Columnists
Sticky/sappy house plant
By David Graper
SDSU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Q Can you identify this plant? (See photo.)
A This is the dwarf umbrella plant (Schefflera arboricola). The sticky/sappy stuff...
Does dust really cause pneumonia in calves?
By Russ Daly
Special to the Farm Forum
As Extension Veterinarian, I get calls about interesting animal health situations that sometimes involve unusual situations in...
Enjoy more apples this season
By Julie Garden-Robinson
NDSU Extension Service Food and Nutrition Specialist
“We didn’t get any apples on our apple tree this year,” my 19-year old daughter lamented....
BeefTalk: Rain makes regrowth; put weight on cows now
By Kris Ringwall
NDSU Extension Service Beef Specialist
Commit this truism to memory: Feed is available for cattle.
In fact, if we did not have cattle and...
Price discovery in the premium era
By Miranda Reiman
Certified Angus Beef LLC
Cattle just aren’t traded the same today as they were decades ago.
Chances are, the beef business isn’t going to...
I-9 Forms have changed for your employees as of Sept. 18
By Tracey Erickson
SDSU Extension Dairy Field Specialist
Recently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated the I-9 Form, which is used to verify the identity...
Policy Pennings: Farm Bill discussions should address low farm prices
By Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray
Agricultural Policy Analysis Center
Recently a friend of ours told us about the Farm Bill listening session...
Ageless Memories
By Alan Guebert
Farm and Food File
The early morning fog, like poet Carl Sandburg once noted, arrived on cat’s feet and remains, napping, on the...
The Planted Row: Headlines got you down? Look around
by Stan Wise
Farm Forum Editor
Some of the things I’ve seen in the news recently have me a bit discouraged. Sometimes it’s a good idea...
Frost likely to end September
By Ray Grabanski
Special to the Farm Forum
09/19/17 — There's been a dramatic change in the weather forecast for the last week of September and...
Alfalfa fall cutting considerations
By Karla A. Hernandez
SDSU Extension Forages Field Specialist
As we move into fall, many producers are considering one final cutting. If the stand is going...
Farm Management Minute: Resiliency of the prairie
By Lori Tonak
SDCFRM Instructor
As I have traveled through my territory this summer, the radio was a constant reminder of all that was going on...
Sport Coupe memories
by Jerry Nelson
Special to the Farm Forum
I caught a glimpse of her across a crowded parking lot. Even after all these years, I instantly...
Voles in yard
By David Graper
SDSU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Q There were voles in our yard over winter last winter.
We noticed them when the snow receded and the...
Elegant Jacobsen wraps around pool
The Jacobsen is a totally contemporary single-level plan with two distinct wings that wrap around a central courtyard with a large pool at center....
Torrington is a duplex with smart design
The Torrington would fit nicely in a beach setting, and has some upscale features not usually found in a duplex. Its owners might enjoy...
Comfy Mapleton fits in town or country
The shingle-clad Mapleton has a Craftsman cottage look. It's easy to picture this home nestled in a grove of tall oak trees, but it...
Centralia’s stately facade speaks volumes
The Centralia's impressive size bespeaks stateliness and permanence, as do its corner quoins, keystone arches, brick facade, and multiple gables. Half-round windows and a...
Hills Creek blends the old with the new
The Hills Creek's exterior has the classic look of a European or prairie home, but its single-level interior has all the earmarks of an...
September is National Family Meals Month
By Julie Garden-Robinson
NDSU Extension Service Food and Nutrition Specialist
Please reminisce with me for a couple of minutes. Think of some of the best times...
BeefTalk: Calves pay the bills, but the cows make the bills
By Kris Ringwall
NDSU Extension Service Beef Specialist
Breeding systems have goals, objectives and outcomes that reflect a total beef operation.
Today, dairy, swine and poultry breeding...
Guebert: Demanding much more
By Alan Guebert
Farm and Food File
After Hurricane Harvey plowed through east Texas with roof-peeling winds and never-before-seen rain, millions of Americans were left not...
Weather warms, reduces frost threat
By Ray Grabanski
Special to the Farm Forum
09/12/17 — We've recently had a dramatic change in the weather forecast for much of the Corn Belt,...
Tree Facts: Maintaining a shelterbelt
By Natalie Euler
Natural Resource Specialist, Northwest Area Conservation Districts
The method used to prepare for planting a new shelterbelt has a lot to do with...
Ag prospects looking up
By Miranda Reiman
Certified Angus Beef LLC
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to more accurately reflect the total number of bushels that might be...
A closer look at CEO salaries
By Sara Wyant
Special to the Farm Forum
For the last two decades or so, I’ve spent a good chunk of my summer reading tax...
Use your head
By Miranda Reiman
Certified Angus Beef LLC
Many have bought or otherwise taken ownership of a “fixer-upper.” Maybe it wasn’t love at first sight, but you...
South Dakota ag education history: Early years and origin of FFA
BY CLARK W. HANSON
Professor Emeritus, Agricultural Education, South Dakota State University
Author’s Note: To commemorate the passage of the Smith Hughes Act of 1917, I...
Remembering Gus
by Jerry Nelson
Special to the Farm Forum
One summer evening some years back, the phone rang and an unfamiliar voice asked for me. I informed...
Letter: Unify ag co-ops to keep them strong
As CEO of Wheat Growers, I have obligations to many different groups: members, employees and their families, citizens in communities we serve, our business...
Tomato issue
By David Graper
SDSU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Q My Roma tomato plant wilted and died. Some of the fruit still ripened, but most have white blotches...
The Planted Row: We need a sudden case of sanity
By Stan Wise
Farm Forum Editor
As I sat down to write this column, my daughter walked into the room. She was in tears. When I...
Could your vaccine syringes be causing your animals problems?
By Russ Daly
Special to the Farm Forum
In a previous column, I discussed some of the things to keep in mind when vaccinating animals...
BeefTalk: Time to get serious; small cows produce
By Kris Ringwall
NDSU Extension Service Beef Specialist
The old question kept coming back: Would the extra calves really pencil out if the center stocked 1,100-pound...
In a pickle over a side dish?
By Julie Garden-Robinson
NDSU Extension Service Food and Nutrition Specialist
“Please enjoy these fresh pickles. Your food will be out shortly,” the server said as she...
Beef lessons from dairy conceptions
By Justin Sexten
Certified Angus Beef LLC
You’ve heard that the key to beef quality could lie in making sure a calf never has a bad...
Groundhog Day on repeat
By Alan Guebert
Farm and Food File
The calendar may show Labor Day, but with another enormous American harvest and its resulting low prices just around...
Fall approaches
By Ray Grabanski
Special to the Farm Forum
09/05/17 — Fall is quickly approaching, and many are concerned that fall season crops are not ready for...
Nelson: Driving the ‘A’
by Jerry Nelson
Special to the Farm Forum
I recently needed to move some large round bales of hay, which gave me an excuse to drive...
2014 Farm Bill: Designed with the belief that corn prices would...
By Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray Agricultural Policy Analysis Center
What was expected to be the 2012 Farm Bill had an auspicious start...
The Planted Row: Change is the only constant
by Stan Wise
Farm Forum Editor
If you grow crops east of the Missouri River in South Dakota, chances are good that you grow corn and...
Ovens are for baking, not canning, and other food preservation tips
By Julie Garden Robinson
NDSU Extension Service Food and Nutrition Specialist
In the past few weeks, I fielded questions for some of our North Dakota Extension...
BeefTalk: Walking a trail, understanding cow math
By Kris Ringwall
NDSU Extension Service Beef Specialist
The search for efficient cows at the Dickinson Research Extension Center has resulted in “cow math,” the translation...
Tree Facts: Understanding Dutch elm disease
By Natalie Euler
Natural Resource Specialist
The American elm was formerly considered to be the ideal street tree because it was graceful, long-lived, fast growing, and...
Guebert: Commodity agriculture’s dark ‘green’ future
By Alan Guebert
Farm and Food File
A generation ago, GMO sounded like the name of an American muscle car, a text was what the preacher...
Row crop yield potential improving further
By Ray Grabanski
Special to the Farm Forum
08/29/17 — The corn and soybean crop in the U.S. continues to improve, with Pro Ag yield models...
Where is Trump going with NAFTA?
By Sara Wyant Special to the Farm Forum
Do you know what your net farm income (NFI) was in 2016? On average, USDA estimates that...
2008 Farm Bill gets additional shiny policy but it was ethanol...
By Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray
Agricultural Policy Analysis Center
In the last two columns, we talked about shiny new agricultural commodity policies...
Growing cover crops after small grain
By David Karki
SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist
Small grain harvests in South Dakota are near completion. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service report...
Eclipsed!
Jerry Nelson
Special to the Farm Forum
It was the first time it would happen in 99 years and I didn’t want to miss it.
I’m not...