The Crow Creek Sioux Reservation is home to about 2,225 people and is located on the east bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota. Over the past four to five years, a wellness coalition has been created, established and is currently in full force through the work of SDSU Extension and many other great partners and collaborations within the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.
As the first frost date approaches, producers often have concerns about the risk of prussic acid poisoning in livestock. Certain forage plants, especially sorghums and related species are associated with an increased risk of death loss because of prussic acid poisoning.
2019 has been a year fraught with challenges for ranchers across South Dakota. Abundant precipitation is usually a blessing, however, wet conditions coupled with a cool spring followed by warmer temperatures has caused another problem across the rangelands of South Dakota: ergot poisoning.
Planting cover crops and returning crop residues (stover) to the soil both adds nutrients and improves overall soil quality. These practices are common with producers across South Dakota and have been recently studied by researchers to identify how they impact the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a tall, native, prairie grass that is often seeded on marginal lands in South Dakota. It has gained growing popularity over the past decade not only as a source of biofuel and feed, but also as a method to improve soil properties.
![A green tractor planting seeds in a no-till field. Courtesy: United Soybean Board [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2019-10/W-00433-00-no-till-planting-soybeans-field.jpg?h=b2774bcf&itok=jiH6qh1t)
Implementing diverse crop rotations and no-till practices are common suggestions to reduce erosion, control pests, and improve yields. These practices can also improve soil health through an increase in soil carbon levels.
Resources for Food Councils to bridge the gap between food security and healthy food choices.
Rapid City’s Main Street Square featured all-things agriculture on Saturday, September 21, 2019 allowing urban consumers an opportunity to meet the farmers and ranchers who produce their food and learn how they care for crops, livestock and rangelands.
Play these games to promote the development of physical endurance, coordination, dexterity, quickness and strength.
For decades scientists have known that a handful of soil contained more micro-biological organisms than the number of humans on earth. Science is just beginning to discover these organisms and learn about their functions and contribution to their soil ecosystem.