Monthly Archives: June 2015

BROOKINGS, S.D. – In response to the recent Avian Influenza outbreak, SDSU Extension launched a multi-state approach to providing research-based information and resources to families.

“By leveraging our resources and strategically sharing information with families throughout South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa we are able to provide daily updates and recommendations,” said Suzanne Stluka, SDSU Extension Food & Families Program Director of the cooperative project with Iowa State University Extension and University of Minnesota Extension

Together, extension staff from the three Land Grant Universities will provide families with information on everything from food safety education and stretching food dollars as the cost of eggs and poultry increases to implementing strategies to manage a family’s finances and stress during tough times.

“Avian Influenza has had a very real impact on families – while our SDSU Extension counterparts are working to address producer issues – this group will focus on the families struggling with the human challenges brought on by Avian Influenza,” Stluka explained. “Whether that is ensuring families are implementing the proper food safety techniques when preparing eggs and poultry, the loss of employment or dealing with seeing their food budget increase, as eggs, which are traditionally an inexpensive protein source, have more than doubled in price.”

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation will be distributing $12.5 million in state highway funds to local governments by the end of June 2015. The funds will go to counties and cities with populations above 5,000, also known as Class 1 cities.

“This past legislative session, Gov. Daugaard not only led the effort to increase funding for state highways, but to lessen the restrictions on how local governments use highway funds,” Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist said.

In previous years, the federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds that were allocated to each of the counties and Class 1 cities had many restrictions and could only be used on federal-aid eligible projects let to bid through the DOT. These restrictions resulted in several counties and cities accumulating their allocations for years until they were able to use the money on allowable projects.

The annual allocation is now being given to the local governments in the form of state highway funds that can be used on any road or bridge repair or maintenance.

Starting in September, the department will begin issuing checks to replace the accumulated STP balances with state highway funds.

For more information on the program, contact Doug Kinniburgh at 605-773-4284.

Since 2004, when the merit-based South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship was first awarded, observers have credited the scholarship with keeping students in college and completing a degree. Now there are new data to prove that point.

An analysis by the South Dakota Board of Regents looked at 2,652 students from South Dakota high schools who began a bachelor’s degree program in fall 2008 at one of the six state universities. Six years after initially enrolling, nearly nine in 10 students (88.5 percent) who received a South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship either had graduated or were still enrolled in a postsecondary institution.

For students who did not receive or did not qualify for the scholarship, only six in 10 students had similarly persisted.

By Warren Rusche, SDSU Extension cow/calf field specialist

Profit or loss in a cow/calf operation depends a great deal on the reproductive efficiency of the herd. For obvious reasons herds that have a high percentage of cows that settle early in the breeding season and deliver live calves are much more likely to be profitable.

Successful and profitable reproduction involves a number of key components. Factors such as pregnancy rates, calf death loss, and culling rates all play a role. Just as a chain is only as strong as the weak link, a problem in one area can undo exceptional results in another. The challenge is keeping track of the data and then using that information to drive management decisions.