Connie Sieh Groop

1 week ago | thedakotascout.com | Connie Sieh Groop

As temperatures warm, trucks loaded with bees travel across South Dakota as the insects head to their summer homes. Beekeepers place the boxes filled with bees and honey supers in shelter belts, along creeks and in pastures. Enticed by blooms from lilac bushes, alfalfa, plum trees and dandelions, the tiny livestock head out in the cool mornings to gather nectar to make honey and transfer pollen.

1 week ago | thefencepost.com | Connie Sieh Groop

Wild weather hit southwestern Nebraska, including a damaging tornado. A wall of rain obscured a tornado as it hit the Hayes Corner, Neb., area about 7:30 p.m., Sunday, May 18. “One of our hired hands watched it from about half a mile away,” Keith Lapp said. “The sheet of rain was coming down and then you could see the tornado. It was really wide.”For the Lapps, “The storm was pretty terrifying. We were in shelter but could feel the straight line winds that measured 80 mph.

2 weeks ago | capjournal.com | Connie Sieh Groop

Attending the Agriculture Women’s Day in Onida, June 11 will connect and inspire women involved in agriculture and rural communities. “Some ask, ‘Why is there a need for an Agricultural Women’s Day?’ ” Dawn Nagel, one of the event organizers, said. “These sessions provide tools for women who are part of the farm/ranch or a part of a rural community, but unfamiliar with some aspects of agriculture and the opportunities available.

1 month ago | thedakotascout.com | Connie Sieh Groop

At the intersection of cutting-edge technology and time-honored agriculture, a clear message emerged at this year’s Lamont Rhodes Lecture: Artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool — but only with human hands on the wheel. James Koltes, an associate professor at Iowa State University, told a crowd at Northern State University that while AI is transforming how farmers and scientists manage crops and livestock, it’s not a substitute for experience, judgment, or ethics.

2 months ago | thedakotascout.com | Connie Sieh Groop

For customers who walk into a local farm store, the “peep, peep, peep” of chicks might lure them into thinking that raising chickens might be cheaper than purchasing high-priced eggs. “I compare this to the toilet paper fiasco of 2020,” said Nick Westphal at Runnings in Aberdeen. “People are panicking over the price of eggs and think buying chicks is the answer. That’s not necessarily so.”Highly pathogenic avian influenza remains a major driver of price fluctuations for eggs this spring.