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Corn has negative margins in 2014

Crop planning budgets for 2014 are showing negative margins for corn, explained Jack Davis, SDSU Extension Crops Business Management Field Specialist.

Paul Shubeck has been a mediator in South Dakota for 25 years. Photo by Greg Latza

Mediation services give farmers options

By Lana Bandoim   What happens when farm family members can’t agree about what to do with a family business or an inheritance? Both North and South Dakota offer mediation services than can help two parties resolve their issues. Mediation… 

Watershed taskforce agrees relief is needed in Day County

A Regional Watershed Advisory Task Force, a legislative committee charged with studying water management issues, held its third meeting in Webster last week where the message from landowners was relief from the ever rising sloughs and lakes.

Bees in a hive at Miller Honey Farm in Gackle, N.D. Photo by Melody Owen/Tri-County News

Dakota bees that pollinate crops nationwide are struggling

Area beekeepers are suffering from bee die-offs in numbers they call unsustainable, which threatens not only their livelihood but could also affect hundreds of crops that depend on pollination by bees. The first in a two-part series.

Commodity prices down from a year ago

Although many areas in South Dakota are still suffering from the effects of last year’s drought and are in need of more rain, overall conditions are much better than last year and that has impacted the markets, said Darrell R. Mark, Adjunct Professor of Economics South Dakota State University.

Tiling is not the same as drainage

A handful of area farmers convinced the Day County Commission that requiring notices before drain tiling is a step in the wrong direction.

A good season to try cover crops

Due to the adequate moisture many areas of the state have received, this year may be a good year to try cover crops, said Ruth Beck, SDSU Extension Agronomy Specialist.

Cool weather expected to stay awhile

The latest update to the August climate outlook was released this week, with a forecast of cooler than average temperatures for most of South Dakota. Rainfall forecasts show no clear leaning toward wetter, drier or near normal for the next month, said Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension Climate Field Specialist.