What’s the soil food web got to do with it? This is a special podcast to prepare our audience for the upcoming Climate Smart Agriculture enhancements to the EQIP and CSP programs, amongst others. In our previous podcast recorded in November 2022, we spoke to South Dakota NRCS’s Jessica Michalski and Kent Vlieger about some…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 42: Rangeland Specialist Encourages Grassland Diversity to Achieve Resilience
“.. Everything works together. The more diverse a pasture or grassland is, the healthier it is, the more resilient it is to any disturbance that comes at it. So, if we can have that diversity it’s going to reduce the inputs needed and the landscape can be more resilient as well”. If you find yourself…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 39: How Rangeland Health and Livestock Work to Solve Environmental Issues
We’re excited to introduce our good friend, Shannon Kulseth-Iverson. Shannon is a native of North Dakota and ranches with her husband, Eric Iverson and her three teenage children out of White River, SD. We caught up with Shannon (yes, she is always on the move) and talked about ranching, native range restoration, and her work…
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. 33: Calving with Nature Cuts Costs for Year-Round Grazing
In this second of two chats with rancher, Pat Guptill (Quinn, SD), we discuss how he can graze his livestock year-round and (to us, at least) the surprising link between year-round grazing and calving on grass (so when you see fawns out on the prairie, that’s the time to calve in your area). Pat’s basic…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 30: The Insights of an Involved Land Owner
South Dakota NRCS and the Conservation Districts have identified that Non-Operating Landowners (or NOLOs) are one of the key s to moving the soil health needle in that state. Jeannie Franceus is a landowner, yes, but we’d like to coin a new term, she is a Super-Involved Landowner (or SILO) – Jeannie did grow up…