as well.

Ranchers viewing USDA disaster assistance information on a computer in a home office.

Drought Assistance Questions Answered

Dry conditions persist across the state, and many new questions are being asked regarding the federal assistance programs available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.

A green plant with spire-like white and pink flowers.

Lupines for Northern Gardens

Lupines (Lupinus), a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae, are popular plants in the United States. In addition to their aesthetic value, lupines provide a variety of benefits to the garden.