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Pasture

All Pasture Content

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 green absinth wormwood plant surrounded by other green vegetation.

Absinth Wormwood Spray Window Passed: Mow now and plan to treat the regrowth in the fall

Absinth wormwood is a statewide noxious weed that inhabits cropland, pasture, rangeland, right-of-ways, and waste sites. If not effectively managed, the species can displace desirable vegetation, reduce crop yield and decrease land value.

Beef cattle grazing summer pasture.

Summer Pasture Report: Discussing Rain, Pasture Recovery, and Preparing for Fall

Drought conditions across northern South Dakota have seen some relief due to the precipitation received in the past few months. Despite some decent rainfall occurring, most of the state is still behind normal for the water year.

Red angus cattle gathered in a feedlot in winter.

Livestock

South Dakota is home to a dynamic livestock industry.

Green plant with bright yellow flowers throughout.

Leafy Spurge: Do I spray now or wait until fall?

In June, leafy spurge is one of our most problematic rangeland, pasture, and roadside weeds. It is also one of South Dakota’s noxious weeds that landowners are required by law to control. So should you spray it now or wait until fall?

Redlegged and differential grasshopper nymphs.

Grasshoppers Are Showing up in Large Numbers in Eastern South Dakota

While scouting spring wheat in Brookings County this week, we noticed grasshopper nymph populations that were close to threshold.

mostly black cattle stand around a dugout with water. the grass is green and the sky is blue

SDSU Extension offering livestock water testing across state

June 18, 2025

South Dakota State University Extension is encouraging producers to take advantage of its free, on-site livestock water testing services across the state.

Two pictures of two different species of thistle. Both pictures are filled with a green thistle plant and various green plants in the background.

Thistle Species Are Budding in South Dakota

Thistles are starting to bud across South Dakota. This is a critical growth stage for management, as the plants are beginning to produce seeds and herbicides are not effective.

Grasshopper with red hind tibia. It’s sitting on a green grass stem.

Survey of Grasshoppers in South Dakota

Fact sheet on the abundance and species diversity of grasshoppers in South Dakota

Green perennial sowthistle with yellow flowers at top in the foreground with blurred green, soybean plants in the background.

Perennial Sowthistle Management

Perennial sowthistle inhabits roadsides, pastures, rangelands, and croplands. It can be abundant in overgrazed, over-hayed, or over-mowed areas, as there is little desirable vegetation to compete against the weed.