Range ready: Helping students bridge the gap between conservation and agriculture

Story by Ella Stiefvater

Since the 1940s, the range degree program at South Dakota State University has been preparing students for critical roles in conservation and the agriculture industry. Today, the range specialization builds on that tradition to serve students with unique opportunities as one of only 14 accredited programs in the country.

“There's always been a demand for people with a rangeland background,” Sean Di Stefano, assistant professor of rangeland ecology and management, said. “(That’s) because when someone graduates with their range degree, they’re someone who can understand the entire ecosystem, agriculture production and sustainable land use and management.”

The program, located within the Department of Natural Resource Management, boasts graduates like university President Barry Dunn and many other state leaders in conservation and rangeland management.

Students learn from a multifaceted approach to range, with faculty focusing on balancing the conservation practices and agriculture production that are critical to the state. At this time, rangeland covers nearly 50% of South Dakota, but once, the state was entirely covered by native prairie and grasslands. Teaching students how to implement best practices for both natural resources and land productivity is a primary goal for the program and requires a broad list of courses.

One of the classes within the program that addresses this real-life challenge is Habitat Conservation and Management, which focuses on wildlife habitats and using livestock grazing as a tool to support the needs of native plants and animals.

Connecting the different fields of study has always been a goal for Di Stefano.

“It’s interesting to see both sides of the equation, and the way we approach it in our program is as an interdisciplinary field with multiple perspectives,” Di Stefano said. “Students will take classes in animal science to see that side of things since students might want to work in a feedlot or in more natural landscapes like a ranch or private consulting company, so we want to get them an overview of everything.”

Di Stefano brings a wealth of experience to the program at SDSU after spending time working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service and even briefly in South America for the Chilean version of the USDA.

For her, it was growing up in the oil fields of West Texas that made her curious about ecology. After getting involved in her local FFA program, Stefano received a scholarship that enabled her to study agriculture at New Mexico State University. After graduating with both her bachelor’s and master’s there, she pursued her Ph.D. in natural resources with a range specialization from the University of Idaho.

“It was interesting to see the range questions and agriculture production issues (different areas) have from a different cultural lens. Trying to bring all those experiences to the classroom is important to me,” Di Stefano said.

Also important is getting students out of the classroom and into hands-on experiences to help solidify the learning process.

Nick Busse, a senior rangeland and ecology major, says that the chance to travel while learning has been a unique aspect of his time in the program.

“I think the most rewarding thing for me as a range student is the opportunities it has given me to see the country. Whether that be through my work with the Native Plant Initiative or the range club, I have been able to travel all over the country, doing work and learning more about range," Busse said. “These opportunities have also allowed me to discover where I want to end up in the future. Whether that be the sagebrush of Nevada or the sandhills of Nebraska, the range program has given me the opportunities to see it all.”

The hands-on learning Busse mentioned is one of the reasons students in the Range Club at SDSU participate in the international conference for the Society of Range Management. Contests at the conference challenge students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in knowledge and application of rangeland management practices. The Undergraduate Range Management exam encompasses a broad list of topics students learn from stocking rates to rangeland health conditions and is known for being a traditionally difficult test.

The plant identification contest requires students to critically think and identify as many as 200 different plants from across North America. Finally, in the Rangeland Cup competition, students are given a topic about range and tasked with creating a poster or presentation about it. The contests are similar to those available to FFA students in the state. Keeping those youth engaged in land judging and range contests is a priority for the program.

“We already have a strong program specific to land judging and range judging in our state, and we want to build on that,” Di Stefano said. “As a former FFA kid, that’s important to me.”

By connecting with student competitors, the program wants to increase its visibility and make more youth aware that they can continue pursuing their interest in range at SDSU. At the state level, South Dakota is home to its own section of the Society for Range Management, and groups like the South Dakota Grassland Coalition provide even more opportunities for students to get involved.

Faculty at SDSU are actively involved in the professional society including current section president Logan Vandermark, SDSU Extension precision livestock field specialist, and outgoing president Krista Ehlert, associate professor and SDSU Extension range specialist.

“(The range) program has prepared me for my future in innumerable ways — one of these being the ability to conduct new, relevant undergraduate research,” Busse said. “Another way is by giving me the resources and skills to apply for graduate school. This was all made possible through the preparation of the range program.”

In the future, Di Stefano hopes that the program will continue to grow and meet the needs of South Dakota’s natural resources and agriculture industry. When asked about how supporters can contribute to the program, she says there’s several ways to make a difference for students.

“We do have range-specific scholarships, but we’re always looking for more of those to encourage students to study range,” Di Stefano said. “I also like the hands-on opportunities, having avenues for students to see what they’re learning in class, and getting out in the field is always important.”

Private landowners can also play a role by showing students different types of conservation practices they are using and how they balance those efforts with their livelihoods, income and operation goals.

“It helps that students can see that those things don’t have to be in opposition to each other, they can actually feed into each other,” Di Stefano said.

By bringing different perspectives into the classroom, Di Stefano hopes that a spirit of collaboration can flourish. An entire class is dedicated to human dimensions and the importance of getting different viewpoints in the conversation. Students can call a family ranch in western South Dakota home or come from a larger city like Omaha and still connect over a shared interest in land uses. Making sure both walk away with new information about ways to grow, learn and change while having engaging conversation remains an important part of range education.

“One thing we always try to emphasize in this program is we have to work together and work with people. It’s not just about studying the plants or the animals or the soil,” Di Stefano said. “Whether you come from a rural background or an urban background, there’s opportunities for students to be in this program because we all care about natural resources and keeping our rangelands healthy.”
More information about the rangeland ecology and management specialization or the Department of Natural Resource Management can be found on their respective websites.