shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com November 10, 2015 • Page 5 40 years of SDSU Extension On Exhibit n heifer From Page 2 ally correct females that can get around the pasture to graze,” she said. Heavy structured and large footed females, with a more correct angle to their shoulder and hock will rise to the top. Heifer size Size of the heifer is also important to consider. What will be her mature size and maintenance cost? Does your operation have the resources and environment to support her? “In this case, if the older females being selected are also larger, they may require more input to be maintained in the herd than smaller framed counterparts,” Grussing said. “However, small females can be very inefficient also.” Having a good balance between the heifer’s phenotype, weight per day of age, as well as the cows mature size is important for profitability and efficiency of the cow herd. Are you maintaining or expanding the size of your cow herd? Grussing said, the way a cattle producer answers this question will help them decide how many replacement heifers should be kept. “If the size of the cow herd is to be maintained, the culling rate should equal the replacement rate right? Not necessarily,” she said. “No matter if you are maintaining or expanding your herd, it is best to keep 10 - 15 percent more replacement heifers than actually needed, to account for the 5 - 10 percent of females that will be late bred or never become pregnant at all.” This way Grussing said cattle producers will have enough to replace culled females, as well as extras to expand the herd or be marketed. “In addition, if more females become pregnant than you need, you can increase selection pressure on which females have the best genetics to add to the cow herd,” she said. How will I develop them? Replacement heifers are one of the most important management groups in the herd and it can be a costly investment to develop heifers that won’t provide returns for two years. Therefore, cattle producers need to make sure they have www.missourivalleyshopper.com the resources and management to develop them correctly. “This is vital to attaining genetic progress in your herd,” Grussing said. When resources are limited to develop heifers, custom heifer development companies are available to complete the development for a cost. niGrow www.missourivalleyshopper.com South Dakota www.missourivalleyshopper.com Farm Stories Expansion of family run in numbers. livestock operations has According to the USDA been happening for a while “average small-farm financial in the US. The reason is performance lags well beoftentimes attributed to the hind that of large farms, sugeconomies of scale which gesting that production will give farms greater leverage continue to shift to larger with suppliers and clients operations”. (To read more and helps them keep up on this go to the “Farm’s Tipwith inflation. One other ping Point in South Dakota” reason that compels farms iGrow article here). to expand or relocate is the According to a 2010 desire for the next generaUSDA report, farms selling tion to join the operation and less than $100,000 will likely eventually take over. continue to disappear and There is oftentimes a production shift to larger transition period before this farms. next generation becomes the Small farms have to main owner/operator. In adimprove production, dition, there’s frequently the increase livestock numbers need to generate enough net or relocate to increase their income to supplement the likelihood of remaining in www.missourivalleyshopper.com older generation’s budget business. during retirement. According to the USDA When I discuss famERS (2010): “Farmers who ily farms, I’m talking about want to make a living from those operations where the farming, and who can opermajority of the business is ate a larger crop operation, owned by the operator and have a strong incentive to his or her relatives. This expand because larger operais also the USDA’s official tions, on average, show betdefinition. ter financial performance”. In South Dakota, 98 Small South Dakota farm percent of the livestock operators who want to live farms are family owned and exclusively on their farm inmanaged. come need to enhance their By the numbers: the state gross sales. The second apof family farms in South proach is for one or more of Dakota the family members to work Commercial small farms elsewhere thus contributing in the state are disappearto the total family income ing at a constant rate of 3.5 with off the farm funds. percent per year. According to a recent Bear in mind that these USDA report “Larger farms figures constituted 24 have a competitive advanpercent of all 2012 farms tage over smaller farms in (31,989) or a loss of 276 most commodities because farms per year. According to the average cost of producthe U.S. census of agricultion per unit declines as the ture, between 2002 and 2012, size of the operation grows small South Dakota commer(referred to as economies cial farms, with gross sales of size)”.There are numerbetween $10,000 and $99,999, ous stories that exemplify decreased at a constant rate how farms have faced these of approximately 3.5 percent challenges with success. per year. On the other hand, One such story is that of the those farms with a gross inKrause family who farm near come between $100,000 and $499,999 have seen only a n stories, 0.35 percent yearly reduction Page 9 BROOKINGS, S.D. - In them improve their farm or 1952, photographer and provide them with advice journalist, Leland “Lee” Sudon home and family - many low joined SDSU Extension South Dakotans have a as a Visual Aids Specialist. strong relationship and rich For the next 38 years he history with SDSU Extencaptured SDSU Extension sion.” serving individuals and As the outreach arm of communities across South our state’s Land Grant, South Dakota. Dakota State University, Celebrating SDSU ExtenSDSU Extension’s vision is sion’s service to South Dato be “the indispensible outkotans, the exhibit, Through reach link to people growing Leland Sudlow’s Lens: 40 South Dakota’s, and the Years of Extension Service nation’s, future by providHistory, is on display at the ing solutions and creating South Dakota Agricultural opportunities. We foster Heritage Museum in Brooklearning communities that ings now through Feb. 29, empower citizens to advowww.missourivalleyshopper.com 2015. cate for sustainable change “This exhibit brings and strengthen agriculture, nearly four decades of SDSU natural resources, youth, Extension in South Dakota families and communities.” to life,” said Karla Trautman, Families, farming and SDSU Extension Associranching practices and comate Director. “Whether it is munities in South Dakota through 4-H or relying on look much different today SDSU Extension for informathan they did 60 years ago tion and resources to help when Sudlow began captur- www.missourivalleyshopper.com ing them on film. So does SDSU Extension. By using images selected from the collection of more than 80,000, which Sudlow amassed during his career (1952-1990), the exhibit clearly demonstrates how SDSU Extension evolved through the decades to meet the changing needs of South Dakotans, explained Gwen McCausland, Director of the S.D. Agricultural Heritage Museum. “We used his work as a framework to create a visual history of SDSU Extension and life in South Dakota,” McCausland said of the collection, which the Sudlow family and the SDSU Agricultural Communications Department donated to the museum for safe-keeping. This exhibit is S.D. Agricultural Heritage Museum’s way of honoring SDSU Extension, which celebrated a century of service to South Dakota communities and individuals in 2014. “The great thing about SDSU Extension is the programs they offer change to meet the needs of the people they serve,” McCausland said. “Extension today is much different than it was in the 1950s - but so are the needs of South Dakotans.” Black and white still life’s along with brochures, Sudlow’s camera and a recreated www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com 1950s-era office, introduce visitors to different times in South Dakota’s history and ways SDSU Extension provided them with information: Cold War days when citizens needed direction on how to build a fallout shelter; guidance on how to use a microwave, easy meals to prepare as mother’s entered the workforce or knowing how much DEET to spray on your crops. “We wanted to preserve the history my husband captured, which is why we gave the images to the Agriculture Heritage Museum,” explained Adele Sudlow, who like her deceased husband, began working for SDSU Extension in 1952. Adele served as a Music Specialist for SDSU Extension, instructing music for women’s Extension groups, 4-H and other Extension events. The couple married in 1953. When their first child was born, Adele decided to work from home as a piano teacher. At its peak, Adele was instructing as many as 60 students who would drive from as far away as Huron to take lessons. At 88, Adele still teaches piano in her Brookings home. With more than 80,000 images to sift through, the Agriculture Heritage Museum staff called upon Adele to help them identify images. She in turn, reached out to Sudlow’s SDSU Extension friends and colleagues. “No one I called turned me down unless they were out of town, “ Adele said, of the task which took nearly a year. The museum also hired an intern, Corey Korth, an SDSU Journalism major, to help with archival research. The exhibit will be on display at the Agricultural Heritage Museum through February 2016. Like the organization it highlights, the exhibit is designed to travel and will be displayed in communities throughout South Dakota in the coming years. niGrow www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Visit our Web site at www.missourivalleyshopper.com COUPON - Offer expires 11/30/15 OPEN 11 AM -site at Visit our Web 10PM $ 00 www.missourivalleyshopper.com 6 OFF Family Meal 8 Pc. Chicken, 2 Lg. Sides, 4 Biscuits Schuurmans Farm Supply WHEN IT COMES TO GRILLING, TASTE RULES... GREEN MOUNTAIN GRILLS HARDWOOD PELLET GRILLS GRILL YOUR TURKEY THIS THANKSGIVING FOR A REAL FEAST! $599 EASY AS A PUSH OF A BUTTON SET IT & FORGET IT! 2504 Fox Run Pkwy. Yankton, SD “Full Service Farm Equipment” East Hwy. 50, Yankton, SD 1-800-827-9700 • 605-665-3872 sales@koletzkyimplement.com • www.koletzkyimplement.com Notice of Petition to Vacate Section Line in Mission Hill Township A Petition was presented before the Mission Hill Township Board of Supervisors at the Regular meeting held October 27th, 2015 to Vacate Section Line between Sections 21&28 of Township T-94-N, R-55-W in Yankton County. The Mission Hill Township Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to vacate said section line and validation becomes official thirty (30) days after the second publication provided there is no appeal by law. George Wathier, Clerk 30480 NE Jim River Road Mission Hill, SD, 57046 Ph. (605) 589-3909 or Cell (605) 464-1113 5 miles West of Tyndall on Hwys. 50 & 37 www.schuurmansfarmsupply.com Schuurmans Farm Supply WINTER IS COMING! Do you have a garage, shop, calving facility, working chute or other uses (indoor & outdoor) for a portable radiant heater? This is the heater for you! VAL-6 DIESEL RADIANT HEATERS NOW IN STOCK! The versatile BLIZZARD POWER PLOW® hydraulically extends from a compact straight position to a wide BUCKET BLADE™ scoop position, and into and extended, wide-pass straight blade, so you can push more snow in less time. Ph. (605) 589-3909 or Cell (605) 464-1113 5 miles West of Tyndall on Hwys. 50 & 37 www.schuurmansfarmsupply.com