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An orange plastic hoop placed around a portion of tall grass on a range to provide a measurement.

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure: Range Record Keeping

Range record keeping helps detect and demonstrate landscape changes that have a direct impact on your ability to maintain or grow your herd.

a map showing the precipitation outlook for June 2020

Summer 2020 Climate & Drought Outlook

August 26, 2020

With alternating cool and warm weather patterns throughout the last few months and the summer season ahead, temperature continues to be a challenge for climate forecasters in South Dakota.

Two dandelions side by side. The left has a bee foraging on it. The right has a hover fly foraging on it..

Why Those Dandelions in Your Yard Aren’t So Bad

While research has shown that pollinators, specifically honey bees, can’t survive on dandelion pollen alone, this doesn’t mean that the dandelions aren’t still important for pollinators.

black cow drinking from a nearly empty stock pond.

Feed & Water Testing Laboratories

A partial listing of available feed testing laboratories.

3-D rendering of proposed low-head dam project above Lake Mitchell.

Senior Design Project Has Potential to Become Lake Mitchell Water Quality Project

SDSU Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering students, as a senior design project, recommended constructing a retention structure on a property near Lake Mitchell in order to reduce the phosphorus content entering the lake.

Country road with a thunderstorm approaching in the distance.

Summer Severe Weather Safety

Hail, high winds, heavy rain, lightning, tornadoes. These weather phenomena are common during South Dakota summers. Stormy weather can be beautiful to see, especially in our evening skies, but it can also be dangerous or life-threatening.

Grassland with a large amount of dried brush and fuel for burning.

Removing Young Trees From Grasslands Will Save Money and Effort

Volunteer trees can hinder the development of desirable wildlife habitat and livestock resources. Early control of volunteer woody species is the simplest and most cost-effective option for maintaining open grassland habitats.

A shlterbelt near a grassland with several volunteer trees growing in it.

Removing Mature Shelterbelts From Grasslands

Under what circumstances would removal of mature shelterbelts be warranted? This is a common question often asked in wildlife and conservation circles.

Black, yellow, and brown wasp in a clear container

Huge Wasps on My Tree! No, Those Still Aren’t Murder Hornets.

Another insect that has been mistaken for the Asian giant hornet (also known by its media-popularized name of ‘murder hornet’) is the horntail wasp. Horntail wasps are wood-boring insects that are harmless to humans, as they do not have venom and cannot sting.

One-month precipitation outlook map for September 2020. South Dakota has a 40-50% chance of below-normal precipitation.

September 2020 Climate & Drought Outlook

Summer has its last hurrah the first week of September before we see potential for our state’s first freeze of the fall season, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.