Author Archives: Colton Hall

Monitoring Herd Performance

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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.

‘Jurassic’ movie has giant animals; Lenkers have giant plants

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dave lenker reaches high2

By Dan Merritt, Advocate reporter

“Jurassic World” movie, recently released, shows gigantic reptiles lumbering around the countryside.

In town, in Winner, there are gigantic rose plants 15-feet tall and probably higher at the David and Pat Lenker home, southwest Winner.

The rose blooms tower high, nestled among the foliage of cedar evergreens. The trees support the rose plants as they stretch upward.

“They want to climb to the sky! We’ll stand back and see,” Pat observed.

When she and her husband put five “little shrub” plants, they said, into the soil at the back of their lot near a neighbor’s cedar trees in 2001, it wasn’t known they were climbing roses.

But the plants kept getting taller. “When they met the trees, they went up,” Pat commented.

Through 14 winters. Normally, other flowering rose plants on their place have to be covered in winter to protect against freezing.

But the Lenkers’ towering bavily (or possibly baffin) rose plants can’t be covered.

For some reason, exposed to winter cold, they have continued to survive. And thrive in the summers.

“We’ve never done anything, they just stay alive. That’s an unusual trait,” Pat noted.

The freakishly tall plants sport numerous blooms — in the hundreds, maybe thousands, said Dave.

Former business owner dies in plane crash

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The former owner of a crop spraying business in Winner died Monday, June 8, in a plane crash outside of Kadoka.

Joseph Schneller, 49, Keystone, owned Semper Fi Aviation in Winner for a couple of years.

Schneller was a former Rapid City police officer and a U.S. Marine.

According to a story in the Rapid City Journal, Schneller had just taken off from the Kadoka Municipal Airport at 4:18 p.m. in his alfalfa crop dusting plane when the aircraft apparently had a mechanical failure said Jackson County sheriff Ray Clements Jr.

Witnesses saw the plane rising, then saw the right wing dip suddenly.

The plane crashed across the road from the airport along a sports field fence on the east side of town.

Federal investigators reviewed the crash site June 8 to determine the cause of the crash.

‘New’ year means another photo together for kidney transplant brothers

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BartlesBy Dan Merritt, Advocate reporter

April’s over and it’s into a new year for brothers Lane and Troy Bartels — the former of Sioux Falls and the latter at Los Angeles, Calif.

They know that at some point in the coming year it will be time again for THE PHOTO. A shot of them together, probably at Christmas at the home of their folks Ray and Judy Bartels, rural Winner.

The photo must be taken by their mother, according to the two men now ages 33 and 43 respectively. No “selfie” — a phone-photograph taken by either one of them as they stand side by side and then e-mailed to mom.

“It’s kind of like the first day of school picture,” Troy noted. Something that only a mother can do, when she takes a photo of her school-age children heading-out to their nearest educational centers.

Yes, it’s definitely a mom photo to take, Lane agreed. “It’s what she does.”

Winner Teeners take 7th place

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teener brozik sturgis

Winner Teeners took seventh place in the local Teener tournament this weekend at Leahy Bowl.

In Sunday’s game, Winner defeated Bon Homme 11-3.

The local Teeners rattled off six runs early in the game. Bon Homme got on the scoreboard in the third inning.

Kayleb Brozik was the winning pitcher.

Winner opened the tournament facing Sturgis. Sturgis won the game 15-8 in extra innings.
Riley Calhoon tied the game at 6-6 on his score in the fourth inning. Winner took an 8-6 lead won a score by Jordan Turgeon. In the 7th inning, Sturgis scored two runs to tie the game at 8-8.

Nick Lantz was the losing pitcher.

Valentine defeated Winner 7-5.

Carter Brickman was the losing pitcher.

Legion defeats Gregory

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baseball page holden thiemanWinner/Colome Legion baseball team defeated Gregory 11-4 Friday in Winner.

“I thought we did a great job of hitting the ball, especially after struggling in our previous game,” said coach Drew Weber.  “The whole lineup contributed in some way and that is a big key for us moving forward.  Trevor threw a fantastic game for his first time out this year. We were solid defensively,” said the coach.

Pheasants defeat Alexandria

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Winner/Colome amateur baseball team won the second game of doubleheader against Alexandria Saturday afternoon.

The Pheasants won the Sunshine League game 11-10. In the 9th inning, Austin Calhoon got a walk off base hit scoring Drew Weber for the win.

“It was a nice walk off win over a good team,” said coach Kevin Graesser. “All players contributed to this win,” he said.

In the first game, Winner/Colome lost 7-5.

Weber was the losing pitcher.

Teeners nip Valentine

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teener jayden schroeder sunday game

Winner Teeners broke a 7-7 tie to go on and defeat Valentine, Neb., 8-7 Monday, June 8 in Winner.

The Winner varsity Teener team was down 5-1 and came back and tied the game at 7-7. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Winner scored a run to go ahead 8-7 and held Valentine in the seventh inning.

Nick Lantz was the winning pitcher.

Platte Downs Legion

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legion bicek pitching tuesPlatte defeated the Winner/Colome Legion baseball team 16-2 on June 9 at Leahy Bowl.

Platte took an early 8-0 lead after two innings.

“This game was not indicative of the way we normally should play but it’s a long season and there may be some games like this along the way,” said coach Drew Weber.  “We were throwing some inexperienced pitchers and I thought they did  a decent job with all things considered. We couldn’t really get anything going from the plate but that is due more to their pitching than our hitting. We’ll bounce back and get things turned around,” said Weber.

Winner/Colome Amateurs Join New League

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The Winner/Colome and South Central amateur baseball teams have each joined new leagues this season after the Rosebud TMT League disbanded due to a lack of teams.

“We ended up with just two teams in the Rosebud League and both teams still wanted to play, so we decided to split up,” said Winner/Colome coach Kevin Graesser.

“The Sunshine League allowed us to join their league and are very appreciative of that,” said Graesser.

With Winner/Colome joining the Sunshine League, the league is up to nine teams. They include Mitchell Mad Dogs, Parkston Mudcats, Parkston Bullheads, Alexandria, Dimock-Emery, Corsica/Stickney, Platte and Mount Vernon.

“No matter where we play, we are going to have to travel,” said Graesser.

The Pheasants finished second to Alexandria in the 2013 Class B state championship played in Sioux Falls.