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 can take their fortune into their own hands.

Soil Health Labs

23 Bringing Prosperity Back to the Range

“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 fire to rid pastures of grass-choking and water-stealing red cedar trees.

22 Overcoming the Fear of Prescribed Burn

In this podcast Dr. Buz Kloot and Rangeland Management Specialist Rod Voss talk about the eastern red cedar (or green glacier) invasion and what it means to rangeland, the problems the invasion occurs and why its with us in South Dakota. After we discuss the problem (invasion of eastern red cedar) Rod walks us through the option of using fire (as opposed to simple mechanical treatment) and how this can be done safely through prescribed fire. Rod touches on the burn plan, which, if followed will reduce the risk of a wildfire. Apart from the burn plan, we also touch on how to prepare the land, and this depends on the size of trees you have, the concept of fuel load, fuel ladders (that’s where we have forests with trees of 20 ft and taller0 and the notion of fire return interval. Rod also gives a good explanation of why its important to control cedars when they are small, rather than wait for them to get big. Finally, Rod discusses why neighboring up in burn association is the only way we are going to get the eastern red cedar issue under control in South Dakota. Right now the Mid Missouri River Prescribed Burn association (Gregory, Charles Mix, Lyman and Brule Counties) is the only one of its kind in the state and we are going to have to see more burn associations organize to take care of this significant problem.

21 A Growing Problem: The Invasion of Eastern Red Cedar

“Soil health knows no bounds,' says Jeff Zimprich, the recently retired NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota. "It can be accomplished on the front lawn and is alive and well in our grasslands and our croplands. But we can always do more to become more resilient to handle the weather patterns coming our way.” Hear the whole story of rangeland and cropland soil health from the former NRCS State Conservationist in this episode.

20 Optimizing our Soils with Former NRCS State Conservationist Jeff Zimprich

Stan Boltz, a USDA NRCS rangeland management specialist in South Dakota for 33 years, describes how healthy soil and cattle grazing management can reduce invasive species, bring back native rangeland and increase stocking rates. Listen to the podcast interview with Robin “Buz” Kloot on Growing Resilience podcasts or Soil Health Labs podcast.

19 Increasing Rangeland Soil Health with Stan Boltz

“Here in South Dakota, we always say we’re two weeks away from a drought. Having your soil in good condition in wet years helps store more water than having it runoff. You get through a really dry year pretty well.” Larry Wagner, a rancher who grows grass in cropland country southeast of Chamberlain, SD, has readily shared his journey to grassland health. Hear Larry's seasoned wisdom on promoting healthy, resilient soils in this episode!

18 Promoting Healthy Grass in Cropland Country with Larry Wagner

The Stockgrowers is a wonderful organization trying to do some great things, trying to help ranchers and help our independent cattle producers of this country and trying to save our rural towns, which are in decline. And so we need to help these things economically and ecologically. And I think those things can all work together in the future to help save the ranching industry and save our way of life. “ In this episode we talk to rangeland evangelist, James Halverson, executive director of SD Stockgrowers association. James, originally from eastern South Dakota, fell in love with the ranching lifestyle and rangeland when he was teaching ag education in Belle Fourche, SD. James’s opening statement (in quotes above) encapsulates so much of what James believes; namely helping independent producers, human communities, and improving ecological communities with livestock. James sees that by improving rangeland and soil health the health the financial well-being of the prosperity of the producer will follow. James can be contacted at the SD Stockgrowers Association at https://southdakotastockgrowers.org/

17 Growing Resilience Talks to Range Evangelist, James Halverson

In this podcast with we take a deep dive into drought management and the South Dakota Drought tool. Our guest is Mitch Faulkner, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Rangeland Management Specialist, out of Belle Fourche, SD where he talked to us about his own background in rangeland in dry areas, why we need to think of drought planning and how what happens aboveground affects the soils, especially in dry years. Mitch also does a nice job of Explaining the South Dakota Drought tool, a very simple-to-use Excel spreadsheet which is an excellent fist step to being proactive in drought management. Just search “South Dakota Drought Tool” to go download from the NRCS website site. At the time of this podcast’s release (March 2021), it looks like this growing season will be a dry one. Now is the best time to begin to think about drought planning to begin the process of building resilience on your operation– visit https://bit.ly/GrowingResilience for more information on drought planning. Remember the R’s for Rangeland Resilience: Rotate, Rest, Recover

16 A Practical View of Drought Planning with Mitch Faulkner

Our guest, Jim Faulstich, producer from Highmore, SD, needs very little introduction.  Jim takes us on a deep dive into how he integrates drought management planning in every aspect of his operation.  Apart from 2019, Jim’s operation has always experienced a dry patch some time during the year and he is always prepared for that.  While Jim always has a drought plan in place,  his strategy to increase his land’s resilience to drought hinges around diversity which he discusses at length in the podcast. At the time of this podcast’s release (March 2021), it looks like this growing season will be a dry one.  Now is the best time to begin to think about drought planning to begin the process of building resilience on your operation– visit https://bit.ly/GrowingResilience  for more information on drought planning. Remember the R’s for Rangeland Resilience: Rotate, Rest, Recover

15 Integrating Drought Management with Jim Faulstich

This podcast is the sixth in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series. We recorded this one in Crooks, SD the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019. In this podcast, Kent Vlieger (NRCS-SD) facilitates a discussion with farmers Kurt Stiefvater, Ryan Larson, Nate Stroschein, Ross Hanson and SDSU’s field soils specialist Anthony Bly. We wanted to feature this episode because we were struck by the different reasons each farmer feels no-till is working for them. Ultimately this comes down to money and time and the general message from these farmers to others is that patience pays off! If you’d like to our selected video material from these conversations, please visit SD NRCS’s 'Growing Resilience with Soil Health' playlist on YouTube. This podcast was made possible by sponsorship from the USDA-NRCS in South Dakota. The views and opinions of the farmer participants expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

14 The Benefits of No-Till in Extreme Conditions

This podcast is the fifth in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer. In this podcast, farmers Charlie Edinger, Daniel Harnisch, Craig Stehly and Bryce Rabenhorst discuss the ideas of resilience and soil structure in the context of their operations and the conversation also turns to the use of perennials in marginal areas. Charlie, Daniel, Craig and Bryce are joined by Kent Vlieger (facilitator) Brent Woods and Eric Barsness from the NRCS in South Dakota and by Sara Bauder from SDSU. If you’d like to our selected video material from these conversations, please visit SD NRCS’s 'Growing Resilience with Soil Health' playlist on YouTube. This podcast was made possible by sponsorship from the USDA-NRCS in South Dakota. The views and opinions of the farmer participants expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

13 Resilience (Soil Structure, Conservation)

This podcast is the fourth in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer. In this podcast, farmers Charlie Edinger, Daniel Harnisch, Craig Stehly and Bryce Rabenhorst discuss salinity (a big issue in the James River Valley). Salinity is a multifaceted, long-term problem that needs understanding – the farmers talk about the use of perennials, livestock and the use of annuals to mitigate salinity, but it must be understood that there are no easy fixes. Young farmer, Bryce Rabenhorst asks his fellow farmers advice on how to include small grains into the rotation and keep the cash flow going. Charlie, Daniel, Craig and Bryce are joined by Kent Vlieger (facilitator) Brent Woods and Eric Barsness from the NRCS in South Dakota and by Sara Bauder from SDSU. If you’d like to our selected video material from these conversations, please visit SD NRCS’s 'Growing Resilience with Soil Health' playlist on YouTube. This podcast was made possible by sponsorship from the USDA-NRCS in South Dakota. The views and opinions of the farmer participants expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

12 Resilience (Salinity, Small Grains)

This podcast is the third in the series 6 “Resilience” podcast series we recorded in Mitchell, SD (podcasts 1-5) and Crooks (Podcast 6), the backdrop was the extremely wet weather on 2019; at the time of recording the James River had frozen outside of it’s banks and there was every expectation of another wet summer. In this podcast, farmers Charlie Edinger, Daniel Harnisch, Craig Stehly and Bryce Rabenhorst discuss the nuts and bolts of cover crops including timing, seed mix selection, planting depth and seed size, and trafficability related to the use of covers. Charlie, Daniel, Craig and Bryce are joined by Kent Vlieger (facilitator) Brent Woods and Eric Barsness from the NRCS in South Dakota. If you’d like to our selected video material from these conversations, please visit SD NRCS’s 'Growing Resilience with Soil Health' playlist on YouTube. This podcast was made possible by sponsorship from the USDA-NRCS in South Dakota. The views and opinions of the farmer participants expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

11 Resilience (Weeds, Covers and Termination)

The Soil Health Labs are located in the Environmental Health Sciences Department in the School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. That may be surprising to most, especially since the University of South Carolina has no Ag School! Our mission is to promote soil health, not only as something that’s good for the farmer and the environment, but we also want to highlight soil health as a public health tool. Think about it. Healthy soils and healthy crops, mean healthy farmers and consumers, never mind an ever-improving environment. One idea we are embracing is that of Regenerative Farming where we embrace the idea that if farmers change the way they manage the soils, they can actually improve, or regenerate environmental conditions through less disturbance, keeping soils covered with residue or canopies, keeping live roots I the soil year round and be reintroducing animals into the whole system. While we cut our teeth promoting soil health through video and social media (Soil Stories; Under Cover farmers: Science of Soil Health; Merit or Myth) we do have several research and outreach projects that we are doing with farmers in South Carolina.

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Soil Health Labs

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