By: Buz Kloot
Recently I had the privilege of attending the SD Grassland Grazing school in Summit, SD based at the Abbey of the Hills also known as the Blue Cloud Abbey near Summit, SD. This event was well worth the visit for a number of reasons – one of the big draws was the people, both the instructors and the students. On the first morning, I got to know Dan Rasmussen; Dan, a rancher, and I, a city boy, could not be more different, but in Dan I found a kindred spirit. As luck would have it, Dan was also my group leader, so I got to know him a little better.
Imagine my delight when I saw in SD Grassland’s newsletter that Dan’s family ranch the Rasmussen-Lehman 33 Ranch was featured in August’s “Our Amazing Grassland’s” video, so wonderfully shot by my good friend, Joe Dickie. I say this because in the video, Dan tells the story of how he and his dad transitioned from year-round grazing and what it did to their land. You also see with the younger members of his family how a conservation ethic has been inculcated in them in the most wonderful way.
One of the reasons I wanted to share this is not just my admiration of Dan and what he has done, but also to say that, through SD Grasslands Coalition, Dan provides ranchers up to 40 hours of consulting to all ranchers who graduate from the grazing school for a nominal price. The return on investment for the grazing school is already huge, the added benefit of having someone like Dan come alongside you is incalculable.
To those of you who ranch and are on the fence (no pun intended... really), I’d strongly encourage you to watch the video, get registered for the next grazing school and benefit from folks like Dan and others who give so freely of what they themselves have learned.
To find out more about the grazing school visit:
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1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts and more.
2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture.
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