Brett Nix grew up a few miles south of Murdo, South Dakota on the same ranch he and his wife Lori live on now. I visited the Nix place in the thick of calving on a balmy, May morning. We
SDGC Blog
Dan stepped out of the pickup and waited for the evening songbird chorus to return after being hushed by our arrival. He parked on the top of Cedar Butte— a long, grassy plateau surrounded
Native vegetation in grasslands, which are critical habitats that provide ecosystem services and economic opportunities for South Dakotans, are widely being replaced by invasive grasses. The utility
Jim Faulstich, Chair of the South Dakota Grass-land Coalition, began his work on the board in 2000 after experiencing the value of grassland on his own operation. From migratory bird habitat to
The 39th Annual Rangeland Days and 18th Annual Soils Days were held in Watertown June 14 & 15 at the Codington Extension Building
The SD Association of Conservation Districts recognized
the challenge so invited staff of conservation partners
to “get to know each other” round tables at their spring
area meetings.
Layering enterprises is one way to maximize all the resources of a given operation to benefit both economic and ecological bottom lines.
Winter feeding costs are typically the single greatest line-item cost in most cow-calf budgets. A few years ago, Jim Gerrish, a well known range consultant from Patterson, Idaho, wrote an article* on how to calculate the cost of producing one ton of hay on your ranch or farm. Jim found his clients cost of production ranged from $70 to $140 per ton (2013) if all production costs were calculated.
The telephone poll of 505 randomly selected voters in South Dakota, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. It was sponsored by SDGC to guide the organization’s efforts to educate South Dakota residents about the benefits of, and on-going threats to, healthy grasslands.
Any type of water source except rural water can run high in salts. Stock dams are more susceptible than other sources but even wells and spring fed sources can be toxic.