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A green cover crop mixture grows on a calm day; mainly consisting of oats and peas.

Buying or Selling Oats for a Cover Crop? Be Sure to Follow the Rules

As a challenging 2019 row crop planting season wraps up in South Dakota, many producers are looking to plant cover crops on unplanted acres. One popular cool-season grass cover crop is oats. Most oats in South Dakota are grown as certified varieties, and it is important to be aware of the legal ramifications behind purchasing oat seed for use as a cover crop.

freshly harvested leafy greens

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.

woman wearing gloves preparing servings of vegetables. USDA Photo Courtesy of Bob Nichols.

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.

Several cans of homemade salsa sitting on a table.

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.

a person putting tomatoes into a bag.

Growing Tomatoes in South Dakota

Few vegetables inspire us more than home-grown tomatoes, bursting with vine-ripe flavor. Tomatoes are easy to grow in containers or in the ground, and are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, as well as cancer-fighting lycopenes.

Tick that is dark brown to black in color with a reddish-orange abdomen.

Protecting Yourself From Ticks

During wet springs, tick populations tend to thrive in South Dakota. These parasitic arthropods require blood to fulfill their nutritional needs and commonly use humans as a host. Some ticks can also carry bacterial diseases that are a threat to human health.

Tick that is dark brown to black in color with a reddish-orange abdomen.

An identification guide to common Ticks of South Dakota

A guide to identifying common ticks in South Dakota

oats

2017-2018 Multi-State Organic Oat Variety Trial Results

The tight production margins currently present in agriculture have increased interest in growing organic oats.

Picture shows a dense and diverse cover crop mix grown after cereal grain.  The cover crop is very green with many brassica and grass plants growing. The top third of the picture is the sky with some gray clouds.

South Dakota Land Use Trends (2012-2017)

Significant education efforts for natural resource conservation have occurred in South Dakota during the last five years. Many stakeholder groups have brought awareness for soil health and water quality to the forefront.