80 South Dakota Farmers Needed for Nationwide Soil Health Project: Enroll Today

Apr 04, 2025

South Dakota State University Extension is inviting South Dakota farmers to participate in a new soil health survey.

The new nationwide project is called “Probing Our Country’s Soil Health” and is looking for 80 South Dakota farmers to participate. The project leaders are working to understand the status of soil health around the country and use that information to develop a new tool called Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation (or SHAPE). Once completed, the SHAPE tool can be used by farmers to better understand their soil health test results.

“In South Dakota we are often experiencing extreme weather conditions and are looking for ways to stabilize or even increase yields in these conditions. Improving our understanding of our soil’s health can better help us manage them,” said Jason Clark, SDSU Extension Soil Fertility Specialist, who is helping to lead the project in South Dakota.

SHAPE is an online tool designed to interpret soil health measurements, monitor soil health change and offer management practice alternatives for improving soil health. The goal of the project is to collect 13,000 soil samples across the U.S. from approximately 6,000 fields, sampling different soil, climate and management conditions. The SHAPE tool will be available as a free web-based app for easy soil health scoring.

To make the tool as useful as possible for South Dakota farmers, the goal is to attract a broad representation of South Dakota ag lands — crops, forages and pasture. Participants will be asked to share general information through an online survey for how two or three fields from their operation have been managed during the last 10 years. They will provide this information through a facilitator-led online Zoom meeting that takes about 45 to 60 minutes.

Participants will also need to grant access to their fields for hand-probe soil sampling, typically two or three sampling sites from each field. Sampling will typically occur within three to six months of the survey, and landowners will be notified prior to the date.

Each participant will receive a personalized soil health report of their fields (over $450 worth of soil test results), and a hard copy of “Probing Our Country’s Soil Health”, a photo book illustrating soil health across the country and the outcomes to this project.

To enroll as a landowner participant, select a time from one of the following facilitator schedule links:
•   Charlie Ebbesmeyer -
•   Mitchell Rice -
•   Andrea Rice -

Source : sdstate.edu

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.