This past season, SDSU state agronomist Nathan Mueller did not put cows out to graze in his corn field near Hooper, Neb. He wanted the extra residue left to help with next year’s crop. “Residue in a dry year helps retain moisture,” stated Mueller, “that’s why it’s good to leave those corn stalks in the field.”
In the late 1930s, farmers all across the Great Plains planted trees. After the dust storms that swept away essential topsoil, tree planting was a sign of hope for a brighter future. Today, many of those trees are being cleared away.
Extreme temperature drops were recorded Jan. 16 in the northeast portion of the state by the South Dakota Office of Climate and Weather.
According to North Star Energy records, a total of 16.82 inches of moisture was recorded in 2012. That was the second lowest moisture measurement in 25 years.
The real Christmas trees that added special magic to this year’s holiday season can now find a second purpose by recycling, says SDSU Extension Forestry Specialist John Ball during a recent iGrow Radio Network Interview.
Cities may be fertile ground for new ideas, but rural places provide changes for interaction with the land itself—sparking ideas that are rooted in the harsh and beautiful reality of the world we inhabit.
We may be in a drought now, but the damage from two years of flooding lives on.
Utility companies are studying and taking comments on routes for a proposed transmission line that would run about 150 to 175 miles between proposed substations in Big Stone City, S.D., and Ellendale, N.D.
The outlook for reducing South Dakota’s nagging drought does not appear promising based on the Oct. 18 Climate Prediction Center’s long-range outlook.
Harvest in several towns in the James River Valley is not only well under way, it’s nearly done in some parts of the region—and it’s just mid-October.