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The Kammerer family, working together while checking cattle in western South Dakota: Photo credit: Joe Dickie I haven’t met Jimmie and Riley Kammerer in person… yet. But I’ve spent time talking to their daughter Karlie, who has learned this way of life from her parents with a clarity and confidence that tells you everything you need to know about the teachers behind her. In that sense, I know the Kammerers vicariously — through Karlie, and through my longtime collaborator Joe Dickie, who has visited their ranch multiple times and loves the family. The footage and photographs Joe captured don’t feel staged. They feel lived in. Horses under saddle. Parents riding together. Children moving easily alongside the work. A family at home on their land. The Kammerers' ranch near Piedmont, South Dakota, was homesteaded in 1883 . Their girls are the seventh generation  to live there. Jimmie’s family also homesteaded nearby in the early 1900s, making their children sixth-generation on her side. This is not just where they ranch — it’s where grass, grit, and generations have shaped their story Jimmie speaks first, and often, about family. “Kids don’t learn if they get left behind,” she says. So the girls go along — on horseback, on foot, in chore trucks. Homeschooling gives them flexibility, but more importantly, it keeps learning rooted in land, animals, and responsibility. Work isn’t something separate from life; it is  life, shared together. That togetherness mattered deeply during the hard years. After the Atlas Blizzard wiped out most of their cow herd, the Kammerers were forced into survival mode — rebuilding, taking off-ranch jobs, and questioning everything they thought they knew. Jimmie is frank about how deeply that season affected their mental health. “In agriculture, we’re strong, fix-it people,” she says. “But if you don’t deal with the mental side of things, you can’t move forward — in your business or your family.” For Riley, moving forward meant changing how they managed grass and cattle — not chasing trends, but responding honestly to what wasn’t working. “We were doing everything the experts told us to do,” he says, “and we were still going backwards. That’s when I knew we had to do things differently.” Today, their ranch operates with an intense focus on grass management and animal behavior . Cattle are run in a single herd and moved frequently, giving pastures long rest periods — often close to a full year. The goal isn’t simply to run more cows, Riley explains, but to grow healthier grass and let the land do more of the work. “If we grow more grass,” he says, “everything else gets easier — financially and personally.” That philosophy carries into their husbandry as well. The Kammerers shifted their calving season later, closer to green-up, which dramatically reduced stress on both cattle and people. “Calving has gone from being something we dreaded,” Riley says, “to something we actually enjoy.” Jimmie adds that now they drive through cows on grass, seeing healthy calves instead of battling weather and exhaustion. Their approach is quiet and intentional. Less yelling. Less chasing. More walking, more watching. “We don’t want to break the bond between a cow and her calf,” Riley says. “If you handle cattle with respect, they respond.” One of the most striking changes Joe witnessed — and captured — was how the cattle now follow  the process. When polywire is rolled up, and a gate opens, the herd moves to fresh pasture. “They figured it out by the second or third move,” Riley says. “After that, they were ready before we were.” For Jimmie, those moments matter. Riding together. Opening a gate. Watching animals do what they were designed to do. “We love the land, and we love the animals,” she says. “That’s why we’re here.” The images Joe shot show that love clearly — a husband and wife riding side by side, children close at hand, grass under hoof. Not a ranch frozen in tradition, but one adapting carefully, intentionally, for the next generation. “We’re trying to be better,” Jimmie says. “For our kids. For this place.” And in Piedmont, South Dakota, better looks a lot like riding together into the work ahead A Few More Resources of the Kammerer Family Amazing Grasslands Video (must watch), 7:49 min: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXdvpfwRo14 Podcast with Daughter, Karlie Kammerer: https://www.growingresiliencesd.com/podcasts/episode/223d1eba/the-future-of-agriculture-the-next-generations-roadmap-for-regenerative-ranching   __________ Visit these “Growing Resilience Through Our Soils” information pages: 1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts, and more. 2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture. 3. Follow Growing Resilience on social media: Facebook - Growing Resilience Twitter - @GrowResilience_ Instagram - growingresilience.sd 4. Our homepage: www.growingresiliencesd.com

What does Bale Grazing look like from the Sky? Photo credit: Joe Dickie We weren’t planning to talk about bale grazing that day. The conversation started the way many winter conversations do—by noticing the weather. Tanse Herrmann (State Grazing Lands Soil Health Specialist) and Emily Rohrer (State Rangeland Management Specialist) had joined us for a check-in, and before long, the conditions outside crept into the room. The ground was frozen. Snow was scarce. The forecast, for once, didn’t feel threatening. After a pause, Tanse said something close to, “This might actually be a good time to try bale grazing.” Not as a long-term overhaul. Not as a permanent system change. Just as a response to the winter in front of us. Why an Open Winter Favors Bale Grazing What makes an open winter different isn’t optimism—it’s practicality. Frozen ground changes how you move across the land. Bale placement becomes deliberate instead of rushed. Compaction concerns ease. Mud no longer decides where you can and can’t go. Without snow to fight, winter bale grazing becomes easier to consider, even for producers who have never tried it before. Tanse shared a familiar story: equipment that gelled unexpectedly, cold hydraulics, a day derailed before it started. Bale grazing doesn’t eliminate winter risk, but it does reduce daily dependence on equipment during the coldest months. For now, the land isn’t pushing back as hard. Starting Small with Bale Grazing One of the assumptions that keeps bale grazing on the “someday” list is the idea that it has to be all or nothing. In practice, many producers start with five to seven days of bale grazing at a time . Not the whole winter. Not every field. Just enough to see how cattle respond, how manure and residue distribute, and how it feels to wake up knowing tomorrow’s feeding is already planned. If it works, you move the following week again—to a different corner of the field or a different problem area. If it doesn’t, you stop. Either way, winter bale grazing is quick to learn. Fencing, Water, and Real-World Limits Emily pointed out something that often surprises people: temporary fencing isn’t always the barrier it’s assumed to be. Some producers use poly wire and step-in posts for tighter control, even in frozen ground. Others start bale grazing without fencing by placing only a limited number of bales at a time and moving locations weekly. The land impact is still there, just spread across the field. Water is less flexible. Cattle drink less in winter, but they still need access—especially on hay-based diets. In most cases, that means leaving a lane to a permanent water source. Mobile winter water systems often create more problems than they solve when temperatures drop. And the small things matter: knowing what’s in your hay, watching for weed seeds, removing net wrap and twine. Winter doesn’t excuse carelessness. More Than a Winter Feeding Decision As the conversation drifted, it moved beyond feeding. Winter bale grazing often opens other questions—about labor, calving timing, and how closely livestock operations align with seasonal forage growth. For some producers, bale grazing becomes a gateway practice. For others, it remains a tool they return to when conditions allow. Either path is valid. Not every practice needs to become a philosophy. A Window Worth Paying Attention To If bale grazing has been on your mind, this open winter may be one of those brief moments when the land lowers the barrier to trying it. Start with a week. Pick a field. Pay attention. For producer stories, videos, and deeper background on bale grazing, visit the Bale Grazing Ranching Topic  on the Growing Resilience website: https://www.growingresiliencesd.com/bale-grazing Sometimes resilience doesn’t start with a big decision—just a well-timed one. __________ Visit these “Growing Resilience Through Our Soils” information pages: 1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts, and more. 2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture. 3. Follow Growing Resilience on social media: Facebook - Growing Resilience Twitter - @GrowResilience_ Instagram - growingresilience.sd 4. Our homepage: www.growingresiliencesd.com

Weeds: Disturbance, Succession, and Opportunity A single plant can be seen as a problem, a signal, or a resource—depending on context, management, and interpretation. What Do We Mean When We Say “Weed”? A recent post sparked a wide-ranging conversation about weeds, with comments covering nearly the entire spectrum of thought. Some described weeds as indicators of soil problems. Others saw them as inevitable competitors that must be controlled. Still others pointed out that what we call a weed in one context can be valuable forage—or even a lifeline—in another. What stood out wasn’t disagreement so much as how much meaning gets packed into the word “weed.”  Before we talk about management—herbicides, tillage, grazing, or rotation—it’s worth stepping back and asking a more basic question: What do we actually mean when we say “weed”?   “A Plant Out of Place”: Useful, but Incomplete A common definition is that a weed is a plant out of place . While this phrase is often associated with modern chemical agriculture, the idea itself goes back much further—at least to the early 1700s. English agronomist Jethro Tull (seriously, that was his name), writing long before herbicides existed, framed weeds primarily as competitors . In his view, weeds were plants that interfered with crop growth by competing for space, light, and nutrients. The species mattered less than the fact that they were growing where they weren’t wanted. That framing still resonates today. One commenter summed up decades of experience bluntly: “Been using chemicals for 70 years and still have weeds.”  Another responded just as plainly: “We’ve been cultivating for over 120 years and still have weeds—spray them.” Both reflect a long-standing agricultural truth: weeds persist, and control has always been part of farming. But defining weeds only as “plants out of place” strips away context . It tells us what we don’t want—but not why  that plant showed up in the first place. Disturbance, Succession, and Opportunity Several commenters pushed the conversation in a different direction, suggesting that weeds tend to show up where soils are compacted, biologically depleted, or otherwise stressed. One encouraged people to dig and smell the soil beneath certain weeds or under cow pats, noting differences in structure and biological activity. This aligns closely with what I learned several years ago in a course with Dr. Elaine Ingham . She challenged the “plant out of place” definition because it ignores ecology—especially succession . Many plants we call weeds are early successional species . They are adapted to disturbed environments and tend to establish quickly, grow fast, produce large numbers of seeds, and form few mycorrhizal relationships. They are often the only  plants capable of moving in when soil has been disturbed to the point that much of the soil food web has been lost—when fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms have been reduced or eliminated by repeated tillage and chemistry, leaving behind mostly small, opportunistic bacteria. In that context, weeds aren’t mysterious. They’re responding to opportunity . In my part of the world, Palmer amaranth  is a classic example. It thrives where disturbance creates open niches. That doesn’t make it a villain—it makes it a specialist. Scale Still Matters One of the more pointed exchanges in the comments wasn’t really about weeds at all—it was about scale . One person argued that soil under a weed couldn’t possibly be different from soil inches away where grass was growing. Another insisted the differences were obvious if you were willing to look closely. Both perspectives contain truth. Soils are heterogeneous, even in fields that look uniform. At the same time, not every weed represents a precise soil diagnosis at the square-inch scale. Long-term research helps here. At places like Dakota Lakes Research Farm , weeds aren’t treated as moral failures or perfect indicators. They’re understood as plants responding to opportunity , shaped by rotation, disturbance, timing, competition, and history over years—not just one season. Animals Change the Conversation Several commenters brought animals into the discussion, and rightly so. Livestock fundamentally alter how we should think about weeds. Manure and urine recycle nutrients. Hooves create disturbance—but also seed-soil contact. Grazing changes competition. And perhaps most importantly, animals redefine value . We’ve seen this clearly in our visits with producers like the Hamilton brothers , where plants such as kochia —often viewed strictly as weeds in row-crop systems—become highly nutritious forage in integrated livestock systems. The same applies to Palmer amaranth. In many cases, cattle will readily graze it and may even prefer it over certain grasses at particular growth stages. As one commenter put it, “Animals eat weeds. It’s the salad to their life of lettuce.” That perspective doesn’t deny weed challenges in cropping systems. But it reminds us that context matters . A “weed” in one system may be a resource in another. Indicators, Hyperaccumulators, and Shortcuts Several commenters noted that many plants we call weeds are hyperaccumulators —species that are exceptionally good at scavenging and recycling nutrients. There’s real truth in that observation. Plants like lambs quarters, pigweeds, kochia, thistles, and plantain are often dense in minerals, which helps explain both their aggressive growth and, in many cases, their value as forage. But there’s also a risk in stopping the analysis there. If we conclude only that weeds are recycling nutrients, it’s tempting to jump straight to a corrective input—adding micronutrients to suppress the symptom. Sometimes that works in the short term. But when the underlying causes remain unaddressed—soil structure, biological function, disturbance, lack of living roots, or weak competition—we can become dependent on increasingly complex nutrient packages without improving the resilience of the system itself. The same pattern shows up in weed control more broadly. Repeated herbicide use, especially when paired with tillage, disturbs soil both chemically and physically. When those disturbances occur year after year, often with the same mode of action in the same rotation, they tend to reinforce the very conditions early successional plants are best adapted to exploit : open niches, simplified biology, and reduced competition. One commenter joked about “herbicide deficiencies,” but the humor points to something real. Simplified systems—whether simplified biologically, chemically, or mechanically—invite pressure. Weeds respond not to intent, but to opportunity. And opportunity is shaped by the system we build over time. Competition, Diversity, and Durable Systems Some of the most grounded comments came from people describing integrated systems—small grains, under sown clover, better rotations, livestock, and competition doing the heavy lifting. One summed it up simply: “Competition is #1.” Long-term research supports that view. Herbicides work. The real question is how well they hold up on their own over time . Systems built around diversity, living roots, rotation, livestock, and timing tend to limit weed opportunity in more durable ways. Weeds don’t disappear—but they often become fewer, weaker, or less consequential. Where This Leaves Us Weeds are often indicators, always competitors, sometimes valuable forage—and quite often all three at once. What this conversation really exposes is not who is right or wrong, but how differently we can interpret the same thing. Two people can look at the same plant in the same field and come to very different conclusions—one seeing a problem to be controlled, another seeing a signal, a resource, or a response. The data may be the same, but the meaning we assign to it is shaped by experience, training, and context. That difference in interpretation showed up clearly in the comments. And it matters, because how we see  weeds shapes how we manage them. We can keep reaching for quick fixes—another product, another pass—or we can step back and ask harder management questions about rotation, competition, disturbance, biology, livestock, and timing. That kind of management takes more thought and more effort. There’s no getting around that. But over time, it is usually less expensive and far more durable than simply treating symptoms. The cost of ignoring weeds as part of a system—and focusing only on control—is long-term land degradation and the steady march of resistance. If we want different outcomes, we have to design systems that make weeds less relevant, not just temporarily suppressed. That work is harder up front—but it’s the only approach that holds up over time. Recommended Reading & Resources For those who want to dig deeper, the following resources are accessible, farmer-friendly, and grounded in research: Manage Weeds on Your Farm: A Guide to Ecological Strategies Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Free PDF: https://www.sare.org/wp-content/uploads/Manage-Weeds-on-Your-Farm.pdf Cornell CALS – Weed Science & Ecological Management Practical weed ecology, species profiles, and integrated management https://cals.cornell.edu/weed-science Fundamentals of Weed Science  – Robert Zimdahl A foundational text on weed biology, ecology, and competition Preview/reference: https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofwe0000zimd  (available on line, some sites as low as $16) __________ Visit these “Growing Resilience Through Our Soils” information pages: 1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts, and more. 2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture. 3. Follow Growing Resilience on social media: Facebook - Growing Resilience Twitter - @GrowResilience_ Instagram - growingresilience.sd 4. Our homepage: www.growingresiliencesd.com

The mission of Growing Resilience Through Our Soils is to help ranchers and cropland managers maximize soil health to deliver profitable farming and ranching and well as soil resilience. This educational platform–led by passionate researchers and storytellers—uses videos, photos, and words to showcase the trials and successes of ranchers and farmers as they continue along their soil health journeys. Recipes Filter by Level Number of recipes found: 0

Through Growing Resilience, healthy crops and soils mean healthy farmers and consumers. Regenerative Farming is the idea that if farmers change the way they manage the soils, you can improve environmental conditions through less disturbance, have more profitable faming, and more time with family. GROWING RESILIENT SOIL Learn soil health practices from ranchers and farmers to make your operation resilient and profitable. We’re Changing the Way Ranchers and Farmers Think About Soil Ranchers and farmers are often told that better production means higher inputs—but at what cost? In the face of skyrocketing input costs, many producers across the nation are being forced to ask this question. Does a better and more cost-effective way to regenerate exist? Ranchers and cropland managers are telling us yes, it does even as they reduce operating costs and increase their bottom line. Read More Read More Featured Content Farmers Journey to Find the New Cropland Grazing Model See how South Dakota farmer/rancher Brian Johnson and his family are discovering increased profits, decreased workload, and enhanced land and operation resilience through an innovative approach to grazing. Here's How Ranchers Are M aking Their Ranches Drought Proof. Prescribed Grazing —Our ranchers are rotating livestock, resting grazed land, and thereby allowing their land to recover. Increasing Diversity —A great indicator of healthy soils is diversity. Our ranchers are managing their land for diversity so that their forage base includes a wonderful mix of native warm and cool season grasses and forbs. Grazing More, Feeding Less —As their forage base increases, our ranchers are making more money per acre by grazing more and feeding less. Being Adaptive — Our ranchers embrace the fact that nothing in life is set in stone and that flexibility is an asset. As SD rancher Bart Carmichael says, “We make plans, assume we’re wrong, then adapt as the weather or livestock dictate”. Plan, observe, adapt, repeat. Changing their Mindsets —Through embracing free resources, such as those provided by the SD NRCS, the SD Grassland Coalition, the SD Soil Health Coalition and this platform, our ranchers are changing their thoughts about what successful, profitable ranching can be. The range management techniques we highlight are tools that any rancher can use to change and improve their land. Drought Resources Our partners at the South Dakota Grassland Coalition just launched their "Pray for Rain. Plan for Drought." project. Click below to find out more; Struggling With Drought? Click Here The ranchers and technical advisors listed in the downloadable document below are ready talk with anyone interested in weathering the worst impacts of drought. Give one of them a call. Talk To A Drought Expert Download Now What Ranchers Are Saying The time savings doing something like this has for me. I was going to have my wife come out and talk to you. She’s complaining I’m around too much now. Reid Suelflow, Rancher Drought Tolerance, Diversity, and Déjà Vu: What Dakota Lakes Is Teaching the World 5 days ago 2 min read “It Won’t Work Here”—Until It Does: Twelve Years of Lessons from a Southeastern Farmer 6 days ago 3 min read Can We Really Fix Wet Spots With Tillage? If So, Why Are They Still There? 7 days ago 3 min read Behind the Lens: Stories From South Dakota’s Grasslands and the People Who Care for Them Dec 11 3 min read Corn–Soybean Rotation Economics: The Data Behind “No-Till, No Yield” Nov 25 3 min read Year-Round Grazing in South Dakota: Lessons from Pat Guptill & Bart Carmichael Nov 24 5 min read Be first to know about new blog posts! First Name Last Name Email Subscribe Thanks for subscribing! Watch Don't Know Where to Start? Ask A Mentor! If you're looking for an agricultural expert to help you improve or expand a certain area of your operation, consider joining our Mentor Network where you can reach out the experienced producers in various agricultural fields who provide technical and planning assistance to South Dakota farmers and ranchers. I'd like a mentor! Less Time in the Field = Less Stress (and More Time With Family) Two things are always out of a rancher’s control: the weather and the cost of doing business. But ranchers who have changed the way they think of the land are finding themselves more in the driver’s seat of their operations and their wallets. Through understanding the soil health principles and implementing these to suit their operations, our ranchers are waking up to fewer operating costs, less time needed ‘working the land’ and more down-time enjoyed with their families. That’s less worrying about money and less time working—all by simply allowing the land (and livestock) to work for them. Read More MORE CONTENT PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES OUR PARTNERS

We get together with ranchers Drew Anderson (Lemmon, SD), Bart Carmichael (faith, SD) and Harold and Jodie Gaugler (Grant Co., ND, also ranching near Thunder Hawk SD.) to discuss their experiences with bale grazing. No-Till: Sorting Fact from Fiction in a Lively Debate Few topics on our site spark as much interest—and as much spirited debate—as no-till farming. Scroll through our Facebook threads and you’ll see it: farmers, agronomists, gardeners, and even a few armchair soil scientists weighing in with strong opinions. Some argue no-till is the clear path forward; others point out it’s no silver bullet. We get it. For some, no-till sounds like the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland —asking you to “believe six impossible things before breakfast.” Perennial roots going 12–20 feet deep? Diverse soils that act like sponges instead of concrete? It can be hard to picture if you’ve never seen it. But producers who’ve lived through the transition know it’s possible—and profitable. That’s because no-till isn’t meant to stand alone. Paired with rotations, cover crops, and sometimes livestock, it becomes part of a system that restores natural pore space, improves infiltration, and often lowers costs. And while regional soils—from South Dakota silt loams to Kansas clays—behave differently, research and farmer experience show that context-driven management makes all the difference. Our goal here isn’t to push a single narrative, but to share the science and stories so you can sort through the information for yourself. You’ll find podcasts with innovators like Dr. Dwayne Beck, Gabe Brown, Ray Archuleta, and Dr. Ray Weil, alongside South Dakota farmers who’ve put no-till to work in their own operations. You’ll also find blogs where we dig into questions like: Does no-till really improve water infiltration compared to tillage? How do crop rotations affect no-till outcomes? What do large-scale studies (and real farmers) say about yields and profits in no-till systems? When does no-till work—and when doesn’t it? Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner, a skeptic, or somewhere in between, we invite you to explore, question, and draw your own conclusions. Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied All VIDEOS No-Till Podcasts All PODCASTS No-Till Blog Posts Cows on Cover Crops: South Dakota Farmer Adds $86/acre and 70 Bu Corn On our spring tour of South Dakota farmers integrating livestock, my partner in crime, Joe Dickie, and I left Huron, and a couple of... Aug 11 3 min read No-Till vs. Tillage: Which Really Lets the Water In? Jeff Hemenway, former Soil Health Conservationist, pointing out Roots in the Subsoil at 80” in a No-till, Cover-Cropped Field in... Aug 11 4 min read No-Till, No Yield? Are We Putting Corn Above Soybean Yields? As a response to several requests for more peer-reviewed material on the economics of no-till (NT) vs. conventional tillage (CT), I went... Jul 21 3 min read Beyond No-Till: Why Crop Rotations Matter More Than You Think Natalie Sturm By the Growing Resilience Team For decades, no-till has been hailed as a cornerstone of regenerative agriculture—an... Jun 16 3 min read When Does No-Till Work? Two Major Studies and What Farmers Told Us By the Growing Resilience Team When we posted a video of Dr. Dwayne Beck explaining how tillage destroys soil structure and reduces... May 27 3 min read What We’re Really Arguing About When We Talk About Tillage? By: the Growing Resilience Team A couple of weeks ago, we shared two posts that lit up our social media channels like never before. The... May 21 3 min read ALL BLOG POSTS No-Till Resources No-Till: Common Questions and Straight Answers Click here to download! ALL RESOURCES