Sheep Production Guide

Sheep production in South Dakota offers farmers an additional means of stabilizing their income and production. The two cash crops per year, wool and lambs, have always been popular. With the necessity of planting more grasses and legumes to conserve our land, the need of putting more emphasis on roughage-consuming animals is evident. During World War II the sheep numbers in the United States declined about 40 percent from their high peak of 1942. However, since the United States produces only a fraction of the wool that this country consumes, and with sheep numbers likely to stay below the peak number attained in 1942 in the western part of the United States, the law of supply and demand appears to favor the man who maintains a band of ewes. Prices for lambs and wool are likely to be in a most favorable position in respect to other livestock commodities for some time. The number of sheep kept on South Dakota farms does not remain constant, but varies with economic and climatic conditions

4-H Project Guide: Beef Production

The first and most important step in the baby beef phase is to select the type of calf that will make the most economical gains and finally dress out a highly desirable carcass. The success and profit of the enterprise will depend on the conformation, feeding ability and quality of the calf selected

Use of Short-Term Floods as an Additional Management Strategy for Controlling Dodder (Cuscuta gronovii Willd.) in Commercial Cranberry Production

Dodder (Cuscuta gronovii Willd.) is a weed of serious concern to cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) growers. It develops vigorously and has a long-lived seed bank. Cranberries are a perennial crop and therefore strategies available to growers of annual crops are not practical. Herbicides, the primary management tool for dodder, although effective, have a narrow window of application and extended seedling emergence after applications can result in escapes. This project examined the effect of water temperature on dodder seed germination and the use of short-term floods (less than 72 hr) for dodder management. Experiments investigated the effect of water temperature on dodder seed germination. Studies, ran twice, submerged dodder seed in water for 0 to 48 hr at 10, 15, and 20 C in one experiment (simulating spring water temperatures) and 0 to 48 hr at 15, 20, and 25 C in a separate experiment (simulating summer water temperatures). In Run 1, the effect of temperature on percent seed germination varied by flood duration; and by temperature alone in Run 2. Percent seed germination however, always fell within normal ranges (35-59%), indicating that flooding may not impact seed germination. Two 1-yr field studies were conducted to evaluate the use of short-term floods (24 to 48 hr) for managing dodder in cranberries. Two scenarios were simulated: cranberry beds with no emergent weed populations (cranberries alone) and cranberries with emergent weed populations (cranberries with additional host). There were three flood durations (0, 24, and 48 hr) and four flood initiations (1 to 4 wk after first seedling emergence). In 2006, mean percent germination from seeds incubated in Petri dishes was lower for seeds submerged 3 and 4 wk after first emergence (AFE) for the 48-hr flood durations. In 2007, mean percent germination for seeds submerged for 24 and 48-hr decreased for floods initiated at 4 wk AFE. Flooding 4 wk AFE resulted in lowest mean attachment ratings in both years and lowest mean dodder biomass on cranberry in the 2007 cranberry and tomato study, suggesting later flood initiation may provide better dodder management

Pasture Management

This report details some of the practices involved with good pasture management