BEEFSD Group Tours Conservation Ranch

WRITEN BY: LEALAND SCHOON, DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST, WHITE RIVER
Participants of the BEEFSD class arrived in Northeastern Mellette County to tour an organic/grassfed beef ranch. BEEFSD was developed to assist beginning farmers and ranchers establish successful production and management strategies for the beef industry.

There are five components to the BEEFSD program: 1. Instructional Workshops; 2. Post-Weaning Calf Performance Evaluation; 3. Mentoring; 4. Web-Based Interaction; 5. Travel Studies.

Touring White Thunder Organics ranch met the “Mentoring” objective, while learning more about alternative means of marketing and raising livestock. The NRCS was asked to participate with the tour to showcase the close partnership between the producer and the field office. The Harmons have worked extensively with the NRCS staff and partners to implement and enhance conservation on their ranch. Discussed were conservation practice opportunities through NRCS Conservation Technical Assistance and Farm Bill Programs.

Since 2004, rangeland management on the White Thunder Organics Ranch has moved from a one large pasture system, to a seven-pasture rotation, and recently to a 12-pasture grazing rotation, increasing soil health and forage production in excess of 65 percent from when they started and 40 percent over the historic climax community documented within the USDA technical guides.

The SD Cooperative Extension Service in partnership with the SD Farm Bureau received a $748,892 grant to assist beginning range-based beef cow-calf ranchers. The investment from the USDA and Extension will equate to a scholarship of about $30,000 for each beginning rancher.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the grant, and the funding will help individuals and families new to ranching to become economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable beef producers.

The USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, or BFRDP, is an education, training, technical assistance, and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers. The program was established through the 2008 Farm Bill.

Ref: http://start2farm.gov/programs/beefsd-beginning-entrepreneurs-expanding-future-south-dakota
Back to

Keystone XL Hearing Draws A Crowd In Pierre

By Ben Dunsmoor
Published: September 29, 2011, 9:55 PM

PIERRE, SD - It's a $7 billion project that would cut through western South Dakota.

Transcanada is trying to get a federal permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring oil from northern Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries. But before the U.S. State Department grants the permit, they are holding public hearings along the proposed route, including in South Dakota.

Transcanada is already pumping oil underneath South Dakota soil from Canada to Texas. Thursday at the Ramkota Hotel in Pierre, dozens of people were piping up to give their opinions on Transcanada's second proposed project, the Keystone XL.

"The proposed Keystone XL pipeline is a 1,700 mile long fuse to the largest carbon bomb in North America," Pat Spears with the International Council on Utility Policy said.

"We feel this will be the safest pipeline in the world and it's needed," Harding County landowner Jim Doolittle said.

More than 400 people, including union workers, landowners and environmentalists, showed up to tell officials with the U.S. State Department where they stand on the project. Supporters say the pipeline will provide much needed jobs and a friendly-source of oil.

"I would rather import heavy-crude from Canada than buy one more barrel of oil from Hugo Chavez," pipeline supporter Larry Mann said.

"Why wouldn't we want to enhance an already good relationship by agreeing to build this pipeline and bringing the tar sand oils to our refineries. Those oils are going to go somewhere; it only makes sense for that place to be the USA," Harding County landowner Scott Besler said.

But opponents point to the existing Keystone pipeline that runs through South Dakota, saying it's already leaked more than a dozen times and they expect the Keystone XL to do the same thing.

"Fourteen leaks on Keystone One in just over a year, a new gas pipeline in Wyoming explodes and you ask, 'Trust me?' I think not," Tripp County landowner John Harter said.

"A rupture in the Keystone XL pipeline could cause a BP oil spill in America's heartland over the source of fresh drinking water for two million people," Mellette County rancher Trista Olsen said.

The pipeline leaking is a major concern of pipeline opponents here in South Dakota and beyond.

In Nebraska, there are worries a leak would poison the Oglalla aquifer, which supplies water to most of the state.

Here is the link to watch this News Report: http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm?VideoFile=110929transcanada

Mellette County Rangeland vististed by Mitchell Tech students

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Myron Sonne, Agricultural Instructor at Mitchell Technical Institute, department of agricultural technology instructs an “Understanding South Dakota Grasses classes.

He requested the assistance from the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), District Conservationist, Leland Schoon to host the class and speak on the area of determining how much grass is present and how long cattle might be able to graze.

“It is always exciting to host colligate students interested in rangeland science;, notes Schoon. “Mellette County has some of the best rangeland in the state, Then to sharpen peoples interest of good rangeland practices is rewarding.”

This year, Schoon asked Dominic Harmon and Trista Olsen at White Thunder Organics to host the location for the tour. White Thunder Organics have implemented a seven pasture rotational grazing system on a traditionally grazed one pasture system.

The students were shown how production and plant vigor have increased due to the improved grazing management and how the calculate carry capacity through clipping vegetation.

The Mitchell Tech Students stopped in White River for lunch before traveling west continuing their tour through privately owned ranches, the cottonwood research Station, Custer State Park and the National Grassland Visitors Center, in Wall.

White Thunder Organics recives grazeing award

WEDNESDAY, October 3rd, 2007

Written by: Lealand Schoon

White Thunder Organics, owned and operated by Dominic Harmon and Trista Olsen of rural northeast, Mellette County, was awarded the Area III, South Dakota Section of Society for Range Management, Excellence in Range Management Award. The Mellette Country Conservation District sponsored their nomination in late Jul, 2007.

Their ranch management strategies, which have enabled them to survive the ongoing drought, while increasing grass production, has been credited to their intensive rotational grazing system. Conservation practices implemented since year 2004 have been drilling an artesian well, which has piped water throughout the ranch, providing water to stock water tanks in nine pasture paddocks.  Twenty-eight acres of a native grass planting was completed with an additional eighty acres planned in the future.

The cropland has been established to productive alfalfa which is rebuilding organic matter and soil quality. Manure is composted within the corrals from the two month time period that their organic beef calves are weaned, prior to being direct marketed off the ranch. Wildlife, pest control and diversified ranch animal enterprises are part of their holistic approach.

However, it is the implementation of excellent grazing management practices, which has allowed them to maintain stocking rates, increase native rangeland production and restore native warm season grasses to what was once bare over utilized areas.

White Thunder Organics will be hosting a tour of their ranch sometime during the 2008 growing season. The white River Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) is proud to be working partners with White Thunder Organics.

A visit to the Bad Nation Indian Colony

SOUTH DAKOTA, FRIDAY, AUG 18, 1939

Last Saturday morning we accepted an invitation extended us by Boss Farmer Lindbloom, and went out to visit the Bad Nation colony, located on Big White river, about 22 miles northeast of Wood. This is a comparatively new project, and is just getting under way this year, although a little work was done on the project last year. It is most ideally located on perhaps 200 acres of nice level river bottom land. A fine set of buildings has been erected for the accommodation of the colony and more are yet to be built.

A fine new school building has been erected there with all modern conveniences. The building is 30x80 feet in size, and in it are also quarters for the superintendent of the school, James D. Wallace and wife, who have just recently moved in. The building is modern in every sense of the word and has electric light, and when fully completed will have running water, as both hot tub and shower baths have been installed. The floors are of hardwood, and it is certainly a modern plant, and the living quarters are equipped with a bottled gas range. There is also a two –car garage; then there are these nice cottages on the location for the accommodation of Indian families. The material is on the ground for the erection of a canning plant, and this building will soon be taking form.

The colony has about 20 acres under cultivation this year with a good part of the garden under irrigation, Water is supplied by a centrifugal pump that throws a six-inch stream from the river at the rate of about 1205 gallons per minute. When we were there Saturday we saw beets, rutabaga, turnips, potatoes, sweet corn, watermelons, cantaloupes, squashes, pumpkins and cucumbers, all looking mighty promising, not withstanding that they had a hard battle with grasshoppers  and beetles – they are going to gather a good crop. Last Saturday they were busy canning beets and drying sweet corn. They dry sweet corn by the old fashioned sun-drying method, but good dried sweet corn does make mighty good eating in the winter time. They are also salting down barrels of cucumber pickles for winter use.

This is one of the newer colonies that are being established all over this country by the Indian department for their charges, and we were much impressed with the ideal location of this colony for future development and beautification.

We could visualize a real show place there within a few years by proper handling, when all the available bottom land in the plot could be put under irrigation and intensive cultivation. With perhaps a fine field of alfalfa to provide feed for the milking cows, with eight or ten acres in orchard, and the balance of the land in garden truck to be harvested and processed right on the ground it would be a source of winter food supply for the red man that would certainly be a boon, and perhaps the red man, under proper tutelage, could yet point the way to his white brother how to build happy homes in this country and let the soil produce all of the luxuries that grace the table of the most opulent citizens.

Mr. Lindbloom has about four such colonies under his supervision, and he informed us that they are making strides and should be a means of making the Indians more self-supporting and self-reliant in the future. We are going to make it a point to watch this development, which has the possibilities of making examples that might well be followed by the white man, not as a colony but through individual effort, with perhaps cooperative processing plants to take care of any surplus production.

 When we purchased the land and moved down to South Dakota in 2004, not one of the building remained standing.  There does remain some foundations scattered around the land. Image is not one that was included in the artice, I took a picture and photoshoped it to what the 1939 photo's looked like to give you an idea of the times. 

Fresh, Organic, Sustainable

Published in Cattle Buisnesses 2011-2012 Herd Refference Guide

By: Maria Tussing

When Dominick and Trista Harmon bought some property near Wood, S.D., they weren’t entirely new to agriculture, but they approached it like they were. The two, originally from around Bemidji, Minn., bought the property near Wood because it was cheap. They moved here to get a start on a dream that Trista says was mostly Dominick’s in the beginning.

“It was my husband’s dream for a long time to do this. It was different for me. I grew up in agriculture and didn’t want to be in it anymore. I just fell in love with it. We often say we are living in heaven already. We love every minute of this life,” Trista says. Trista and Dominick have two boys, Phoenix, 5 and Forest, 3, who “help” with the chickens and garden, Trista says.

Trista and Dominick are both environmentalists and organic consumers, so Trista says it just made sense to follow those values when they were establishing their business. That business is White Thunder Organics and consumers love it, Trista says.

“When we first moved here the land was very barren and there wasn’t much wildlife. There were lots of bare spots, thistle, cheatgrass. We’ve been gradually turning it back into a lush, native prairie through rotational grazing. It’s unbelievable to see how much more life and biodiversity there is in just the few years we’ve had it. It’s very rewarding for us,” Trista says.

Before they bought the place in South Dakota, Trista says they did lots of research online. As a child she had raised Tarantaise cattle and really liked the temperament. After more research she discovered that the breed originated in Europe and thrived grazing the hills there, so Trista and Dominick thought they’d be a good fit for South Dakota. The cows had a naturally high butterfat content, which they knew would give the calves a good start. Harmons cross the Tarantaise with Angus and produce grass-finished, organic, certified humane beef. Their cattle don’t see any supplements or pesticides and Trista says they’ve never had a problem with the health in their herd. The cattle are grazed rotationally and supplemented when necessary with alfalfa hay. “We had the vet out to spay some heifers for the first time in years and he was blown away by how healthy are cattle were,” Trista says.

The Harmons also raise Berkshire pigs, another breed that Trista had some exposure to growing up. The pigs are never confined, farrowing in open huts and cooling off in wallows when the weather gets hot. The pigs are free-range and organic. The Berkshires are noted for their flavor and Trista says some restaurants pay a hefty premium for Berkshire pork.

While they are concerned with maintaining the health of their cattle and pigs, they know that neither is possible without healthy land. They worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to get many of their land improvement projects started. “We broke the land up into smaller pastures and put in a watering system. Our cows are only in each pasture for three or four days at a time, for an average of nine days per year. The average size of a pasture is about 60 acres,” Trista says.

They have also improved the land by rotating crops through that put nutrients back in the soil and using insects to control invasive weeds biologically. They have put up bat houses and birdhouses to encourage insects’ natural predators to help control the flies and mosquitoes.

The Harmons recognize the value of catering to a niche and think there’s plenty of room for expansion. “We’ve pretty much nearly every niche market you can have. We’re certified humane and organic. All the paperwork is kind of a pain, but it’s definitely worth the time it takes to do it,” Trista says.

Trista and Dominick caution anyone looking to pursue these avenues to do their homework first. “Gather knowledge. Don’t just jump into it. You have to know what you’re doing. Talk to people who have already done it. There are lots of books to read and seminars if you’re willing to take the time to go to them,” Trista says. She also emphasizes how important it is to make sure the breed of livestock is suited to the niche it is supposed to fill. “You can’t take a big-framed cow that’s been bred to be corn-finished and thrown them out on grass. They’ve got to be hardy enough for it. We’ve been able to finish our cows in 18 months on grass and hay. They never see any corn. We finish our pigs in about six to eight months. They forage and eat sprouted grains, but no corn. Eliminating the corn really cuts down on our cost and the animals we raise finish just fine without it,” Trista says.

Once the animals are finished, Harmons haul them to Sturigs Meats, which is a certified organic processor. After the processing is complete, the Harmons bring the meat back home and customers order directly from them. They also place some of their products in Whole Foods stores in Colorado, a grocery store in Pierre, and Star Family Restaurant in Murdo. “Starting out it was kind of hard. No one knew if we were any good or not. Once we found a good buyer who told everyone how good we were, the buyers came to us. Now we have a waiting list for our beef. People are asking for it constantly, begging us to expand and get more. Our pork is getting to the point where we have it all sold. I think there’s less awareness about where pork comes from than where beef comes from,” Trista says.

“We enjoy the opportunity to build up a relationship with our customers. It’s wonderful to see who’s eating our product and have that relationship with them. They like to know where their food is coming from. They want to know that they’re producing something sustainable,” Trista says.

To meet the demands of their customers, Harmons are planning to double the size of their cow herd in the near future.

-- 
Maria E. Tussing
Freelance Writer
P.O. Box 275
New Underwood, SD 57761
605-280-7184
www.writemet.com
www.writemet.tumblr.com