Soil salinity is re-emerging across South Dakota fields. After a wet year followed by dry conditions, salts are rising to the surface. Here’s why—and what it means for producers.

Anthony Bly In 2023, NRCS’s Marcia Deneke and Kent Vlieger generously took time to guide me through the salinity challenges of South Dakota. We visited the Beadle County Dale Demonstration Farm, Cain Creek, producers like Scott and Jeff Hamilton — and finally sat down with Anthony Bly in Sioux Falls. At first, I couldn’t make sense of one question: Why would salinity increase when rainfall does too? More rain should be good, right? It took conversations with Kent, Ducks Unlim

By: Buz Kloot This summer (2024), as I began editing video footage from June 2023 (yes, I’m a bit behind), I realized I had my work cut...

Lee Briese   By Cassidy Spencer   Dr. Lee Briese is an independent crop consultant in East Central North Dakota, working directly with...

By Cassidy Spencer   Kent Cooley is a lifelong resident of South Dakota, with a diverse background spanning soil science, environmental...

Matt Huber By Cassidy Spencer   Matt Hubers began as a district conservationist for NRCS and is now one of two agronomists who work with...

In this week’s “Rodeo”, Jeff Hamilton shares with us the successes he’s starting to see in his unproductive, saline cropland areas when he started thinking about them differently. Jeff Hamilton farms with his brother Scott and his son John in east central South Dakota. They primarily grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and have started planting other forage crops on saline soils.  Rye is also grown for seed, harvested as forage, and used for grazing.  The farm supports 1200 beef ca

For this week’s “Resilience Rodeo”, discover Brian Johnson's shift from battling to allying with nature.