Range

All Range 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 woman stands behind a white pickup's tailgate talking to a group of people in an open pasture

SDSU Extension range workshop offers unique educational opportunity in Rosebud

September 02, 2025

The eighth annual Rosebud Range Workshop, led by South Dakota State University Extension and partners, was held on July 16, 2025, at the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Ranch and provided participants a unique opportunity to learn about rangelands.

A group of youth and adults stand in a grassy pasture

Dedicated educators help South Dakota youth succeed nationally

August 28, 2025

In May, South Dakota sent 84 youth to the National Land and Range Judging Contest in El Reno, Oklahoma. Out of the 34 states that competed, only Texas came close to matching those numbers with 72 participants.

Vast, rolling rangeland near the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Pasture

Pastures and rangelands are a valuable resource for owners of equine and livestock.

Red angus cattle gathered in a feedlot in winter.

Livestock

South Dakota is home to a dynamic livestock industry.

A green field bindweed with a white flower at top.

In a Bind With Field Bindweed?

It’s August and field bindweed, one of our most-persistent perennial weeds, is flowering. Although field bindweed is not statewide noxious, it’s locally noxious in Bennett, Bon Homme, Clarke, Lake, Stanley, and Yankton counties.

Green Canada thistle with whitened leaves at the top. Various green plants throughout.

White Thistle Disease: Biological management at work

White thistle disease can be seen among many Canada thistle plants throughout South Dakota this growing season. Plants infected with the disease exhibit significant reductions in both growth and seed head compared with non-infected plants.

A picture of producers (ranchers) in a rangeland pasture looking into another pasture that has different forage biomass quantities. The

Systems Thinking for Agriculture: A tool for addressing complex ranch problems

A systems approach to management encourages producers to take multiple factors into consideration to solve problems within their agricultural operation.

A photo of a winter grazing pasture with a variety of grasses, shrubs and forbs that was taken at the SDSU Cottonwood Field Station that contains some field pennycress.

2025 Field Pennycress Management Considerations

Field pennycress prevalence on pastures has been observed to be in higher abundance this year in Western South Dakota. When consumed in certain quantities it can be toxic to livestock.

Several cows and cow-calf pairs at pasture.
Nov 10

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The 2025 Range Beef Cow Symposium will be hosted by the University of Wyoming in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on November 10 and 11.