Throughout the growing season, SDSU Field Stations across South Dakota are hosting Field Days to highlight research discoveries designed to provide practical, research-based recommendations to the state's farmers and ranchers.
"For South Dakota's farmers and ranchers, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing land and livestock," said Barry Dunn, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences and the Director of SDSU Extension. "Each year, new challenges and opportunities arise that create the need for unbiased recommendations and resources to help producers make profitable management decisions."
Farmer & Rancher-Driven Research
Field Stations are not confined by walls or profit margins. Unbiased research is conducted within these outdoor laboratories which encompass hundreds and sometimes thousands of acres of land that is geographically representative of the land South Dakotas' farmers and ranchers depend upon to raise the crops and livestock that make up the state's $24 billion industry of agriculture.
"Due to their local nature, these extensive laboratories put hypotheses to the test in environments which mirror those our state's farmers and ranchers work in each day," said Daniel Scholl, Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Agriculture Experiment Station at South Dakota State University. "Field Stations provide our growers with recommendations that are science-based, unbiased, verifiable and can be implemented on their farms and ranches."
In many cases, local challenges and interests drive the research conducted on Field Stations, explained Dan Oedekoven, SDSU West River Ag Center Director. The strong synergy with SDSU Extension ensures that timely information is disseminated quickly and with support from specialists in the field.
This was the case in 2002 when cattle began to die from sulfur toxicity.
"After a few years of drought, the concentration of salt in stock dams and reservoirs reached toxic levels and cattle began to die. Right away research was underway at the Cottonwood Field Station to determine at which point sulfate levels in the water go from safe to toxic," Oedekoven explained.
Once Field Station research determined safe and toxic levels, SDSU Extension personnel canvassed cattle producers throughout western South Dakota encouraging them to sample their water. County and regional SDSU Extension Centers made sulfate tests available.
The tests were put to use again during the recent drought two years ago.
"Field Stations are staffed and ready to respond," Scholl said. He explained that at any given time many short and long-term research projects are underway on the state's eight stations.
Because trained personnel, like Janna Kincheloe, SDSU Extension Research Associate, are on site to collect data and implement research protocols; SDSU Extension staff, SDSU faculty and researchers as well as industry collaborators can supervise research projects remotely.
One of the many projects Kincheloe is helping coordinate is a study that looks at the protein needs of cows and their fetuses throughout various stages of pregnancy and the impact a restricted protein diet can have on the future health, performance and meat quality of those calves.
The study's test subjects are 108 pregnant heifers from Cottonwood's cattle herd and now their offspring. Protein was adjusted from the heifers' diets at various stages of gestation and data was collected throughout the pregnancy and now that the calves are on the ground, Kincheloe is collecting data on their calves.
"We will follow the calves until they are harvested to determine if restricting their mother's protein intake during pregnancy impacts their health, growth, feed efficiency and meat quality," explained Kincheloe of the intensive study which is one of the first to look at the specific impact of protein supplied to the dam during pregnancy on the performance of her offspring.
The results of this trial could impact the way South Dakota cattle producers feed their cows through pregnancy. This research is a prime example of how SDSU Field Stations limit risk and enhance profit opportunities on South Dakota's farms and ranches, explained Alvaro Garcia, SDSU Extension Agriculture & Natural Resources Program Director. "Changes to how livestock or crops are raised or managed can have a positive or negative impact on producers' bottom line. Field Stations allow SDSU Extension staff to provide optimal recommendations, based on scientific testing in the same growing conditions and climate."
"Changes to how livestock or crops are raised or managed can have a positive or negative impact on producers' bottom line. Field Stations allow SDSU Extension staff to provide optimal recommendations, based on scientific testing in the same growing conditions and climate."
A Cooperative Effort
Results of the Fetal Programming Trial should be made available in 2015 during Cottonwood's Field Day. Hosted on site, Field Days provide the public with a first-hand look at research and an opportunity to interact with the scientists involved, said Pete Sexton, Supervisor of the Southeast Research Farm, near Beresford.
"Field Days connect the public with the researchers and their research," Sexton said.
One of the many research projects featured during Southeast Research Farm's Field Day held early July was the multi-hybrid planter prototype designed by Raven Industries engineers with collaboration from SDSU faculty and SDSU Extension staff.
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