Bennett County Conservation District

05/20/2025

05/20/2025

The Bennett County Conservation District will be selling out all remaining trees and shrubs on Friday, May 23rd, at the tree cellar located on the corner of Swallow Street and KayCee Ave. in Martin. The Cellar will open at 7:30 a.m. All leftover stock will be sold on a first-come basis.

05/30/2023

The Bennett County Conservation District will be selling out all remaining trees and shrubs, Friday, June 2nd, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the Tree Cellar. The cellar is located on the corner of Swallow St. and KayCee Ave.

01/24/2022

For the first few weeks of this year, we’re going to be talking about some of South Dakota’s resource concerns. Last week was all about water quantity and quality and this week we’re focusing on soil quality. Soil is an important resource and is the foundation for all life on Earth. Healthy soil equals productive land and organic matter is the key to productive soil. Organic matter is the part of soil derived from various stages of the decomposition of plants and animals. It is important for soil structure, provides energy for microorganisms, improves water infiltration, increases water-holding capacity, and reduces erosion. However, when soil resources are impaired, that can cause issues for productivity. This week we’ll talk about some soil quality issues and tell you how to address them. www.sdresourceconcerns.org

01/23/2022

Our water sources face many threats, but there are ways that we can improve water quality and quantity. Using a systems approach can help address excessive water. Strategies include managing for drainage and implementing open ditches, tile drains, mole drains, and land forming for increased surface runoff. When dealing with nutrients, management is key to protecting water quality. Implementing cover crops, crop rotations, increasing crop diversity, having conservation buffers, and residue management can help with nutrients. For excess chemicals, manure, and biosolids in the water, implementing a waste management system as well as biological treatments (anaerobic storage, composting) could be helpful. Also, keeping a buffer zone or setback distance between manure application areas and water bodies can greatly decrease the transport of pathogens to those bodies of water. As drought conditions continue to persist for parts of South Dakota, now is a good time to plan for the spring and address any water issues that you may have or might happen. You can see the current drought status here: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Check out this video on manure management from Maryland’s Department of Agriculture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH0HKxG0nDk&ab_channel=MdAgDept

In this video you’ll see how two livestock farmers, who have installed waste storage systems on their farm, protect local streams, improve operations, and make daily chores easier.

They also have a video on stream restoration and how it improves water quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQA881ZwCvw

If you’re having water quantity or quality issues on your land or the land around you, please reach out to your local conservation district - www.sdconservation.org/sdcd. If you'd like to learn more about water resource concerns or would like to explore other South Dakota resource concerns, visit www.sdresourceconcerns.org.

01/19/2022

01/10/2022

Happy Friday! Now that you know about a few different types of soil erosion let's talk about how we fix them. We can fix soil erosion by incorporating cover crops, practicing no-till, implementing grassed or lined waterways, water and sediment control basins, terraces, windbreaks, and more. If soil erosion is a major issue for your land or the land around you, please reach out to your local conservation district - www.sdconservation.org/sdcd. If you'd like to learn more about soil erosion or would like to explore other South Dakota resource concerns, visit www.sdresourceconcerns.org.

These videos from USDA highlight conservation practices that can address soil erosion:
https://youtu.be/DBYeb66dN80 - No-Till
https://youtu.be/51dHmr-ZWBs - Grassed Waterway

Stay tuned for next week's topic – Pest Pressure

01/10/2022

01/10/2022

Happy Sunday! For the first few weeks of this year, we’re going to be talking about some of South Dakota’s resource concerns. Last week was all about soil erosion and this week we’re focusing on plant pest pressure. This resource concern addresses invasive plant, animal, and insect species. Pest pressure occurs when excessive damage is done to plants from diseases, animals, insects, and undesirable plants such as weeds. Damage by pests can substantially reduce yields, growth, or desired plant community composition and structure. www.sdresourceconcerns.org