Shaun Grassel weighs-in on this week’s “Resilience Rodeo” about how his experiences as a rancher, farmer, and wildlife biologist for the Lower Brule Sioux tribe have taught him that land management is and will constantly be an evolving process. As a former wildlife biologist for the Lower Brule Sioux tribe, Shaun Grassel sees the importance of grasslands and how they’re disappearing. He’s used this perspective to shape his land management practices so he can reverse that trend on at least a small piece of ground. “To me, cattle are a tool to get the landscape and pastures kind of the way I think they should be in terms of species and soil health” says Grassel. These practices are changing his landscape, improving his ranching operation and wildlife, and helping him reach his goal of leaving the land in a much better condition than when he started on it. 1) What one thing have you done that's been most important to the success of your operation? The one thing that I've done that's been the most success or added the most success to my operation is probably putting some of this crop land back to grass. It just provides more area for cattle grazing, it's added wildlife habitat to this area, and it's eliminated the need to add more fencing around it to keep livestock out. I just like coming out here and looking at the diversity of grasses. So, from the aesthetics part of it, that's really important to me. So yeah, I think it would have to be just putting a lot of this stuff back to grass. 2) Do you recall a moment in time or like when a light bulb went on that made you go, oh, I'm going to think about changing my grazing? Quite often on a Friday night, I'll get on my computer and I'll start up the Our Amazing Grasslands video series (https://www.youtube.com/user/NRCSSouthDakota/videos), and from watching a lot of those videos and hearing some of the stories that those ranchers and farmers have told those are some of the times where I've had the “a-ha” moments like, oh, that's really smart and that's something that I would really like to try here. There's a lot of things that have influenced what I've done, but some of those “a-ha” moments have come from that video series. Also, there's a fella out west, I can't remember his name, but I think he was using mob grazing to try to get use out of an old CRP stand, but then also to kind of restore the native species that are in that area. I remember him saying that he keeps his barbed or his electric fence fairly high. So that allows the calves to go on the other side so if they're bunched up, the calves can get away from the bunch, they can access fresh grass. And so that's something that I've always tried to do here is keep electric fence really high. So calves can go through it. He has some really unique ways of making sure his cattle have water. He's got a portable trough and things, and I don't have that here, but I remember thinking that was really smart. The way he kind of designed his portable, movable, trough, and waterline; he had like a reservoir system. That's one that's always kind of stuck with me. 3) What surprised you the most when you changed the way you were grazing? I guess what surprised me the most when I changed the way this area was grazed was just the condition of the pastures at the end of the grazing season. I was running as many cattle as the guy before, but at the end of the grazing season when there weren't any cross fences in here, when he was done grazing, you could tell cattle had been in here for six months. I mean, you could really tell. At the end of my grazing season, cause I had rotated and kind of used each piece of this area differently, you could barely tell, I mean, just a really light touch. What that did was that allowed me to basically use this area year-round using some areas just for very short periods of time, and then during the winter, opening it up and letting cattle go where they wanted to go. So, I was able to basically double my carrying capacity on this piece of ground. 4) What would you say is the biggest misconception that people have who are not managing their grazing systems for resiliency and soil health? Well, I think one of the biggest misconceptions is the amount of time that it takes. I mean, don't get me wrong, it does take time, but to move an electric fence and to put up a new electric fence really doesn't take that much time. Your cows get used to moving so it's not like you have to come out here with a bunch of people and start hooting and hollering and pushing cattle through or around, they get used to you being out here. Once you get that electric fence up or opened up part of it they just come walking right through. It takes cattle very little time to learn that. It does take time to put up fences and things like that, but not as much as one would think you put up one fence, and you're going to use both sides of it so it's not like you have to keep putting up every new fence every time. So, I think the time involved in it, especially when you think of like the cost benefit kind of thing, the amount of time that you're putting in moving those cattle is relatively small compared to the benefit that you're getting back from it. 5) Is there something that you'd still like to do that you haven't yet to improve your soil health or your grazing system? Yeah. There's one other thing that I would like to do that we haven't done yet. My cousins and I have a much larger pasture further north. We're in the process now of cross fencing it and adding more water out there. It is 5,000 acres and never had a single cross fence out on it, cattle have access to the river. The areas along the river tend to get hit the hardest and they get overgrazed. We have one new fence up there this year so we'll be able to keep cattle off the river at different times. We're creating four new pastures in that area, a total of four pastures, and we're adding water, but to take that one step further off of those four pastures, so that there'll be four new cross fences there I'd like to get that down into a smaller area. So, each one of those four pastures, break that up into smaller cells, something similar to what I'm doing here with electric fence. It'll all have to be kind of based on where the water is and things like that, but I think that's something that we'll probably try at some point in the future. 6) What advice do you have for someone who's considering changing their grazing system to one that can help build soil? My advice would be, when it comes to changing grazing rotations or changing your grazing management is just to experiment, not necessarily think that you have to do something that your neighbor is doing. Experiment with different sizes and different shapes and lengths at a time and seasons and things like that and see what works. Things like this, you don't have to be locked into a certain system. I tell people often that I need to kind of just get settled into a program because every year I'm changing what I'm doing, but on the other side of that, it's being able to change and being flexible, change the way that cattle are using the pastures and how the pastures respond. Just keeping an open mind and experimenting. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what do you look for as indicators of healthy grasslands and healthy soil? When I walk through and I'm considering, or thinking about healthy soil, healthy grasslands, I'm looking for diversity and I'm looking for many species of grasses and native grasses, many species of forbs. I just really think that having a more diverse pasture gives you a more diverse insect base, more diverse wildlife base. And of course, the cattle love it. They don't have to rely on just one species of grass at different times of the year. They can kind of pick and choose. But yeah, just diversity is what's really important to me. 8) What change have you made that at first, you thought would never work? That's a good question. I don't know that I have made a change that I didn't think would work. I don't know. I don't know if I have an answer to that one. 9) What are the signs that your land is resilient and what does resiliency mean to you? When I think resiliency in this area, I think this year is a great example. We're in the middle of a pretty significant drought, and yet we have grass that looks like this. My big bluestem that we saw down the road looks great. The sideoats, even though it has some issues the plants themselves look great. Being able to have healthy looking grasslands at a time where, middle of July, we've only had around three inches of rain, and it looks pretty good. To me, that's what resiliency is all about, being able to overcome those kinds of challenges and keep moving forward without having to make big, significant changes to your operation. 10) When we talk about the importance of grazing management, we often refer to three R’s. They are rotate, rest, and recover. Of those, which can you relate to the most and why? Out of those R’s, I think the rest. Resting land. I really think grasslands evolved with grazing and so they need grazing to keep them resilient, but they also need rest. They need that time period to regrow, to get themselves reestablished, to heal basically, and to keep doing what they're doing. So, I think that's the thing I can probably mostly relate to. ____________________________________________________________________ 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

This week on the “Rodeo”, rancher Justin Thompson shares the value of having his whole family involved in the ranching and calving operations. Justin Thompson and his family have gone from bison to cattle, and from 8 pastures to 44 in their journey to more resilient grasslands on their land near McLaughlin, SD. “It was something my dad had always taught me growing up, that we needed to take care of our cattle, and take care of our range, and be stewards of this amazing gift that we’ve been given”, says Thompson of his perseverance in overcoming seemingly endless hardships when getting into the business. “This is an amazing opportunity to raise a family while managing grasslands, and to be able to make a living doing it.” 1) What one thing have you done that's been most important to the success of your operation? In my mind, God’s Grace and Provision would be my answer to why we are able to still be in operation. I don’t think I can limit my answer to one thing, but I do think it is important to set goals. The proper management of our grasslands has been one of our goals and our passion for many years now. Our attitude has been that we don’t know it all yet, every year is different, and every operation is different, so there are no straight answers. I don’t know if our operation will be successful or not. When my turn at caring for this ranch is over, I would consider it a success if at least two of our goals in ranching were achieved. First, that the ranch’s resources (water, grass, wildlife, soil, etc.) were healthy and improving. And the other, that my family would have lived a good life while learning to be thankful and see that their work and choices have benefits and consequences. The many decisions and tasks that come up should point toward those goals. For example, we set the goal to keep cattle spread out on the grass avoiding congestion, if possible. There were a lot of things to change in the operation to keep the cattle out on pastures year-round and spread out. To achieve that goal, wintering, calving, and weaning have to be done with as little material handling as possible. The kids help with the work and are always learning why we are making the extra effort to fence and bale graze, why we wean across the fence couple miles from home, or why sometimes we lose calves in snowbanks calving outside. The work to improve takes mistakes, but the goals should be worth of the cost. 2) Can you recall a moment, or time, when the light bulb went on for you to change the way you were grazing? I think the light bulb went on right away when we first had an opportunity to start grazing. We were in a desperate situation before the buffalo were moved off the ranch because it had been dry for so long. Because the buffalo are survivors, they knew they had to get off the place and find other forage. So, we were, nearly day and night, herding the buffalo off the fences. So, it was right away we knew things had to change. And when it was our option, and it was our decision on how and what to change, grass health had to have been the first thing on our mind, and getting something to grow. 3) What surprised you most when you changed the way you were grazing? I think what surprised me most was, I had shrugged off and thought that this just wasn't as good a grass ranch as some of the other ones. I didn't see or think the potential was there, really, to do what it's doing now. I wouldn't say we're drought-proofed at all, but we can handle a dry year now, and before we could not. Before we had to have average rain or more just to pull it off. I guess now I'm encouraged that we can handle, at least, a dry year. 4) What would you say is the biggest misconception people have who are not managing their grazing systems for resilience and soil health? My biggest misconception before we started working on rotational grazing and grass health was that I thought it was going to cost too much and that there wasn't enough benefit to it. I also was worried that I would do it wrong. So, the biggest misconception is that I was not going to be able to do it. It was going to be too complicated and too expensive to make a benefit out of it. 5) Is there something you'd still like to do that you haven't done to improve your soil health or grazing system? There are several things I hope to try. We have converted almost all of the farm ground to hay or rotational grazing. Also, in years past we have extended grazing with cover crops, but I am interested in a perennial such as Russian wild rye. I don’t know much about that though. 6) What advice do you have for someone who is considering changing their grazing system to one that's better for building soil health? The best bang for your buck is the first fence you build. Or, just try feeding the hay back on a small hay field as an experiment. Use a small field to bale graze. Seeing improvement, no matter how small at first, is really exciting. It makes me just want to do more and more. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what do you look for as indicators of healthy grassland and healthy soil? When I walk across the grasslands, I'm looking for healthy plants and healthy soil; I think that you shouldn't see bare ground. I like to see a bitten plant trying to regrow during rest. I like to see invasive tame grasses grazed short and, because the cattle have then been moved to a different pasture, native grasses are growing through and recovering. I like to see uniform grazing of the pasture. I also like pasture walking with a different set of eyes of someone I trust to show me what is a good trend and a bad trend. I have been very blessed to have awesome friends in NRCS. Also, I love to see plants getting utilized that are not used any other time of year like lead plants. I think that it's interesting to see pasture that was managed well versus one that was maybe not. I enjoy seeing that. I enjoy seeing the species. There's actually a corner of a hayfield that never, ever, ever got grazed, and has a little bit of a draw. And the draw was solid cheatgrass. I mean, it never got grazed, and it wasn't producing. We start grazing that hayfield in rotation, and that draw is where some protection is. And those cattle get down in that draw, and they actually chewed it up. This last spring, I didn't see any cheat grass in that draw, but it took maybe four years to do it. It just shows that letting this land sit without being used isn't the right thing for health. 8) What change have you made that you first thought would never work? I did not know if it was going to work weaning across the fence my first time. I pictured calves scattered all over the place, and I just didn't think that I was going to be a good enough manager to pull that off. Oh man, did that work? I'll never go back now. It is nice to not have to haul that manure out of corrals, too. A lot of these things aren't easy in the first two steps. But then after that, you think, "That is way easier than I thought, this should have been done a really long time ago." Not everybody is like that. A lot of people will change everything in one year and try to, but I can't ever do that. 9) What are the signs that your land is resilient, and what does resiliency mean to you? Resiliency means that it will not go backward at its first test, I think. When it's dry and you see stuff growing, it's surprising because you don't expect it to. 10) When we talk about the importance of grazing management, we often refer to the Rs. Of the words rotate, rest, and recover, which one sticks out to you the most and why? Rotate jumps out to me, it has been a major part of our focus. Using pastures at different times every year. Cross-fencing the pastures to make smaller ones. Making use of underused parts of the pastures. We added fiberglass posts and high tensile electric fences in the last couple of years. That has sped up implementation and now it’s so easy to dream big on what you want to try. One of my kids asked me, “Will we ever quit building fences?” I answered, “Maybe”. Truth is, it’s too much fun to stop when you start to see the goal getting closer. ____________________________________________________________________ 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 storyline of water, told by ranchers, as a tool for science communication. ​When I applied and chose a graduate school, I intentionally avoided Land Grant universities because I didn’t want to work in agriculture or research “dirt.” I made my way to University of South Carolina, a school without an agriculture program, only to find myself working in SoilHealthLabs. I found myself loving the impact soil health could have on our water systems and environment, but I was still focused on mostly urban settings like parks and athletic fields. The longer I spent in the lab and the more I learned about soil health in relation to agriculture and food production the more I really learned to enjoy it, appreciate it, and even love it. But, I still wasn’t working with livestock. As my story of resistance to exactly where I am supposed to be would have it, I’m now diving into interviews with ranchers, talking to my family and friends about the benefits of regenerative grazing practices, and learning how to move cattle. I’m Lacy Barnette, a PhD candidate in the Soil Health Labs in South Carolina and part of the Growing Resilience team. My research focuses predominantly on science communication in agriculture. Part of my project involves analyzing interviews with producers. I started this work with the 12 interviews from the 2019 Our Amazing Grasslands videos. In digging through the transcripts, the role of water in grazing management really shined through. All 12 producers discussed water in their interviews, and it was the top referenced theme (referred to as “nodes” in the software). The theme of water in these interviews provides a great window into the holistic nature of regenerative management far beyond any one particular practice. First, producers highlighted the need for water as a resource. While this is true for almost all agriculture, this became particularly clear when discussing rotational grazing. In order to rotate cattle (or any other livestock), they had to have the ability to provide water in each parcel of land. Producers discussed the infrastructure and resources needed to do this such as wells, pipelines, (sometimes tankers) and livestock watering facilities. Then, with the ability to rotate the animals, the positive impacts on their land and water became clear. Producers noted improvements in water quality especially in conveying how clean water improved livestock health. The biggest improvement they shared was resiliency of their land, particularly related to both water extremes – drought years and wet years. Infiltration improvements kept more water on the land and grass growing in drought years and it led to less flooded fields in wet years. Ultimately, to see the benefits rotational grazing offers to not only the soil but also the water, producers need water access and infrastructure. Simplistically, they need water to in turn help the water. Producers shared key partners, organization, and resources for their support in sharing management practices like rotational grazing and for helping them get set up for success. Producers highlighted the benefits of rotational grazing and also what is needed to get it implemented, which was further unpacked through the interview analysis. Engaging with producers and stakeholders gives research and management practices context. It also helps uncover producer needs and motivation. For example, family was another big theme from the analysis with producers discussing family operations, goals to leave land for their children, and how the time to rotate livestock has played into lives. My deep dive into these interviews helped me better understand meaningful ways to communicate science so that it’s usable, helpful, and ideally leads to implementation. I had the opportunity to share some of this work with poster presentations at 2 conferences this past summer. My hope is that I not only shared the stories and successes of regenerative producers, but that I also encouraged more scientists to engage with and really listen to producers. You can download the full document here: 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 lessons a scientist learned from analysis of rancher interviews As I close in on completing graduate school, I’ve really found my passion in science communication particularly in the context of agriculture. My last blog post spoke a little bit about my resistance to working in agriculture, but I really feel like I ended up exactly where I’m supposed to be. I love the opportunity to work alongside producers, to listen their needs, and to see research get implemented and be beneficial. Dr. Hannah Gosnell wrote a paper titled Transformational Adaptation on the Farm: Process of Change and Persistence in Transitions to ‘Climate-Smart’ regenerative Agriculture that really helped to shift the way I think about communicating with producers. In the paper, she discusses what she learned from her interviews with ranchers in Australia and what actually makes producers change their practices. She found that there are multiple factors like practical, political, and personal viewpoints. Admittedly, a well-done scientific presentation of lab findings was not the highlighted reason that producers changed management practices. Too often, it’s just assumed that people don’t care, don’t want to participate in research, or aren’t concerned about the environment. I’ve personally found that to be entirely untrue in agriculture. Rather, we need to engage with stakeholders and really listen, in my work this is through interviews. Through understanding what producers need and what’s really important to them, we are in a better position to communicate science in a meaningful way and stand a chance at implementation. However, this science communication work is a different type of research and analysis than I was traditionally trained in. This is now a huge part of my work, but it started as a jumping off point for learning to analyze interviews by theme, starting with interviews that had already been done in South Dakota. I have analyzed 2 different sets of in-person interviews, originally done for Growing Resilience videos. The first set is from the 2019 “Our Amazing Grasslands” videos, commissioned by the SD Grassland Coalition, with 12 producers. They are entirely open-ended, unstructured interviews that let ranchers really tell their stories. The second set of interviews is from 2020 featuring 10 questions (and follow-up questions as needed) asked to each of the 20 ranchers. In both cases, producers utilizing regenerative management practices were interviewed about their operations. The videoed interviews were then transcribed, coded using NVivo® software that sorted the interviews into themes, and analyzed with charts, graphs, word counts, and word clouds. The analysis results from the 2019 and 2020 interviews turned out differently largely due to the different question styles. Water and family were the top referenced themes in the 2019 interviews while grass and water where the top themes from 2020. The theme of soils was more than halfway down the list in number of references from 2019 and fourth in the 2020 interviews. I’m noting soil in particular because soil health is the main focus of our lab (SoilHealthLabs.com) and research shows there are soil health benefits from regenerative agriculture even if it isn’t what the producers are talking the most about. Whereas the theme of family was highly referenced in both sets (2nd out of 14 themes in 2019 and 6th out of 14 themes in 2020). Interview analysis of this type helped uncover a key motivator and a reason for decision making beyond the impacts of any one practice. One main reason that the themes varied in each set of interviews is due to the different question styles. In 2019, family, emotions, and values are highlighted more and there is less technical detail about topics like soil structure and infiltration. In 2020, the questions were more structured, and the impacts of regenerative practices shine through more with some mentions of family and emotion still. These differences emphasize the importance of having clear aims for interviews. Both sets of interview analysis were insightful, but they serve different goals. 2019 with the open-ended, story-telling nature focuses more on the “why” and overall impacts, while 2020 with more direct questions focuses more on the “what” and direct benefits. We initially expected to see soil and grazing to be top referenced themes in both sets, but these underlying themes give more insight into the “why’s” behind decisions. This aligns with what Dr. Gosnell found in her interview work that I mentioned previously. She found that personal beliefs were a major factor in adopting regenerative practices. Diving into the interviews in this way has helped me better understand producers’ priorities, their goals, and some of the challenges in implementing new management practices. 2019 Interview Themes from Most to Least Referenced: Themes in grey and sub-themes in white. 2020 Interview Themes from Most to Least Referenced: Themes in grey and sub-themes in white. As I mentioned early on, analysis of this type is not always common in what we conventionally think of as science, but I think it is a great tool for science communication. It’s a piece of the puzzle alongside sound science, farming and ranching expertise, and partnerships with supporting organizations. Research might show that a practice works but we need to understand how it fits into an operation and into the lives of producers. For example, rotational grazing has amazing benefit for the land and operation, but it does require infrastructure, especially fencing and water. Practices don’t exist in a vacuum; they’re intertwined with people and their decisions. Interviews and analysis can be a key tool in communication and engagement. It’s a way to incorporate people and the human aspect of science, which is exactly why I love this work. Interviews provide a way to really listen to people and the expertise they bring, but as the 2 sets of interviews showed it’s also important to consider what questions are being asked. The more time I spend on this work, the more I believe listening, understanding motivation, and working alongside producers is the best way to see research implemented for everyone’s benefit. A special word of thanks to our partners at SD Grasslands Coalition for being willing to share videos and transcripts with us, without their collaboration, this project could not have existed. You can download the full document here: 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

Even if you don’t consider yourself a “Cowboy”, South Dakota’s state sport of rodeo is familiar to many of us. Rodeo’s origin comes from Spanish America as far back as the 17thcentury and was originally the process of gathering cattle for purposes of moving them to new pastures or gathering them for slaughter. Thus, the Spanish word “rodeo” translates to “round up” in English. Before rodeo became the competition of specific roping and riding events that it is today, it was a practical test of a cowboy’s skill. Success in today’s rodeo, or even those from past centuries, takes many of the same skills and attributes that can make success in ranching as well.Grit, perseverance, camaraderie, faith, failure, an eagerness to learn and improve, and oftentimes stubbornness are all characteristics that make someone a cowboy and gets him or her to the next go-round, whether it be in the arena or on the ranch. That’s why we, at Growing Resilience SD, are excited to kick our spurs into what we’re calling the “Resilience Rodeo”. We’ve rounded up ranchers, farmers, and field/range experts from across South Dakota to share their experiences, successes, and setbacks when it comes to building and maintaining resilient grasslands, prairies, fields, livestock, and families. So, saddle up and get ready for a weekly go-round of lessons from South Dakotan’s about how they handled their draws to become the champions and queens of the “Resilience Rodeo”. This week on the “Resilience Rodeo”, A. Jay Heiss shares his inspiration for rotational grazing and May calving, and how he feels like it’s his responsibility to manage grasslands in a way that leaves the soil better for the future. Growing up on a farming operation with a feed lot and ranch, A. Jay and his dad had a lot going on during his youth. “What I love to do is take care of the cattle on the ranch. I was not much into the farming side; I still don’t like the farming end. I would rather take care of the ranch and the cattle part, and my dad allowed me to do that.” Now following the lead of how the buffalo, antelope, and deer did it before fences were ever put up, A. Jay is using rotational grazing practices to manage a 26,000-acre operation with 1200-1500 cows. 1) What one thing have you done that has been most important to the success of your operation? The one thing I have done to the success of this operation that I would say benefited the most would definitely be the rotational system. It absolutely helped with the grass; it made the soil better. It made us run 40% more cattle. It cheapened up our daily cost of grazing. 2) Can you recall a moment or time when the light bulb went on for you to change the way you were grazing? A moment when a light bulb came on to me was early on when I saw a big ranch, a 10,000-acre ranch that could barely run 300 cows year-round. And I knew that wasn't going to work with land prices going up, feed prices going up. I knew that I had to find some way to create more beef every year and for sale. So, by doing that, the only way I could think of was a highly intensive grazing program where I could do a twice through program, hit the cattle and let the grass regrow and then hit it again. And by doing that, I also added more tonnage and more quality of grass that came in year and year after that. After that, we did almost double the herd size to where now you're selling 650 calves off the ranch instead of the 350 calves off the ranch. Really the only cost would be the cattle. There's no other cost unless you really had to feed in the wintertime. But our program is also a grazing program in the wintertime. We will stockpile grasses in half of the ranch so that we can graze year-round to try to save on the feed-bill. 3) What surprised you most when you changed the way you were grazing? What surprised me the most, the way we changed when we were grazing and was how easy it was to handle the 650 head, how easy it was to keep them fenced in. Also, how fast the grass would recover, after 20-30 days of rest, after a good rain, you could go back and look at some pastures. You grazed in June, and you could not tell that a cow has been on there. The grass regrew, it filled up all the cow trails. Another thing was, some of the cattle trails that you would hit would be two foot deep, years and years of over grazing and year-long grazing in some pastures, the cattle trails were getting two, three foot deep, you couldn't hardly get to the dams without breaking the front end of your pickup. And today you can go to them same dams, after short time intervals into them pastures, they have filled up and they're full of grass. After a few weeks of being off it, grass actually comes up into them cattle trails and goes all the way to the dams, filled it in where it used to just be bare and dust. 4) What would you say the biggest misconception is with people who are not managing their grass properly? The biggest misconception people have by not managing for soil health is they don't think you could run large numbers in small sections. And they think it's hard on them to rotate cattle every so many days. It's not that hard when they're done with the pasture, you open up a gate, they will move to the next pasture on their own. They also think when they see it eat all uniform that they think they're overgrazing it by too many cattle on it one time, which has nothing to do with overgrazing. It has to do with cattle on there for long periods of time. And that would probably be their biggest misconception of rotational grazing program. 5) Is there something you'd still like to do that you haven't done yet to improve your soil health or grazing system? Something I would like to do that I haven't done yet that would improve the soil health and the grazing system would be to get out of a chemical program for fly control. If I could get out of the pour-ons, the ivermecs, the injectables, I would love to try to do that. I've yet to see where an intensive grazing program with the rotation has completely eliminated the fly program. I still use the ivermec. I would still like to try some all-natural way or some way to not use chemical on these cattle and the land. I think it's actually probably hurting the bug system that's underneath the soil. That's one thing, the last 10 years, I've been trying to figure out how to do that. And I've thought of a garlic program. I've never done it yet, but I'm trying to figure out the right way to do it. So far, the chemical program does work, it kills the flies, but it's also got to be killing the other bugs that are good for the soil. 6) What advice do you have for someone who is considering changing their grazing system to one that's better for building soil health? Advice I would have is to talk to someone that has done it, get their information of how to split it. The best way to do it, I would it to say, get ahold of the NRCS program, get lined up with the program first, use whatever funds are available there to help you pipe in the water, pay for the water tanks, help pay for all the fencing that's going to be needed in order to split the pastures and rotate them. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what do you look for as an indicator of healthy grasslands and healthy soil? I usually have a spade and I will pick a spot and I will dig down and I will look how deep the roots are. I'll see where the moisture is. I want it to look like chocolate cake. I want big balls of soil. I want air pockets. I want water pockets. And I also, if I can smell that soil, you can tell a big difference of good, healthy soil compared to soil that's been compacted, or soil that's been tilled. I will also pour water; I want to see my water infiltration program. I want that to soak as much water possible. I will clip grass every now and then to see how much pounds per acre I have in my soil that I'm growing that grass on. 8) Can you talk about any changes you've made that maybe at first you didn't think would work? One of the things I thought would not work would be a two-wire high tensile program on my high tensile fence, and so far, my top wire's hot. My bottom wire is ground and with cow calf operation, if the wire's hot and I do my job of keeping it hot, I will not have cattle get out. And that was one thing when I first saw it, I'm like, "This will never work." And to tell you the truth, it absolutely works. Another thing was the poly wire, when I first bought that and put it up, I didn't think that would ever work. I totally think that high tensile fence is probably better than a four or five barbed wire fence, because they won't even graze, a foot up to it. Where I'll see them on a barbed wire fence reach through and try to get through. 9) What are the signs that your land is resilient and what does resiliency mean to you? I've got through two years of drought and we're sitting here today, and we see lush, green and thick grass where on years like this previous, if it was long season graze and I've had cattle in here since May, there'd be nothing left. All the green grass they'd go hit, they would never get rested to actually grow to actually seed. I have also seen where years of CRP created, or someone planted brome grass. I have seen whole pastures that have turned from brome to mostly native grass that’s come back. 10) Rotate, rest, and recover. Which of these three do you relate to most and why? As far as the words important to resilient range lands. The rest and recovery have about the same to me, I think it's very important in a semi-arid climate like this to at least get 70 to 80 to 90 days’ rest before you go back into a pasture. I really don't see them fully cover, especially when a July and August could be dry. You're not seeing the recovery that you should be, and I want to see that grass tall. I want to see that grass come up to a point and actually start being mature before I go back into it. I wouldn't want to just let 20 days go by. I don't think it's enough time. I want to see the manure breakdown. I want to see everything come in thick. I want everything up to the water spots to regrow grass. So, by far it doesn't matter how many times you rotate. If you don't give the grass enough rest and recovery time, you're not helping yourself one bit. 11) You’re managing land that’s not your own and are doing things that maybe up front are costing you a little more, but still enjoy taking care of the land. How does this all work for somebody that doesn't own the land? Because if you're a landowner and you're thinking about my great-grandchildren are going to be on this land. So, what's in it for you basically? What's in it for me, even though I do not own the land or the cattle, it's still my job to pay off the land, it's still my job to nobody really. I figure nobody really owns the land, we're only here for a short time just to manage the land. So, if I can leave this place better than how I received it, which I feel I am doing, that's why I'm here for. That's what drives me every day to do this. It is a lot more work. It's way more management. Some days you think, "Oh, I should just open it up and let them go for two months right out there." But I know that'd be over grazing. I know that for the future generations, I'm not helping the soil. If I'm not helping the grasses, eventually it's the not even good for the cattle. They need the new pastures. I want to do it, before fences were ever invented, I want to do it how the wildlife did it. Where they rotated constantly every day. How the buffalo did it. How the antelope and deer did it. Before fences stopped them from rotating, they were never in the same thousand acres for 40-50 days. It just never happened. I want to create deep, thick roots and deep soil. The only way you can do that is rotate livestock and keep a living root and green grass growing as long as possible. 12) Can you tell us about when you calve and why? When I first moved up here in 98, we were calving oh, February, March, and everything was done by March. It was always cold. There was always a blizzard or two. And not only that, when you were done by April, you still might have a blizzard and you still wouldn't have green grass. We were feeding cows and calves every day, and we always had calves and heat boxes. We'd pick them up, take them in the heated shop or into a heat box to warm them up. With the CSP program, they allowed us to move our calving date back. Now we are calving May 1st and since I've done that, I'll never go back. Every day is fun to calve. You're out there in a T-shirt most of the times, pairing up your calves. The calves are born in green grass and the cows are in good shape. There's no hay in the cattle. It also helps my feed bill, because in January, February your cows aren't five, six months pregnant. They still have all the way till April and May to make up that weight. They aren't eating as much, because they're not going to be calving in the next 30 days. They're going to be calving, they still get April and May to put on their weight. But there's nothing better than calving in May and June when it's 70-80 degrees out, as opposed to -20 and trying to save calves in a snowstorm or blizzard. ___________________________________________________________________ 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

For this week’s “Resilience Rodeo”, father & son ranchers Darin & Cutler Michalski tell us that diversity is very important to the health of their grasslands, but that diversity is not just limited to types of grass. “Main focus is cow-calf, and we do row crops, small grains, cover crops, alfalfa different types of hay, some millets, and sudangrass.” Says Darin Michalski when asked to describe the operation he runs with his son, Cutler. By not following a set pattern or template and being able to vary and shift practices and paddocks year to year, the Michalski’s have found that regular flexibility and adaptation can be a key to successful weed control, native reestablishment, and ranching in general. 1) What is the one thing that you’ve done that has been the most important to the success of the operation? Darin:​The one thing I’ve done to add to the success of our operation is getting more diverse. Going from a monoculture to more diverse. That has really helped on our grassland side. 2) Can you recall a moment or a time when the lightbulb went on for you that changed the way you were grazing? Darin:​I've probably had light bulb moments and that would just be going to different producers grazing tours. More like fireworks, not like a great big light bulb moment. Just, more like fireworks. Going to other people's places, seeing what they're doing, thinking. Walking in there with a mindset, “I can't do that”, and then figuring out how you can. Cutler:​I guess light bulb moments for me would just be seeing what other producers are doing and seeing what my parents are doing just to kind of help change our landscapes and help change our grasslands, but also just seeing what we have on our own operation and what we're doing with the soil health. Just kind of creates a bigger light bulb every single time as to what we're doing right, and what else we could be doing. 3) What surprised you most when you changed the way you were grazing? Darin:​What surprised me most about the way we were grazing is the resiliency. Like this year, we're in a drought. 20 years ago, I'd have been freaking out about running out of grass. This year, I was comfortable with our grass situation. 4) What would you say the biggest misconception is with people who are not managing their grass properly? Darin:​I don't know if there's a misconception [about] people that continuously graze, I just don't know if they want to take the time to change the way they graze. Boy, when you drive past somebody who's having success with it, and when you're struggling, you would think that would be a light bulb moment for somebody else. I don't get it. Cutler:​I really guess the misconception with other producers would just be almost that they don't have the information, maybe. That they're not leaving enough of their plants to have regrowth. I mean, that they're using up the whole plant and they're not getting that regrowth. They're not being able to use their pastures quite like we are. I mean, so I guess it does come in on an information standpoint and what they know and what they've been taught. 5) Is there something you'd still like to do that you haven't quite managed to do yet on your operation? Darin:​Some things I'd like to do that I haven't been able to do yet is change my watering facilities, make my paddocks smaller, graze longer. Cutler:​I guess, just kind of coming from a younger generation, I've always looked at is new technology, or incorporating that new technology, that we can use to better our grazing situations. Like using virtual fences or using different management practices for our cattle. 6) What advice would you give to someone who is on the fence, no pun intended, about changing their grazing practices? Darin:​I have given advice to a friend who was on the fence about changing his grazing practices. I said, stick with it. And he did for a year. And then he had a weed flush and went away from it. You just got to be patient. Like I say, go with the flow and handle whatever management situation you have come at ya. Cutler:​I mean, really for me being younger, the advice I was given is just to wait it out, be patient with it. I mean, it all takes time. It's going to take time to get your pastures back to the health that they once were, or to be able to see your new seedlings grow like they're supposed to be doing. I mean, everything takes time and people have to realize that it doesn't all come right at one time. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what and where are you looking for indicators of healthy grassland? Darin:​Well, after taking a trip with you today, I'm looking at a lot more things of indicators of healthy grassland. I've never really stopped and checked dung piles. And when I walk, I'm looking for diversity, little change in the plant species, maybe. What is invasive out there? What we're doing right or wrong, and the water quality. Clear running streams is really pretty. Cutler:​I guess for me, it's looking at almost what the cattle are doing, what their health is, what they're utilizing on the grasslands. I mean, what plants they're actually using, what native species we're seeing coming back, what diversity we have in other animals. I mean, seeing frogs, seeing field mice, seeing the different kinds of insect species, seeing butterflies, birds, bees, everything. 8) Can you give us an example of a change that you made that at first you thought would never work? Darin:​I'm really a stubborn Polack, so I don't think I've ever made a change that I didn't think wouldn't work. I just had to figure out a way to make it work. Yeah. There's been a lot of stuff that's been tweaked, but I guess I've always gone in full guns and by God, I'm going to make it work. 9) What are the signs that your land is resilient and what does resiliency mean to you? Darin:​2021 is a sign that our land is resilient. I've driven by a lot of continuously grazed pastures that looked pretty tough. I'd be nervous. Yes, we've had a good rain. We're still in a drought. I'm comfortable with our normal stocking rates to get through the year. Cutler:​I guess, for the signs of our land being resilient, driving through a town and seeing that the grass is all brown in that town, and then driving out into our pasture and seeing that our grass is not only green, it's actually regrowing. I mean, we were using our resources the way that we can. I mean, the way that we should be. We're seeing that regrowth in our pastures. We're seeing that when we're digging down in the soil, that there's still moisture there, even in a drought, even super dry conditions. So, I guess those are the indicators for me. 10) We have a number of words that begin with R, but three that we've settled on, Rotate, Rest, Recovery, that are really key to healthy and resilient range land. Which one would be your favorite and why? Darin:​Well, I'd have to pick [the] middle one. It would be rest. The longer you rest it, the healthier it is. Boy, you know, the quicker you can get through a pasture and give it just maybe another week, just get a little extra growth, it sure sets you up for success next year or that same year. Cutler:​See, now I'm thinking, he said, rest, just cause he doesn't want to do any work, but I guess mine would probably be rotate just because I like going out there and seeing the animals and watching them do what they're good at, I guess. They're just eating and raising calves. And it's almost like a sign of seeing your money, seeing where it's going, seeing what it could be. And even with rotating, you're seeing those other pastures that are resting, that are recovering, that you're going to be able to rotate to, to use maybe again. _____________________________________________________________________ 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

This week’s “Resilience Rodeo” comes from Rich Grim, a rancher and proponent of using prescribed fire to combat Eastern Red Cedar from taking over South Dakota’s grasslands. When Rich Grim learned that the Eastern Red Cedar had taken over roughly 30% of the rangeland near his ranch on the West banks of the Missouri River, he knew that something needed to be done. Now a strong supporter and user of prescribed fire, along with rotational grazing practices, the only thing Rich would like to change would be to have started doing them both earlier. 1) What one thing have you done that has been most important to the success of your operation? Well, the biggest thing is that we haven't overgrazed. We've left stuff there to catch the moisture and we've focused on warm and cool season grasses, which helps quite a little bit. If you're in a position to do that, you can do a lot with it. But yeah, we try not to stay too long in one pasture. We graze it and then get out and maybe come back to it later. 2) Can you recall a moment or time when the lightbulb went on for you, to change the way you were grazing? Well, yeah. You try different things and you do it and then all at once, it just kind of hits you. Hey, we're doing something pretty good here! So, you kind of remember what you've done and go back and reclaim what you've done and fine tune it a little bit. 3) What surprised you the most when you changed the way you were grazing? I guess what surprised me the most is with a little planning and a little management, how much you can do with what you have for resources, natural resources. 4) What would you say the biggest misconception is with people who are not managing their grass properly? Well, I think the biggest misconception is some people, not all people, but most people, they got this [land] and they're going to utilize it because at a big extent, because they've got bills to pay. A lot of times, it's not what's right for the land or the ground, but [it’s] how we can make ends meet and it's tough. It's a hard deal to be in the ranching community anymore. 5) If you could give any of those people some advice on where to start, to maybe change their mindset toward a better grazing system, what would that be? Well, every producer’s unique in their own way. You got to take care of the land because if you don't take care of your livelihood, you don't have anything. So, biggest thing is to take care of what you got. 6) Looking at your current system, is there anything you'd like to do that you haven't done yet to improve your soil or your grazing system? If I could go back, I would have liked to done this earlier. I would have liked to started doing a rotational thing, the Cedar control thing, years ago, but we don't get that back. So, we go with what we got. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what do you look for as an indicator of healthy grasslands and healthy soil? When I go out into our land, I look for a number of different things, the different kinds of grasses, what's good for this and what's not so good and what I can do to change it and not hurt anything and still keep things on a level of playing field. 8) Can you talk about any changes you've made that maybe at first you didn't think would work? Well, I never thought the rotational deal would work as well as it has and I haven't thought that the Cedar deal would take off like it has, but it's been a good deal for everybody concerned. 9) We have a number of words that begin with R, but three that we've settled on, Rotate, Rest, Recovery, that are really key to healthy and resilient range land. Which one would be your favorite and why? I kind of liked the rotate because you're leaving something there to hold the moisture. And in a drought, if you don't graze it all off, you're leaving something there to recover. As long as you keep something so it's not bare, you don't have to worry about it washing, erosion or anything like that. So yeah, every year is different, but you got to take it as it comes and kind of plan accordingly. _____________________________________________________________________ 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

Joining us on the “Rodeo” this week is rancher and SD NRCS State Resource Conservationist, Jessica Michalski. We’ve previously heard from Jessica’s husband and son, Darin and Cutler, about the importance of diversity on their ranch, but here, Jessica speaks to the importance of support from both peers and the NRCS when it comes to starting your own journey to more resilient grasslands. Jessica and her husband, Darin, have been ranching in North Central South Dakota for 22 years in addition to her role as a State Resource Conservationist at SD’s NRCS. Her experience in both of these roles has taught her that “you need to be looking down, you need to look at the species the cattle are grazing, you need to look at the waste of the cattle to see what that manure looks like, you need to have a shovel and you need to dig a hole and see what that soil looks like”. Focusing on the ground and what’s below it has created amazing changes on her ranch, and she wants others to find that amazement on their own grasslands. 1) What’s one thing you have done that's been the most important thing to the success of your operation? The one thing that I think my husband and I have done to contribute to a successful ranching operation is really a different mindset. It's really to start thinking about the grasses that we're growing above ground, it's thinking about the health of our soils underground, thinking about infiltration rates, thinking about having diversity out on the landscape. My husband and I have seeded back approximately 500 acres to native rangeland and we're really proud of the contribution that we've been able to make to the health of our grazing lands by really thinking about it as a whole system dynamic and not just a pasture-by-pasture basis. 2) Can you recall a moment when the light bulb went on for you? When the light bulb went on for my husband and I was really when we first got married. My father actually had already started doing some rotational grazing and seeding cropland back to native grass. So, we really looked at what my dad had done on the operation that I grew up on. It was just one quarter of ground. He seeded all of it back to native grass, big bluestem, switchgrass, a lot of cool season species as well. And we really looked at that at his operation and were able to, in turn, look at what seeding those native grasses could do for our operation as well. 3) What surprised you the most when you changed the way you were grazing? What surprised me the most about our operation when we started seeding warm season natives back was the improvement on our cool season grasses. We already had a lot of smooth bromegrass pastures and what we were really missing in our grazing operation was the native warm season component. What we saw was the difference that it made on our cool season grazing land. So, for example, we started really hitting some of our smooth bromegrass pastures hard in the springtime, and then letting them grow back. And through that, we saw the amount of native warm season component that really did exist in our existing pastures that we wouldn't have known that had we not been able to provide rest for those pastures. 4) What would you say is the biggest misconception people who are not managing their grazing systems for resiliency and soil health have? I think the biggest misconception out there with certain ranchers are that their land is good enough, or they're raising enough grass for the animals that they have so they don't really see why it would make a difference to rotate through pastures. But I do think as they start learning more and maybe visiting more other ranchers and discussing the opportunities that come along with improving the health of our grazing lands, I think it's pretty clear that they can learn fairly quickly the differences that they can make just by making small changes. And it takes time; it doesn't happen overnight. You have to be willing to make small changes before you make big changes. I think producers that can learn from other producers and if they’re willing to go see other operations, go on field tours, they can learn a lot in a short amount of time and really just start with the small stuff. And then the big changes can come later. 5) Is there something you'd like to do on your place that you haven't yet to improve your soil health or grazing system? One thing that my husband and I would still like to do is to try some more interseeding and improvement in some of our existing grassland. We did seed several acres back to big bluestem, Indian grass, and some sideoats grama. We went back in with those in those areas because we were seeing some weed pressure and we interseeded some legumes into that. And now we've seen kind of those legumes take off a little more than we would like to see so we're trying to manage that by timing our grazing to really focus on utilizing those legumes and then making sure that our native warm seasons have that ability to regrow. So that's something that we would like to do is continue to interseed, to improve, and to really time our grazing to then promote those species that we decide to interseed. 6) What advice would you have for someone who is considering changing the grazing system to one that's better for building soil health? What I would recommend is really visiting with a Natural Resources Conservation Service professional. We have so many great individuals. We have wonderful range management specialists with South Dakota NRCS. And they can really come out and do a comprehensive review of your land and help you determine what the best practices would be. Every operation's different. The goals of every producer are different, and until we determine what the goals of a particular producer are, we don't really know how best to assist you. So, the first step I really think when you're considering this journey is to visit with your local NRCS field office and have someone assist you in really coming up with a comprehensive plan for your grazing land. 7) When you walk across your grasslands, what do you look for as indicators of healthy grassland and healthy soil? What my husband and I look for when we are out on our land is a really diverse, different kind of view of our land. First of all, you need to be looking down. You need to look at the amount of grass that's left. You need to look at the species that the cattle are grazing. You need to look at the waste of the cattle to see what the manure looks like out on the landscape. You need to look at the infiltration, or if there are certain areas of your landscape that are holding water, that you really are kind of surprised to see versus that water infiltrating into the soil. You need to have a shovel and you need to dig a hole and see what that soil looks like. Does it have a good granular structure like we want to see? Are the roots going down versus going sideways? You really need to make sure that you're looking at it comprehensively. And then you need to look at your cattle and the way that the cattle look. Are they happy? Do they seem to be getting the material that they need from the grass? Are they ready to rotate? When they're ready to rotate, you'll know. You'll know it's time and making sure that you leave the right amount of residue so that you have good regrowth is critical. My husband and I have over the past five years or so really started increasing more of a mob grazing mentality, or at least, higher pounds per acre on certain pastures. And we've seen improved cattle health. We've seen a reduction in pink eye in our cattle because we're really focused on grazing the grass at the right amount of time and at a density that really encourages improved grazing land health and improved cattle performance as well. 8) Is there a change that you've made that you thought at first wouldn't work? One thing that I never thought would work is to time grazing and to have grassland that you think only has one species like smooth bromegrass, for example. And when you really time that grazing, and all of a sudden, you see an abundance of big bluestem for example, which is by far my favorite grass species and most cattle as well. But when you really time your grazing and are able to focus on removing invasive cool season species and see those native warm season species come back by doing nothing other than timing grazing. I didn't really think that was possible 22, 23 years ago, but it's amazing the changes that we've been able to make, not only on land that we own, but land that we rent and have rented for many, many years. 9) What are the signs that your land is resilient and what does resiliency mean to you? So, what we've seen so far on our land as resiliency is that we've seen not as many small ponds of water or areas that water is sitting that it really shouldn't be for very long. Obviously, we still have some dams. We still have some dugouts on our property. We do utilize pipelines and tanks and have seen where the cattle will really stand in the dugout and then come out of there and drink out of a tank, but we've seen less water just sitting. We know our infiltration rate is better. We've seen where we don't have those issues, especially as I mentioned before, in some of our pastures that were predominantly smooth bromegrass, and we've improved the grazing management. We're getting plants that are sending roots down deeper than what our cool season invasive species we're doing. We've seen where the infiltration rates have gotten better because that water isn't sitting and then we might go a few miles from our place to a neighbor that maybe doesn't have that type of grazing management and their pasture would be flooded in certain years where ours, just a few miles away, would look green and healthy and we know that the water is infiltrating. 10) When we talk about the importance of grazing management, we often refer to the three R’s. Of the words rotate, rest, and recover, which one sticks out to you the most and why? Between the three Rs of rest, rotation, and recovery, I think the one that sticks out to me the most is probably recovery. And the reason for that is because I think it's probably the one we don't think about enough as grassland managers. And it's very variable depending on the year. One particular year, a pasture might not need as long to recover and I think that's something that producers need to continually think about is, "What do we have out there for moisture? What has the moisture been in the past? What is the forecast in moisture? How much recovery does this particular pasture need or is there another reason that a pasture might need recovery? Has it been overgrazed for several years in a row? Do we need to think about resting it for a full year? Do we need to think about grazing it particularly hard in one part of the year and then letting it recover?" So, I think recovery is one that more grassland managers probably need to think about and to think about it comprehensively, not just getting some cattle out of a pasture and then, "Well, I'll give it 20 days or whatever." We really need to think about it from a comprehensive level. _____________________________________________________________________ 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

Making money is an outcome; The goal is to follow the pattern that Mother Nature has provided. Ray Archuleta has been an extremely influential person in the lives of Buz Kloot (Soil Health Labs at the University of South Carolina) and Tanse Herrmann, (NRCS Grazing Lands Soil Health Specialist working out of Rapid City, South Dakota). In a recent podcast you can listen to here, Buz and Tanse hosted Ray to catch up on changes in his life in the recent past. But first, Buz and Tanse explain how they met Ray and how he has impacted their lives. Ray now has a small ranch in Seymour, Missouri and talks about having “skin in the game” now that he has his own land payment and his own livestock to manage. Having skin in the game makes him more empathetic to the ranchers and farmers he speaks to. That gains importance since he still visits farmers and ranchers and talks. A lot. Speaking from his own experience, Ray mentions the mistakes he's made and what he’s learned in the process – infrastructure, animal safety and health, epigenetics and simplicity of design are discussed. Ray, Buz, and Tanse all mentioned the uncertain periods where they felt their beliefs were correct, but no one would listen, and the importance of having someone to draw support, information, and energy from while trying to convince unwilling or unsure people that what they are proposing is both scientifically valid and better for the planet. The conversation moves to Mexican rancher, Alejandro Carrillo, the work he's done on the Las Damas Ranch in the Chihuahua desert, and how this has transformed that landscape. Ray uses the discussion about Alejandro’s land as an example to teach the principle of ecological context (often considered the 6th principle of soil health), primarily in terms of the difference between rainfall on his land (~45” a year) versus Alejandro’s (8” - 10” a year). Just in case you're wondering, the 5 principles of soil health are: 1. Minimum disturbance; 2. Cover the soil; 3. Keep a live root in the soil as many days as possible; 4. Add diversity of plants (e.g., grasses and broad leaves, warm and cool season, annuals, and perennials); 5. Incorporate livestock back to the land. Ecological context also led the group to spend time discussing the important human dimension of rangeland and farmland management, and what drives people to make the decisions they make. Dr. Ellen Davis’s Book “Scripture, Culture and Agriculture” and work by Hannah Gosnell and others in a paper called “Transformational adaptation on the farm: Processes of change and persistence in transitions to ‘climate-smart’ regenerative agriculture” were also covered. These three soil experts also turned to perceptions of the public, and indeed, many folks in the sciences that don’t understand the dynamic, healing effect of good grazing management (AKA Rotate, Rest, Recover) on the land. Like most football coaches say at the beginning of each season: “we have much work to do”. Listen to the full podcast by clicking here. See also our previous podcast episode #39 with Shannon Kulseth-Iversonwhere we discuss how rangeland health and livestock work to solve environmental issues. _____________________________________________________________________ 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

A fundamental explanation of Adaptive Grazing Management by an involved Land Owner. Jeannie Franceus grew up on a farm in South Dakota, moved away after college for forty years, then returned to manage her family's ranch. In this podcast, she talks to Buz Kloot about how she has become a Super Involved Landowner. Many Non-operating Landowners (NOLO's) are typically hands-off partners. They rent land to cattle ranchers and allow them to manage the pasture as they see fit. Jeannie is much more involved. Spending her early years living in rural Woonsocket, SD, Jeannie was always around, and comfortable with, cattle. Involved with 4-H at an early age, she showed cattle until leaving for South Dakota State University, where she earned a degree in Animal Science. After graduation, she decided to "see how the other half lives" and moved to the big city. For 40 years, first Chicago, later Portland, OR; living the fast lane life and raising a family. But when her father died in 1997 and their long-time tenant passed away in 1998, Jeannie became more involved with the Wessington Springs property. She had always been connected to the idea of ranching. "In the city, nothing changes when the seasons change, in the country, everything does." But she also wasn't too fond of managing cattle in South Dakota’s infamous winters. So, the idea of enjoying someone else’s cattle all summer and sending them home for the winter (a.k.a. renting pasture for seasonal grazing) was appealing. So after caring for her mother in Naples, FL for the last five years of her life, Jeannie decided to go home to South Dakota and to live the dream, because, "Ranching and cattle are in my blood." Deciding that being an involved land owner was the way to go, Jeannie became an active participant. She learned to have a "best interest at heart" leasing contract and committed to "do my best to do the very best for my renters." Eventually she got to the place she is today, where the landowner and the renter work together toward the same goals. Jeannie recognized a noxious weed problem as her first real conservation challenge. A local “expert” suggested aerial spraying the entire ranch. But the NRCS’s Range Management Specialist Dave Steffen explained that she would lose all broadleaf plant diversity, including wildflowers, if she did that. He also explained to her the deep and complex root system of Canada thistles which makes them such an insidious enemy, and is also why a topical, manual removal is not effective. Instead, he recommended spot-spraying Canada thistles, using Stinger which is renowned for its 98% kill rate (Milestone was not yet available at that time), making repeat application virtually unnecessary. This made environmental sense to her, and has eliminated the need for massive quantities of chemical use annually. NOTE: Where terrain allows, frequent mowing (keeping plants from producing seed) is the ideal strategy, but this was not possible on Jeannie’s property because of rugged terrain. Jeannie knew instinctively that the best long-term noxious weed control is strong competition, because healthy, lush grass eliminates opportunity for thistles. She learned that Musk thistles, unlike Canada thistles, have a simple tap root and are easily killed by pulling or chopping an inch below soil surface. And after controlling massively dense areas with spot spray, she and her boys began the ultimate test, using leather gloves and hoes. Their goal: KEEP THEM FROM GOING TO SEED, because if you keep noxious weeds from going to seed, you will win. After noticing a neighbor's radically improved and healthy grass, she asked his secret. He had created pasture “cells” and was rotating cattle from cell to cell every 4-7 days. On that neighbor’s recommendation, she began attending meetings and workshops hosted by the SD Grassland Coalition. With coaching from these valuable mentors, she and her renter developed a program, rotating cattle on a regular basis and dealing with issues and problems as they come up. As Buz put it, "It is more of an art than a science." Invasive early cool-season grasses which were introduced to the area decades ago, particularly Kentucky bluegrass and Smooth Brome continue to create challenges and require special management. Water erosion has been effectively solved as the rotating cattle do not spend enough time in one area to turn grassland into dirt. Jeannie even grazes her lawn, and is working to see warm season native grasses return there as well.. Jeannie tells of interviewing a potential renter, and explaining her grazing strategy to him to see if he was agreeable. He stopped her at one point and said, “Look, you have to consider what’s best for the cattle and not just what’s best for the grass.” She stared at him in amazement and thought: 'Listen to yourself. I want healthy, lush grass. So do your cows! What's best for the pasture produces optimum nutrition, and IS best for the cattle." Jeannie is focused on the fact that soil health is intimately linked with human health. She asks us to consider that (a) many bacteria that are in a healthy human gut are identical to those in healthy soil, and (b) for every “bad” insect there are somewhere between 1700 to 2000 good insects. And she actively wonders whether pests like alfalfa weevils and Canadian Thistle are a nuisance to modern agriculture because a former predator of those pests is now extinct thanks to random and misguided spraying of chemicals. In addition to providing healthier grass by rotating cattle on pastures, Jeannie has required that renters do not use chemical pour-on, which is known to kill dung beetles. As a result, they are seeing that dung piles disappear more rapidly, and over time, are expecting that associated flies will be reduced. Her renters report minimal to NO cases of pinkeye problems annually, and only a few cases of foot rot. They also have reported calves that average 80 pounds heavier at weaning than those from more conventional pasturing. Because of such encouraging changes, Jeannie is exploring ways to improve human health along the way. Using Dr. Kristine Jones and her various podcasts, YouTube entries, and books, as well as her personal experience, Jeannie Franceus has developed a ranching lifestyle that focuses on natural processes, common sense, and adherence to problems with an approach that she calls "less cannon and more flyswatter." (If you’ve got a fly in the house, you don’t get out the cannon!) Listen to the full podcast here! Jeannie is a member of the SD Grasslands Coalition, and we also provide a link to a 6 ½ minute “Amazing Grasslands” video that gives you an idea of Jeannie’s land, how she moves on it and her working relationship with tenant, Mark Guericke – this is well worth the watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIj07FFdk28 For more information on Non-Operating Landowners (NOLOs) in South Dakota, please go to https://www.nolosd.org/ and check out the new NOLO/Tenant Partnership Stories! Check out free resources at the NRCS: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/sd/home/ Dr. Kristine Jones website: https://www.amazingcarbon.com/ ____________________________________________________________________ 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

Our partner the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is hosting a webinar on December 8th. Check out the details below: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woody encroachment and associated large-scale collapse of rangeland in the Great Plains may contribute to increased wildfire events, declines in livestock production, heightened risks to water resources, and reduced biodiversity. On December 8 at 1:00 p.m. eastern, Dr. Dirac Twidwell of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present on the rapid adoption of new strategies to reduce woody encroachment on rangelands, driven by the emergence of new science documenting how woody plant expansion is causing nationwide declines in rangeland production. This presentation will focus on new large-scale conservation efforts on working lands and will detail use of the Rangeland Analysis Platform, a tool that supports rangeland monitoring, decision-making, and more effective management. By effectively reducing woody encroachment, land managers across the Great Plains can restore and maintain healthy grasslands ecosystems and improve forage production. No registration is required. For additional information, including a link to access the webinar, visit the Conservation Outcomes Webinar webpage. Access Conservation Outcomes Webinars The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) hosts one-hour virtual webinars during even-numbered months. These webinars feature scientists and other subject matter experts speaking on a diversity of topics related to voluntary conservation efforts on working lands. You may subscribe to receive emails with information on upcoming Conservation Outcomes Webinars. Enter your email address here, then select the "Conservation Outcomes" topic under Conservation. ____________________________________________________________________ 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

"Instead of trying to force nature to a certain outcome, try observing how nature naturally works and then accommodating that in their management." By Mike Cox Tanse Herrmann recently became the South Dakota USDA-NRCS’s Grazinglands Soil Health Specialist, and far as anyone could confirm in late 2022, this is the only such position in the USDA-NRCS the country. Growing up in Chamberlain, South Dakota, right along the Missouri River, and graduating from the local high school, Tanse was closely linked to the agricultural lifestyle. Both his parents worked in careers associated with agricultural industries. "My best friends were the children of ranchers and farmers and I was active in the FFA, ultimately became the state president for South Dakota FFA for one year. That's where I fit. I've always been into horses and rodeo and things of that nature." Tanse decided early on that a farm-based life would require too much financial investment, so after heading to South Dakota State University, he focused on agricultural education. In 2003, Tanse landed with the State Association of Conservation Districts on a watershed project working out of a USDA-National Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) field office in Belle Fourche. He immediately realized this was the right spot. That position introduced Tanse to the USDA-NRCS and he was soon absorbing the world according to the likes of Gabe Brown, Jay Fuhrer, and Dwayne Beck. He applied for and won the job of District Conservationist for the Sturgis Field Office. After ten years, Tanse left his DC position to become the South Dakota Grazinglands Soil Health Specialist. When asked why there seems to be a disparity between croplands and range lands where soil health is concerned, Tanse suggested the reason may be economical. "Farmers are constantly faced with decisions on inputs that directly correlate to yield, whether it's their planting mechanisms or fertilizer, pesticide applications. It's a 12-month type of mindset. Truly you know that cycle completely starts and stops every 12 months." Tanse thinks the difference between farming and ranching mindset may be a simple matter of being taken for granted, because ranchers aren't spending money on inputs to make range land productive. It doesn't change all that rapidly unless someone makes significant management changes. Range land decisions are about the product, best cattle, most nutritious grass. There are no direct monetary issues tied to this. Most soil nutrition decisions come by word of mouth and are about cost savings rather than increased revenues. When asked how he approaches someone to talk about soil health, he says he starts with questions of his own. “I'm probably going to ask some questions to make sure that I start on the right foot. Don't go down a path that turns them off or is unnecessary.” Tanse will ask how many paddocks or pastures are in their grazing rotation. What does that look like to start with? How many animals are involved and roughly how much do they weigh? Just to get basic knowledge of how many animal unit months they're dealing with. This is particularly true if the meeting is not on the ranch. He might also inquire whether the producer owns the land that provides the winter feed, which is a significant piece of the equation, and will bring up terms like holistic or adaptive grazing management. Their response to those questions will guide the conversation. Not only looking at the landscape, looking at finances, labor availability, wildlife habitat. Tanse emphasizes that word of mouth is important. Most ranchers make changes based on the words of a respected peer, or the obvious success of a minor change. If a long-time rancher sees the results from a respected peer's move toward Adaptive Grazing and realizes that by making basic changes and doing some planning, he can also have healthier and heavier cattle and a healthier soil, he is more likely to positively consider changing. Tanse can be reached at: tanse.herrmann@usda.gov For more information on this subject watch this podcast: https://www.growingresiliencesd.com/podcasts/episode/27e7bf46/34-ranchers-rethink-rangeland-soil-health-for-profit For more contact information, visit NRCS Service Center in Rapid City, SD: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/sd/contact/local/ Remember Tanse’s words – “WE WANT TO MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE” so “DON’T BE TOO PROUD TO ASK”, calling up your NRCS Service Center and Speaking to a Grazinglands Specialist costs nothing. What do you have to lose? Watch for an announcement from SD Grassland Coalition for upcoming Grazing Schools https://sdgrass.org/sdgc-events/#grazing-school Watch for Soil Health Workshops and Conferences at: https://www.sdsoilhealthcoalition.org/ Watch also for Ranching for Profit Schools: https://ranchmanagement.com/ranching-for-profit-school-2/ Also please visit the SD NRCS Range and Pasture website for more information at: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/sd/technical/landuse/pasture/ ____________________________________________________________________ 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