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Be some of the first to see the newly renovated facilities at the Ģ����ý Cottonwood Field Station annual field day. All are invited to join for an inside look at the updates and to learn about the research happening at the station Friday, June 12, from 9 a.m.-noon at 23738 Fairview Road, Philip.

“We are excited to showcase the new facilities at the station and offer a ‘sneak peek’ of upcoming research and events,” said Kristi Cammack, assistant dean for West River Operations.

The recently completed updates to the facility include a monoslope feeding facility, a multipurpose meeting space and animal handling spaces, increasing the research capacity and efficiency of the station.

Cottonwood is unique among SDSU field stations as the only facility to focus entirely on range management, which makes it a fitting place to kick off the field day season during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. The station has two beef cattle herds, a 150-head Angus cow-calf herd that is summered in nearby Fort Meade (Sturgis) for research and outreach programs and an annually replaced 150-head yearling steer herd that contributes to the station’s 80-plus-year stocking rate study.

An update on the stocking rate study will be presented along with drought monitoring and management, expanding virtual fencing potential and an update on rangeland research. Experts from the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and SDSU Extension will be on hand to share their work and provide technology demonstrations where applicable.

“We hope attendees leave with updated, practical management strategies for their cow herd and rangeland, while continuing to ask new questions that can guide future research at the new facility,” said Erin DeHaan, an assistant professor and SDSU Extension beef specialist who will present at the field day.

All attendees can enter to win a cooler backpack, a rain gauge and a Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network station, and everyone will be invited to end the morning with a scoop of SDSU ice cream. While there is no cost to attend the field days, registration is highly recommended in order to get accurate counts for food and resource materials. .

The Cottonwood Field Station is a South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station research station. This field day is the first of seven hosted by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences taking place across the state of South Dakota this summer. More information about future field days is available on the SDSU website.