SDGC Blog

nottingham clifton farm, field, hay-3649060.jpg

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.

Cost of Producing Hay Read More »

Poll results

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.

South Dakotans Value Healthy Grasslands Read More »

Cattle near the water

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.

Test That Water Source Read More »

Answering questions about grazing management

In March 2023, the South Dakota Grassland Coalition put on Grazing Management Workshops where participants presented their grazing concerns.Those concerns were then addressed by local ranchers and agency personnel.

Concerns in Grazing Management Read More »

purple flower

Recognizing the importance of public awareness about the benefits of South Dakota’s native plants to the state’s agricultural economy, Governor Kristi Noem has proclaimed April as Native Plant Month.

Native Plant Month Read More »

Three guys having a conversation in the pasture

The Grazing School Follow-Up Range Consulting Program was designed to help you implement the tools and techniques you learned at the grazing school. It’s one thing to learn the principles, but putting them into practice can be overwhelming. We’re here to help.

Range Consulting Program Read More »

Assessing pasture forage is a key step in planning grazing strategies. The grazing stick utilizes simple plant leaf height measurements in inches. For every inch of growth, the grazing stick estimates how many pounds of dry plant material are available. This number is then represented as pounds per-acre, per-inch of growth.

Grazing Stick Read More »

A person standing next to cattle in the pasture.

…increasing the health of the soil, which in turn, increases the health and vigor of your plants while hopefully reintegrating warm season, native grass improved plant diversity or increasing plant density. The increased plant diversity helps our insect and bird populations.

Grazing plan resources and reasons Read More »