Merit or Myth

Better Soil Structure, Better Planting: a Series with Kent Vlieger (1/7)

Video

In February 2020, there was much anxiety around the planting season as because of so much moisture much of South Dakota had received in the previous year. In May 2020, Kent Vlieger, SD NRCS state soil health specialist followed up in Garretson SD and Hutchinson County, SD to see how the planting season was going. …

Ep 13: Resilience (Soil Structure and Conservation)

Podcast

This podcast is the fifth in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer….

Ep 11: Resilience (Weeds, Covers and Termination)

Podcast

This podcast is the third in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer….

Ep 09: Moisture, Rutting and Covers

Podcast

This podcast is the first in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer….

Overcoming Ruts and Erosion

Video

In extreme weather conditions like 2019, issues like rutting are unavoidable—though that doesn’t mean farmers don’t get some say. While ruts are still a reality, farmers are finding that no-till fields feature far fewer of them than conventional. With that in mind, how can no-till and conventional till farmers best handle existing ruts and what…

A Year Like No Other

Video

‘You are not alone!’ ‘There is hope!’ If there were two messages from the eight South Dakota farmers we sat down with in early 2020, these would be it. 2018 and 2019 were tough years. This remains true for all farmers—regenerative, conventional and everywhere in between—but by growing resilience through soil health, many producers are…

A New Perspective on Weeds (Little 4/6)

Video

‘We don’t want to call anything a weed. It’s just that you don’t have the right livestock out there to eat it.’ Hear how the Little’s have transformed their approach to weed management!

Stacked Enterprises (Little 2/6)

Video

Scalability and direct-to-market sales are just two of the benefits of stacked enterprises. Hear how Barry and Eli Little have grown their operation by implementing stacked systems — and what the common pitfalls are along the way.

A Forward-Thinking Approach to Grazing (Little 1/6)

Video

‘We really wanted to get cattle integrated into our cropland and put more into the soil [so that it] will give back to us.’ See how these forward-thinking, South Dakota farmers started experiencing the benefits of soil health through a change in their approach to grazing. USDA is an Equal Opportunity Provider, Employer and Lender.

Why Choose Goats for Livestock? (Hall 6/6)

Video

Goats may seem like quite an odd choice for livestock. One South Dakota producer has found them to be the perfect soil health companions. Why? Hear what this producer has to say in his own words!