Five North Dakota and South Dakota farmers were recognized for their high corn silage yields in Dairyland Seed’s Yieldmaster Contest. Placing first, second or third in the state contest were:

North Dakota
First: David Wald, Edgeley, 34.58 tons per acre with HIDF-3510SSX.
Second: P and C Van Bedaf, Carrington, 30.74 tons per acre with HIDF-3702-9.
Third: Sam Twedt, McHenry, 27.88 tons per acre with HIDF-3702-9.

BIG YIELDS: Five farmers in the Dakotas were recognized in Dairyland Seed’s Silage Yieldmaster contest.

South Dakota
First: Bill and Eric Mueller, Big Stone, 32.56 tons per acre with HIDF-3510SSX.
Second: Darrell Dargatz, Webster, 30.22 tons per acre with HiDF-3808RA.
The title of National Corn Silage Yieldmaster was awarded to Tony and Leary Fischer, Mt. Hope, Wis., for a yield of 40.63 tons per acre with HiDF-3510SSX. 

Annie’s Project awards
Adele Harty and Robin Salverson are the 2016 winners of the Annie's Project Women in Ag Education Award. Salverson and Harty are the Annie's Project state co-coordinators for South Dakota and are South Dakota State University Extension cow-calf field specialists.

Rusche takes on feedlot role
Warren Rusche is the new SDSU Extension beef feedlot management associate. He’s a fourth-generation Kingsbury County cattle producer. "Some of the best cattle genetics in the nation come out of South Dakota herds. There is a lot of room for growth in cattle feeding in South Dakota," Rusche says. "Instead of shipping cattle out of state for someone else to finish, I'd like to encourage South Dakota producers to add value to our calf crop here." He has been the Extension cow-calf field specialist since 2011.

Greenway to lead ag advocacy group
Brad Greenway, Mt. Vernon, S.D., a grain grower and pig farmer, will serve as the new chairman of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. "I want to ensure that our farmers and ranchers continue to be present in influential conversations about food and agriculture," Greenway says. “It's necessary to maintain an assertive voice that 'breaks through' today's marketing hype and demonstrates shared values of sustainability and continuous improvement."

Scott VanderWal, a Volga farmer and feedlot operator, representing the American Farm Bureau Federation, is the treasurer.