It is a rare pleasure to speak with a person of consequence and have their undivided attention for an hour. Ray Archuleta, who needs little introduction, has been a person of consequence in the lives of Buz Kloot (Soil Health Labs at the University of South Carolina) and Tanse Herrmann, NRCS Grazing Lands Soil Health…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 40: Unlock Year-Round Grazing through Common Sense Forage Plans
In this, our second chat with Bart Carmichael, rancher out of Faith SD, we quizzed Bart on his approach to year-round grazing where Bart walks us through why he aims to graze year-round, what he does to make this possible and what benefits he sees from this practice. Given the dry conditions experienced at the…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 37: Biologist-Rancher Renovates Pasture for Wildlife and Livestock
Dr. Shaun Grassel is a wildlife biologist who works out on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation’s headquarters for the tribe’s Department of Wildlife, Fish and Recreation. In addition, Shaun has recently taken a more active role in managing his family land in Lower Brule, both in ranching and experimenting with growing native grasses, including big…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 36: A Rural Videographer’s Eye-Opening Journey Promoting Soil Health
In the last seven years, the name of Joe Dickie has become more and more synonymous with high quality video that highlights outstanding farmers and ranchers in South Dakota. Many in the South Dakota agricultural community know and trust Joe, but he is a busy man and doesn’t always get to share his whole story….
Soil Health Labs Ep. 31: Growing Rangeland Resilience
In this podcast, we talk with Miranda Meehan, NDSU Extension Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist. We chat with Miranda about a wide range of subjects that include environmental stewardship and livestock-environmental interactions including: range and riparian ecology, grazing management, integrated crop livestock systems, water quality, and reclamation. Miranda grew up in the agricultural community in North…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 26: Exploring the Benefits of Bale Grazing
Jessalyn Bachler is an Extension Range Field Specialist with SDSU, based in Lemmon, SD. Jessalyn graduated from NDSU with her Masters in Range Science with her thesis entitled “Winter Feeding Beef Cattle: a Review on Bale Grazing in the Northern Great Plains”; Jessalyn did her research out at NDSU’s Streeter REC in North Dakota. Apart…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 25: Increasing Grass Production Despite Drought
Bart Carmichael and his wife Shannon run a seed stock operation with their family in Northwest SD, just north of Faith SD. In this interview we kick off with drought – in a 12” rainfall area, Bart says they’re either preparing for a drought or in a drought. In the last 28 years, the Carmichaels…