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. 32: Adaptive Management Applied
We catch up with Pat Guptill, rancher from Quinn, SD, Pat grazes his base herd year-round and when he has enough grass in the summer, will take on additional stockers. Pat discusses his basic operating philosophy and business model, he shares with us the number 1 thing he attends to: spoiler alert, these are livestock…
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. 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…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 29: Integrating Livestock Back on the Land: Perennials (2/2)
Dr. Cody Zilverberg is not your ordinary rangeland scientist who grew up on the ranch knowing this was exactly what he wanted to do. Cody’s path was somewhat more circuitous – he grew up in Central South Dakota on a registered beef cattle ranch that his parents, brother, and sister-in-law still operate. Cody studied computer…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 27: Exploring the Future of Ag with Dr. Dwayne Beck
To most farmers in South Dakota, Dr. Dwayne Beck needs very little introduction, Dwayne is the manager of the Dakota lakes Research Station near Pierre, SD and has been an influential force in promoting no-till farming and an awareness of soil biology with farmers. While Dwayne has written a good bit on no-till farming, he…
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…
Plug and Plant Ep. 23: Bringing Prosperity Back to the Range
It’s often thought that being a rancher is a noble profession—but not one that easily pays the bills. In this episode, Jenita Qualm (current Farmers Network Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Specialist) calls on us to question this old way of looking at the ranching profession and invites us to step into a reality where ranchers…
Plug and Plant Ep. 22: Overcoming the Fear of Prescribed Burn
“The Eastern Red Cedar invasion is happening right in my backyard. It affects many of my friends, landowners, ranchers, and people I work with in the county.” Sean Kelly, South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension Range Management Field Specialist, Winner, South Dakota, discusses the process of a prescribed burn to showcase the safe use of…