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The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station’s long history of supporting the state’s producers and its future outlook

Today, American agriculture is a global powerhouse, exporting food to the rest of the world and consistently leading innovations that improve farm productivity and efficiency. Agriculture provides the U.S. economy with over $1.3 trillion annually and is a foundational reason for the country’s global dominance.

But this behemoth of an industry would not have been possible without the passage of a law in the 1800s and the resulting creation of agricultural experiment stations, which provide a network of platforms for the research, teaching and outreach that has built American agriculture into what it is today.

In 1887, Congress passed the Hatch Act, an appropriations bill that provided funding for agricultural experiment stations at land-grant universities in all 50 states. Named after a congressman from Missouri, the Hatch Act not only sought to improve the country’s agricultural productivity through research and outreach, it also wanted to establish a system to disseminate research findings. At the time, producers across the country faced mounting debt and production challenges.

Dakota Agricultural College, the state’s land-grant institution, which would later be known as Ģ������Ƶ, established the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station with the purchase of 320 acres adjoining the (at the time) 80-acre campus in Brookings. The university bought livestock and equipment, built a large stock barn and elected Lewis McLouth, then the president of the college, as the station’s first director.

“It has seemed wise to the management of the station to undertake at first only those problems which most closely touch the agricultural interests of this territory,” the station noted in its first annual report in 1888. “Questions of butter and cheese making, questions of fattening, are questions which, when settled in Minnesota or Wisconsin, are settled as well for Dakota. But the questions of whether corn is profitable here; what tame grass will grow here; what fruits will thrive; what trees can be made to grow well here; what cattle, horses, swine and sheep are best adapted to our climate — these are questions that can only be settled by trial in Dakota.”

The vision was clear. The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station would conduct research specifically aimed at solving questions directly tied to South Dakota’s producers and the agriculture industry. One of the station’s early focuses was on corn, a crop that some early producers doubted could be successful in Dakota Territory. Initially, the station conducted corn variety testing and breeding experiments and worked to determine the length of the growing season for South Dakota’s climate.

Thanks to this work and other early pivotal research, corn in the state quickly blossomed into a major cash crop, and now South Dakota harvests over 5 million acres annually, generating around $3 billion for the state’s economy.

“The quality of life and the standard of living that we enjoy today does not come from research going on now,” noted Ray Moore, director of the station from 1974 to 1994, in the station’s annual report. “They are, instead, the benefits of the work of previous generations. Ģ������Ƶ often takes that long to ‘trickle’ into production agriculture.”

While the research has evolved, the vision remains the same. On campus and across six locations around South Dakota, the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station continues pivotal research aimed at helping producers find solutions to the state’s agricultural challenges.

Cottonwood Field Station

Located in the heart of South Dakota’s rangeland roughly an hour east of Rapid City, the historic Cottonwood Field Station has been conducting pivotal rangeland research since its inception in 1907. Originally founded on 640 acres, the Cottonwood station first focused its efforts on crops and soils.

In 1940, the station added 2,000 acres of federal land and the research adjusted its focus to livestock production for western South Dakota ranchers. In 1942, the station began a long-term stocking rate study that evaluated the dynamics of range ecosystems and livestock production. This study continues today and has examined the responses of mixed-grass prairie to a wide variety of climatic conditions and grazing systems. This work is unique in terms of scale and scope, and few other locations have maintained studies for this long with now over 80 years of collected data. The long-term research project has produced several groundbreaking studies that have challenged the wider scientific community.

As one of the country’s oldest research stations, Cottonwood has long been recognized for its impact, both at the state and national level. Today, the station is known as a hub for precision livestock technologies — tools that have the potential to revolutionize beef production. Ģ������Ƶers have been investigating virtual fencing, remote weighing and precision feeding to understand how these cutting-edge technologies can be successfully implemented on ranching operations.

Thanks to recent funding from the state and federal government, Cottonwood has been undergoing significant renovations. This project, completed in 2026, includes updated animal handling facilities and a monoslope feedlot with individual feed intake technology.

“These new facilities will strengthen efforts to attract and retain world-class faculty, train and educate graduate and undergraduate students and carry out renowned research and outreach programs,” said John Blanton Jr., current director of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.

Northeast Ģ������Ƶ Farm

By the 1950s, the work of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station was having a noticeable impact on the state, but some producers felt their needs weren’t being directly met through research. The northeast corner of the state has the shortest growing season, colder temperatures and less precipitation than Brookings, and in spring 1955, money was appropriated by the South Dakota Legislature to open a substation 15 miles north of Watertown.

“The purpose of this farm is to obtain solutions of local problems in crop production and soil management,” the 1956 annual report stated.

Today, the SDSU Northeast Ģ������Ƶ Farm is led by a board of 12 farmers, one from every county representing the northeast corner of the state. The board meets twice a year to discuss ongoing experiments and research that are directly applicable to the region’s climatic conditions. Originally, the farm was supposed to be a mobile unit that moved every six to 10 years. However, a long-term lease agreement has allowed the farm to stay in place and expand in size, now with 105 total acres set aside for research.

Some of the key research projects at this farm include the university’s winter wheat, spring wheat and oat breeding programs. A major emphasis of the station is to support smaller farming operations.

Southeast Ģ������Ƶ Farm

Like the northeast, producers in the southeast corner of the state felt the university’s experiment station research wasn’t directly applicable due to their region’s climatic differences. In 1955, a forward-thinking group of farmers got together to create an association that was focused on agricultural problems for southeast South Dakota. A nonprofit organization, the Southeast Experiment Farm Corporation, was formed with members representing each county in southeastern South Dakota.

The corporation partnered with the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and raised money to purchase a plot of land near Beresford. This situation is unique to experiment stations in other states and has given the Southeast Ģ������Ƶ Farm national recognition.

“The farm originally was started because a group of farmers wanted to have a voice and have something that looked like their farm to relate to, instead of data from far away,” said Alvin Novak, chairman of the Southeast Farm board of directors, in 2020.

Some of the pioneering research conducted at the southeast station includes odor control for hog confinement barns and vegetative areas with runoff water from feedlots. Ģ������Ƶers also collaborated with Raven Industries to develop a first-of-its-kind variable rate multi-hybrid planter that allows farmers to place different varieties of seed based on the variety that is best for those specific growing conditions and soil types.

The research farm has now expanded to 400 acres and includes facilities for cattle and swine. Much of the research is focused on weed control and cropping systems, but there is also integrated livestock research ongoing.

Oak Lake Field Station

Nestled in the Coteau des Prairies, the Oak Lake Field Station is the home to many research projects related to ecology, management and environmental issues linked to prairie ecosystems.

Originally a Girl Scouts camp, the university acquired the 570-acre facility in 1989. Located 25 miles northeast of Brookings, the station has a number of lodging and dining facilities on the property, which has made it a prime location for many regional schools to visit as part of educational outreach programs.

“We are always looking to expand our research and outreach at Oak Lake,” said Charles Fenster, Oak Lake Field Station director and affiliate professor in the Department of Natural Resource Management.

Biofuel development was the focus of Oak Lake’s research in the 2010s. Ģ������Ƶers evaluated the biomass potential of switchgrass and other prairie grasses and plants, which could be used to create ethanol or other biofuels.

Current research has focused on prairie streams, the life history and human utilization of native prairie forbs and insect-plant interactions.

The station has also hosted prescribed burn trainings as part of the university’s efforts to protect grasslands, which continue to be under threat from encroaching trees. Fires, a natural part of the prairie ecosystem, can actually play a role in protecting and refreshing grasslands, and SDSU Extension members lead prescribed burn trainings for interested landowners at Oak Lake.

Dakota Lakes Ģ������Ƶ Farm

While Cottonwood might be one of the nation’s oldest stations, the Dakota Lakes Ģ������Ƶ Farm, located east of Pierre, is maybe the most notable of all the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment substations. Since its inception in 1990, the farm has been strictly no-till. This pioneering research into sustainable (regenerative) agricultural has brought the farm national and international acclaim.

The genesis of Dakota Lakes is quite similar to the Northeast and Southeast Ģ������Ƶ Farms. A group of farmers got together to form a nonprofit, the Dakota Lakes Ģ������Ƶ Farm Corporation. The farm, facilities and production enterprise is owned by the corporation, and SDSU operates the research enterprise. The profits from the production fund most of the operational expenses of the research.

Farming in central South Dakota had always been a “high-risk” venture. Low levels of rainfall meant little to no excess moisture for the soils. Irrigation was a potential method for stabilizing yields, but it was expensive and had its own set of challenges. No-till, researchers found, allowed water to seep into the soil and retain moisture, reducing or even eliminating the need for irrigation systems.

Few believed this method could be successful in the semi-arid regions of central South Dakota, but the tireless work of Dwayne Beck, former manager of the farm, got many producers to make the leap to no-till practices. The impact was eye-opening. Between 1990 and 2005, crop production in central South Dakota increased by over $600 million annually (based on 2007 prices). Total productivity in the region has increased by over a billion dollars.

Today, approximately 97% of farms in central South Dakota are no-till, thanks in large part to the research at Dakota Lakes. No-till practices can also be found on farms from Texas to Canada and have even led to applications overseas.

West River Ģ������Ƶ Farm

The latest addition to the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, the West River Ģ������Ƶ Farm, was acquired by the university in 2018. On nearly 111 acres in the shadow of Bear Butte, the West River substation focuses on agronomic and livestock operations for the climatic conditions of western South Dakota.

Some of the key projects include virtual fencing for sheep, cover crops to offset disease risk in wheat fields and using native rhizobia to increase nitrogen fixation under drought stress. According to the station’s manager, Chris Graham, researchers have also been working to improve the microbial activity of the soil in support of overall soil health.

“We also plant eight to 12 different types of crops during the growing season,” Graham said. “We plant crops traditional to South Dakota, like wheat and corn, but we are also planting crops like sorghum and camelina.”  
Like all the agricultural experiment stations, the farm has a mesonet weather station on the property, providing key climate data for western South Dakota.

Future outlook

The six substations and campus research fields that make up the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station serve as the backbone of innovation and progress for agriculture in South Dakota, evidenced by over a century of solving production challenges through research and outreach that directly serve the state’s producers.

Blanton has served as the station’s director for about three years. He has overseen agricultural experiment stations in two other states. South Dakota’s network of research, teaching and outreach rivals any other state system, Blanton said.

“Our system is a hidden gem,” said Blanton, associate dean for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. “The generosity and cooperation from our state and producers has created a model system for solving agricultural issues and contributing to the national economy.”

Technology is reshaping modern agriculture, and Blanton said researching how this technology can be useful to South Dakota’s producers will be a major focus for the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in the future.  

“Technologies, like satellites, soil samples and thermal cameras, can provide producers millions of data points,” Blanton said. “Our job is to figure out how to make this data useful to producers.”

This work will serve not just today’s producers, Blanton said, but it will ensure South Dakota’s agriculture industry remains on the leading edge of innovation, securing its resilience and productivity for generations to come.

Outreach

To get findings in the hands of producers, the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station would release easily understood reports, known as circulars and bulletins. Circulars reported research findings, like crop rotation experiments and breeding trials, while bulletins provided more practical information for producers, like how to control certain types of weeds or pests. The first official bulletin, published in 1887, reported on the growth of different types of trees on the Brookings campus.

Many of the bulletins and circulars in the first 40 years of the station revolved around the work of N.E. Hansen, a professor of horticulture and forestry who explored much of Russia and Asia to find plants suitable for South Dakota’s climate. When Hansen found a specific grass in Siberia, for example, he would bring it back to the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station for testing and breeding. His bulletins helped spread the word of his findings, which included everything from subsoils to hardy fruits to flowers all year round.