Writer, lawyer and consultant with over thirty years of writing and photography experience.
While my areas of writing expertise include history, travel, politics, foreign affairs, aviation, the environment and law, I believe a good writer should, with enough research, be able to write about anything.
Good writing is good writing.
Todd D. Epp, LL.M.
News Law Foreign Affairs Aviation History Travel
Harrisburg, SD (Sioux Falls metro area)
Writer, lawyer and consultant with over thirty years of writing and photography experience.
While my areas of writing expertise include history, travel, politics, foreign affairs, aviation, the environment and law, I believe a good writer should, with enough research, be able to write about anything.
Good writing is good writing.
(NPN) – South Dakota has one of the lowest rates of foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States, according to a new study by the USDA Farm.
South Dakota has one of the lowest rates of foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States, according to a new study by the USDA Farm Service Agency. The report is titled “Foreign Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land Through Dec. 31, 2011.”. While South Dakota has one of the lowest rates — 0.3 percent of all farmland — the amount of foreign owned farmland increased nearly 15,000 acres from 2010 to 2011.
They’re born, they live violent lives on the South Dakota prairie, and then they die. A fine art photographer from Los Angeles captures their lives in black and white. Mitch Dobrowner, 56, has been chronicling the “lives” of massive thunderstorm in the American West and Plains — including South Dakota for nearly five years.
Leaf-peepers in the Dakotas have a new tool to help them find the best times and places to view changing fall colors on U.S. Forest Service Land. The Forest Service has unveiled its U.S. Forest Service 2013 Fall Colors web pages. An interactive map lets viewers click on forests and grasslands and shows when the leaves and native grasses are peaking in a particular state or area.
Recent United States Department of Agriculture projections show significant increases in farm income and exports for 2013. South Dakota’s agriculture secretary Lucas Lentsch shares the USDA’s optimism but also cautions about the vagaries affecting farm income. The USDA forecasts net farm to be $120.6 billion in 2013, up 6 percent from 2012’s estimate of $113.8 billion.
With the heat of the last week of August just a sweaty memory, September's cooler temperatures now mean the race is on between the ripening of the corn crop and South Dakota's first hard freeze. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while eastern North and South Dakota got a late start in corn planting because of the wet spring, they are in a better situation than states to the east and south, like Iowa and Illinois.
Last week was the second-hottest Aug. 25-31 period in Mitchell's recorded history. According to the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls, Mitchell's mean temperature -- the average between the maximum and minimum -- was 82.7 degrees last week. The city's hottest Aug. 25-31 period occurred in 1953, hitting a mean temperature of 83.1 degrees.
Late August's heat in the upper Midwest has been hard on students in un-air-conditioned schools and dormitories. But it's been helpful to the spring wheat harvest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It's perfect for ripening the wheat crop across the northern plains," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.
On this date, Sept. 3, 1974, Sioux Falls had its earliest freeze.
An excerpt from NOAA :
SD Weather History and Trivia for September : "The earliest freeze on record in Sioux Falls occurred on September 3rd, 1974 when the morning low dipped to 31 degrees.
As families, businesses, farmers and local governments from Bismarck to Kansas City recover from Missouri River flooding, critical issues remain submerged below the surface of the aftermath. One issue is obvious: who is to blame for this spring and summer’s mess in South Dakota from Pierre to North Sioux City?
After two springs of serious James River and glacial lake flooding, as well as historic flooding on the Missouri River this past spring and summer, area meteorologists and climatologists think eastern South Dakota could be a bit drier this winter and spring. The consensus is that the state can expect less precipitation than last fall and winter but could still face flooding issues, because the region is generally wetter and warmer than usual.
A new white paper predicts a "looming water crisis" in the American Southwest, fueled in large part by immigration population growth.
Other articles in this issue that I wrote that are included in the clipping include:
*"CA:Federal Court Invalidates Delta Water Supply Restrictions"
*"NM: Court Rulings Cast Uncertainty over State Engineer Authority"