Changes at SDSU Extension FeedFinder: Arrange CRP, Wintering of Livestock

 BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Additions to a South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service Web site will let producers find CRP land for haying or grazing or arrange for wintering of livestock.

Those changes at the SDSU Extension FeedFinder Web site will make it easier for producers to manage through the drought. People can find a link to FeedFinder online at http://sdces.sdstate.edu/drought/ or at the South Dakota Department of Agriculture Web site, http://www.state.sd.us/doa/doa.html.  The site is a joint venture of SDSU Extension and the state Department of Agriculture.

Conservation Reserve Program lands across South Dakota have been opened to haying or grazing because of the drought. Contact Farm Service Agency offices for details.

FeedFinder has been having about 1,500 hits per day in the current drought, up from about 80 to 100 per day normally, an SDSU Extension technology specialist said.

Producers must register on the site in order to post a message.  They may post a message to buy or sell pasture, standing hay, stalks/stubble, silage, grain, small grain hay, alfalfa/grass, alfalfa. Additions to the site now allow producers to line up use of CRP for haying or grazing or to arrange for wintering of livestock.

"We are providing a service for farmers and ranchers in South Dakota to buy and sell feed in order to help out in times of need," SDSU Director of Ag Information Technology Mike Adelaine said.

The site has been in operation since the 1980s in reaction to drought then, Adelaine said.  During the blizzards of 1996-97 and in this recent drought situation, the site has been the busiest Adelaine remembers.

 Adelaine said, SDSU shares information from FeedFinder with other land grant universities such as Montana State University, the University of Wyoming and the University of Nebraska.

People also can access FeedFinder online at the SDSU Extension information exchange Web site, http://sdces.sdstate.edu:8080/webx, at http://ars.sdstate.edu/extbeef/Drought_Management.htm, or at any county Extension office home page.  It can also be found online at http://todaysag.com.

 Once producers have bought or sold feed, they can remove their message from the list.  If a message is still listed after 45 days, the ag information technology staff normally removes it.  However, in critical conditions, like during drought conditions, they leave messages posted for 90 days.

If producers do not have internet access, they may call in their information to any county Extension office or the South Dakota Department of Agriculture at 1-800-228-5254 to have it posted on FeedFinder.
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Contact: Mike Adelaine, (605) 688-5676
** For links to other sites showcasing SDSU's work in teaching, research, and Extension, visit http://sdces.sdstate.edu.

Wendy Mohrhauser, Intern
AgBio Communications Unit
South Dakota State University
ACC, Box 2231, Rm 200
Brookings, SD 57007
Telephone: (605) 688-5795