Dry Conditions Prompt Production Changes

SDSU Extension will host livestock and agronomy meetings in Herreid and Gettysburg on July 6, 2017. The meeting in Herreid will be at 9:00 a.m. at the Community Center/Skateland (107 Main Street S.) and in Gettysburg at 2:00 p.m. at Bob’s Steakhouse (29336 U.S. Hwy 212).

“Drought conditions have been at severe drought (D2) conditions for the past few weeks, and reached extreme drought (D3) in several South Dakota counties the past week,” said Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension State Climatologist.

Topics include:

• Early weaning calves and the effect on cow and calf performance, as well as the effect on feed requirements and costs.
• Grazing annual forages, how to get them established and the added value they may have for the operation.
• Economic resources in the form of budget calculators and other tools, as well as information on federal assistance through the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA).
• Weather outlook for the fall months.

Additional SDSU Extension staff will be on hand to address other topics of interest to producers. “We understand there are many aspects of the operation affected by the lack of precipitation the past six months,” said Alvaro Garcia, SDSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Director. “We want to bring relevant materials to the producers hardest hit by the drought, so the management changes they make truly are the best ones for their operation.”