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. 35: State Grazing Lands Specialist Reveals Top Tips for Driving Soil Health
In this second of two podcasts with Tanse Herrmann, State Grazinglands Soil Health Specialist in South Dakota, we discuss a number of topics including: How can rangeland managers think about soil health principles as applied to rangeland and not just cropland? What makes adaptive grazing managers so successful, what is their secret? What goes on…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 34: Ranchers Rethink Soil Health for Profit
We caught up with Tanse Hermann, NRCS’s newly appointed State Grazinglands Soil Health Specialist in South Dakota; to our knowledge, this is the first appointment of its kind in the country, and we were thrilled to talk with Tanse. Before we dive into the subjects at hand, Tanse, a man whose love for the FFA,…
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…
Soil Health Labs Ep. 28: Integrating Livestock Back on the Land: Annuals (1/2)
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. 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…
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