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Best Practices When Harvesting Leafy Greens for Market and Home
The harvesting of leafy greens to maintain quality and safety focuses on the key risk factors from the time harvest begins to selling at market. The food safety risk factors involve temperature, time, water, worker hygienic practices, and food contact surfaces.
Disposable Gloves: Guidelines for Food Handlers
Improper handling of food and poor personal hygiene by food handlers are leading causes of foodborne illness. Disposable gloves do not take the place of good hygiene and proper hand-washing.
Canning Tomato-Vegetable Mixtures
Tomatoes are unique when it comes to home canning recipes. Some tomato and vegetable recipes recommend using a boiling water bath canner, some recipes recommend a pressure canner, and some recipes offer both options.
How the Veterinary Lab Diagnoses Anthrax in a Beef Herd
Anthrax is a serious disease of cattle that pops up somewhere almost every year in South Dakota. It’s caused by a bacteria that survives as a very tough spore form in the soil. Knowing whether a death on pasture has been caused by anthrax is important for several reasons.
Planning for a Muddy Breeding Season
Early calving spring cow herds have wrapped up calving and are preparing for breeding season. If you are having flashbacks to breeding in the mud of 2018, try approaching this year with an open mind and review breeding season protocols with a “mud” backup plan.
Late Plant Crop Insurance Dates
Crop insurance late plant dates are fast approaching for planting small grains in South Dakota. Late plant dates for corn, soybean, and sunflower are nearing as well. Producers will want to work with their crop insurance agent to explore planting options and reporting of prevent plant areas.
Wet Feet in Wheat
Given the widespread wet conditions present this spring, there are many areas in winter wheat fields with both ponding and saturated (or waterlogged) soils. Producers may want to consider soil conditions and evaluate extended weather forecasts when deciding whether or not to retain a winter wheat this spring.
Aphid Populations Being Observed in Wheat
During the past couple of weeks, reports of aphid populations in wheat fields have slowly been increasing. Typically, the initial aphid populations are observed earlier in the season, but the 2019 spring may have delayed infestations.
July 2019 Climate Outlook: Challenges Continue
This year’s seasonal pattern of wetter than average conditions is projected to continue through July and the rest of the summer season. The latest climate outlook, released June 20, 2019, shows an increased chance of wetter than average conditions in the next one to three months for the state of South Dakota.