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5 Legislative Summer Activities by Bryan Breitling The 2021 summer is going by quickly! This past month, we were able to celebrate a wonderful wedding of our oldest son, Mason and his new wife Emily! The legislative calendar continues as well, with both monthly appropriations meetings and the marijuana summer study. As for appropriations, we heard from the State Economist and the Legislative Research Council Chief Fiscal Analyst on the year-end report. While there are some end of year entries yet to come, the state fiscal year ending June...
DEADLINES July 30 is the Soil Health & Incentive Protection Program (SHIPP) sign-up deadline. August 2 is the last day to submit nominations for the 2021 County Committee Election. August 2 is the first day to Hay CRP acres after getting written approval from FSA. August 6 is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Continuous sign-up deadline. August 20 is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grassland sign-up deadline. August 30 is the last day to submit an ECP application. July 15 was the final day to report your certification acres. If you...
Can't believe it, but August is right around the corner. And you all know what that means, there are back-to-school related sales and promotions everywhere you look. Then the long Labor Day weekend in September that might give families a brief respite from school-related activities and events. Of course with all the Christmas in July promotions that we have already been enduring, you won't have to wait too long for the real holiday season to begin. That will indeed be right around the corner as well! And that can even start with Halloween...
We noticed that the moon had sort of a reddish tinge Monday evening and it wasn't even quite full yet. There are of course a number of reason why this would be true, including dust/ smoke in the air or several different pollens as well, like ragweed and mold. These allergy (hay fever) symptoms are noticeably much worse during a drought. Hopefully we will get some relief, because rain and even a real heavy dew help to dissolve and wash those pollens away. So there are indeed several obvious reasons we could use the moisture, but hopefully not...
The NBA is real basketball (they even allow zone defenses nowadays). And the NBA finals are an especially real treat this year, because there were no LeBrons or even a Steph. What more could you say about the two teams that outlasted all the also rans. Phoenix had never won an NBA finals and Milwaukee hasn't been in that position in this century. (But there is a new LeBron whose Greek surname I can't even begin to pronounce — Giannis A.) And I heard somewhere that he is already no stranger to NBA MVP recognition, having reached that pinnacle o...
Did you wake up to the sound of raindrops on the window Tuesday morning. I think I did, but it was so unusual that I'm not sure. Maybe somebody was spraying a house in the neighborhood with a pressure washer and some of it escaped. But we'll definitely take that rain, it was a good start in the right direction. I guess all the weather systems were in alignment for a change. Lately all those showers and storms had been petering out before they reached us, but not true this time. They had some really nice family events at the Mina Lake...
Happy birthday, U.S.A! The Fourth of July is indeed the day to annually celebrate that occasion and this year the Fourth will occur on a Sunday. So various area celebrations might be a little more spread around than other years, since Sunday is on a weekend. For instance, the state and counties are celebrating on Monday, July 5, as is the federal government, including the Post Office! And this will have signaled the end of June, as well. That month has passed by way too quickly, which always seems to be true for us at our office. Especially...
IMPORTANT DATES • July 15 — Deadline to submit 2021 Crop Acreage Report • July 15 — Deadline to submit ARC-Individual Farm Yields • July 15 — Deadline to submit NAP production • July 23 — Deadline to submit General CRP signup 56 offer • August 2 — Deadline to submit COC nominations • August 6 — Deadline to submit Continuous CRP signup 55 offer • August 20 — Deadline to submit Grassland CRP offer Report Notice of Loss within 15 days of occurrence for all crops and grasses. Edmunds County is Accepting Emergency Conservation Program Applic...
Can't you notice something is different? It is already starting to get dark a little faster than earlier in the week. Just kidding, you probably won't notice this for a while, but the summer solstice has indeed come and gone and each amount of daylight will be a tiny bit less than the previous day. And didn't Sunday evening and early Monday's temperatures seem a little like autumn was just around the corner? Cross country and football time for you sports addicts! But don't put away your tennis rackets, golf clubs or baseball bats just yet! The...
This is Fathers Day weekend, as well as Trail Days in Ipswich. Tena's nephew Zach just became a new father of a little baby girl born on yet another June holiday Flag Day, June 14. Her proud parents, Zach and Tristan Beitzel, currently live in Rapid City. They welcomed Sayler Rae at 4:30 p.m. For those interested, she weighed 6 pounds 14.9 oz. We remembered to put up the office flag on Flag Day, but not our flag at home. The first observance of June 14th, Flag Day was organized in 1885 by a 19-year-old schoolteacher from Waubeka, Wis., Bernard...
Sometimes Tena points out articles that I may find interesting. Napping — that is a subject I know about! Some experts have come to the conclusion that a good night's sleep might not be all that easy for whatever reason(s) and that an afternoon nap might then be beneficial, if not essential. But they stress that those afternoon cat naps are the most beneficial if they are not too long and that you could even precede them with a cup of coffee. That's right snoozing too long might produce insomnia symptoms the next night, just the opposite of w...
One done and one to go! That of course would be last weekend's State B track and field meet in Rapid City and the upcoming State B golf tourney in Brookings, where the Tiger boys will have a full team and hopefully very much in the individual and team hunt. (There will be one Tiger girl, Halie Feldman and also one Edmunds Central boy, Cole Bukaske.) Congratulations to all our area placers at the big B last week, highlighted by Ipswich seventh-grader Marley Guthmiller's individual pole vault championship and to the entire IHS program for...
DEADLINE June 15 — Committee Election Nomination period opens for LAA 2. July 15 — Deadline to report acres. July 15 — 2020 NAP production reporting deadline. July 15 — 2020 ARC-IC production reporting deadline. August 1 — Deadline to submit Nomination form for Committee election. Acreage Reports If you are done planting, it's time to report to FSA. We are ready for farmers to complete their acreage reports. If you haven’t received your maps, please call or email the office to get them. When planting is complete, please e-mail or drop off yo...
A VISIT TO THE CEMETERY Memorial Day is a great time to pause and consider the true meaning of this holiday. Memorial Day represents one day of national awareness and reverence, honoring those Americans who died while defending our Nation and its values. While we should honor these heroes every day for the profound contributions they made to secure our Nation's freedom, we should especially commemorate them and their families on Memorial Day. Let us never forget how fortunate we are to live in f...
The wind decides to blow out of the north several days in a row and then from the south for multiple days and most recently back to being predominately from the west. The bottom line though was that the area did not get a whole lot of rain during that time span. But we were happy for the few systems that produced whatever moisture they could. Enough to need to get in a lawn mowing or two, but if it weren't for all those dandelions the grass would probably not be all that high. It was beneficial that the regional track and field and golf...
Tena put up a red, blue and white wind sock on a flag pole. You may have noticed the new strange flags on Monday, because that is the 17th of May (Syttende Mai). And they indeed are the Norwegian flags celebrating that country's own birthday similar to the 4th of July in our country. And by the way the 4th seems to come around faster and faster after an all too fast 30-day June. Tena is partly Norwegian and partly German. I don't know that Germany actually has some sort of a holiday. Quite possibly there is at least a Germans from Russia...
What a difference a year makes! Last year this special edition was printed in July due to COVID-19. This is an important milestone in the life of a high school graduate and it is indeed pretty much beginning and maybe even a brand new beginning in some cases. Yes, it's a milestone, but hopefully only one of many yet-to-come achievements in the life of a 2021 high school graduate. For starters, you're in the midst of an information revolution that totally blows away any previous advancements of the human race and who knows you might even be one...
We were talking about those radical temperature swings in spring and fall and they have occurred again to open May's weather. The weekend was really warm, even for this time of the year, and all you outdoor enthusiasts could get out there and do your thing. And that obviously included our area high school athletes! But much cooler air was ushered in on Monday and early Tuesday by strong northerly wind gusts. Needless to say that brought a quick halt to our warmup and would noticeable help to lower the average daily temperature, just like the ea...
April is trying to find its own identity as the month is rapidly passing by. How so? Sometimes it thinks its March and other times it provides a hint of May and this can change from day to day, as we have been experiencing lately. But almost always there is the wind. And a few showers that featured everything from rain to snow, but still not a whole lot of moisture for this time of the year. But last Saturday was one of those rare days without much if any wind and the high school golfers and tracksters descended upon Ipswich for their...
Earth Day is an annual event, on April 22 and so Earth Day 2021 is on this Thursday to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes an expanded variety of events to honor the day. They are being coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG. The 2021 Earth Day theme is “Restore Our Earth”. It will focus on natural processes, emerging green technologies and innovative thinking that can restore the world's ecosystems, the organizers say. In fact this entire week is Earth Week, encompassing a whole wee...
Just think how much wind energy has gone to waste the past several days, when it could have been generating electricity all over the place with even more wind towers than what South Dakota currently has! The good news was that the snow accompanied the wind in some areas, but not our immediate area. We surely did receive much colder air, though, which abruptly ushered in below freezing temps. Unlike Saturday's beautiful weather with hardly any wind for a change! We indeed had our first outdoor picnic Saturday noon and then did some yard work...
We might hopefully get at least a few of the showers that they were predicting a little further south. At any rate Tuesday dawned a lot cooler than the past weekend into Monday. And that wind is still a force to be reckoned with! Any rain would help alleviate the grassland fire danger. That's for sure! How about this, believe it or not, Stanford is the NCAA D1 women's basketball champion and so are the Baylor Bears men (their first-ever championship). Where are all the traditional familiar power-house programs after all this? They'll most...
What about that South Dakota wind earlier this week? It was surreal, good thing there wasn't any snow flakes in the air. But instead there was dust. The last measurable moisture in Ipswich only amounted to :03, not 3 or even .3 inches. That is how dry it has gotten! But this is Easter week and also April Fools Day on April 1, Good Friday and then eventually Easter Day on Sunday. So Happy Easter everybody. We should mention that Palm Sunday's noon dinner was free, served to us by the Ipswich UCC and that was delicious, so thank some of their...
The Summit League occasionally produces an upset or two during the NCAA men's and women's national basketball tournaments and it appears that has already happened this year. But not regarding the women's brackets. The lower seeded women's teams from the Summit League, both from South Dakota each lost their respective tourney openers to the higher seeded teams. So that closed out the 2020-21 campaigns for both the USD women and the SDSU women, who were actually an at-large entrant after sustaining a Summit tourney loss. Now for the men's Summit...
NAP March 15 was the last day to buy coverage for the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). NAP provides risk protection against multiperil losses for crops that insurance is not available. This is a reminder that we are still waiting on production from a few producers who carried the coverage in 2020. Just like crop insurance, you need to provide your production to keep your proven yields up. Please contact the office if you have any questions. QLA April 9 is the extended deadline for the Quality Loss Assistance (QLA) Program....