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South Dakota farmer: wet weather pushes soybean planting

A farmer in northeast South Dakota says soybean planting is dragging out beyond the final planting date due to consistent rains.

“From about May 25th on, whatever you don’t have done has been really difficult to finish up on.”

DuWayne Bosse, who’s also a crop insurance agent and market analyst, says there are only a few fields left to plant on his farm, but “I’ve got clients that have like 1,000 acres of beans left to go. I feel bad. The frustration level is high for those guys. And now, you’re past June 10, you know, if they wanted to prevent planted, they can, and a lot of them probably will.”

Bosse says he’s not expecting a lot of prevent plant in South Dakota, but some.

“Prevent plant will be lower probably even than last year (for the Dakotas), which was a low year number for total acres because North Dakota got quite a bit in. I drove through there last weekend and things look pretty good.”

He says the corn looks good, but is behind on progress along with the soybeans.

“We’re not in that really pretty stage yet, where corn roots down and hits the nitrogen that’s in the soil for it. So that’s probably why the crop condition scores in the Dakotas are, they aren’t bad, they’re just lacking the rest of the nation.”

Severe weather has been happening this spring, but Bosse says he’s not expecting any major events in the short-term.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) -A cold front moving through South Dakota will bring strong winds Thursday, with gusts up to 50 mph expected in northwestern parts of the state.

Wind advisories have been issued for Buffalo, Lemmon, Spearfish and areas near Rapid City. The strongest winds are expected in northwestern South Dakota, north and east of the Black Hills, up into the Buffalo area.

Wind timing and intensity

Winds are expected to build during overnight hours into Thursday morning and continue through midday. The strongest winds are forecast around 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday.

Winds will begin calming around 5 to 6 p.m., with breezy conditions continuing around 8 p.m.

The east side of the state could see some 50 mph wind gusts.

Rain and thunderstorms are possible

Showers are moving into the area, with heavy rain in northeastern Wyoming. Sheridan and Gillette could see heavy activity with possible thunderstorms.

Rapid City and western South Dakota will initially see dry conditions as upslope flow squeezes moisture out of the northern and western slopes of the Black Hills. Showers will move through the rest of Thursday, especially north of Interstate 90.

Some areas could receive about a half-inch of rain, though model data shows variations. Additional rain is expected Sunday, with temperatures about 10 degrees below average.

Front stalls across the region

The front is expected to stall over Ekalaka, Alzada, and Belle Fourche, and into central Meade County, including Union Center, and into Ziebach County.

Temperature outlook

Morning lows on Thursday will drop to 40 degrees in Gillette and 51 degrees in Rapid City. Temperatures will fall below average across much of the region after the cold front moves through.

Highs on Thursday will reach the 70s in Pine Ridge, Kadoka, Sheridan, and Belle Fourche. Temperatures will rise back to the 70s and 80s on Friday.

Another cooldown is expected Saturday with the next front. Temperatures in the hills could drop into the 50s, with highs of 56 in some areas and 62 in Deadwood. Spearfish and Hot Springs will see temperatures similar to the plains. Phillip and Pine Ridge will warm into the 80s by Friday.

Rapid City will hit 77 Tuesday and 83 Wednesday as high pressure moves into the area and temperatures stay moderate through the end of the week.

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All nine tribes located in South Dakota are unifying in their call to return the public, federal lands in the Black Hills to tribal entities.

Each tribe passed a resolution calling on Congress to act. Treaty rights mandate the Black Hills belong to tribes, although that treaty was broken long ago.

Organizers said the most important detail in this new legislative push is the focus on public, federal lands. Put simply, places where people do not live.

Valeriah Big Eagle is the director of He Sapa initiatives for Rapid City-based nonprofit NDN Collective. She said this not about private homes in the Black Hills.

“That’s the myth, that’s the misunderstanding,” Big Eagle said. “When they’re talking about landback in the Black Hills and we’re talking about the federal public land, essentially that is the lands that nobody is living on. It’s the federal, public lands so we can protect it from extractive activities.”

Regardless of outcome, advocates say the inclusion of all South Dakota’s tribes is a historic statement of tribal unity.

Joseph Brings Plenty is a tribal council representative from Eagle Butte. He said tribes have government-signed and guaranteed rights.

“That’s something that needs to be remembered — the treaties still exist,” Brings Plenty said. “That’s why we stand on this. For the United States to uphold their end of the bargain.”

Brings Plenty said it’s a chance for native peoples to have a meaningful say in the management of the Black Hills. With that, Brings Plenty said healing can happen.

“That’s a step forward, a positive step forward,” Brings Plenty said. “The Black Hills are not for sale. I mean, it’s not just in a Lakota or Indian sense. We all want clean water, we all want the air to be clear, we all want housing and grandchildren. We all want a life. The more and more, as is inevitable, the cultures mesh, I think this is all important. Why lose it?”

This comes on the heels of a mining effort near the Black Hills sacred site of Pe’Sla, where the company behind it withdrew after a legal battle and widespread opposition from the Indigenous community.