South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at SDSU

Welcome to the office of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station! 

Our research mission is to find solutions to current problems, as well as opportunities for tomorrow. The new knowledge created from our research enhances the quality of life in South Dakota through the beneficial use and development of human, economic and natural resources. Our research mission is one of the cornerstones of a land grant university. In addition to enhancing the quality of life in our state, our research directly supports the teaching programs offered by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, the College of Education & Human Sciences the College of Natural Sciences and the educational program delivered by SDSU Extension.

Research Stations

With six field stations and more than 17,000 acres of land across the state devoted to scientific exploration, the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station is the largest public and privately funded research organization in the state. Since 1887, we have used science to find solutions to pressing problems and identify new opportunities for our state.

The College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences is one of the eight colleges that make up South Dakota State University. Like the university, the college has a three-fold mission to teach, conduct research and use extension programs to serve people in South Dakota, the nation and the world. The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station fulfills the research component of the land-grant mission. In addition to the main campus in Brookings, the SDSU West River Research and Extension in Rapid City is an outreach facility of the college that supports teaching, research, and extension in the western part of the state. Other locations throughout the state include eight regional extension centers, three Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program offices, and eight research field stations.

2023 Field Days

The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at SDSU will host a series of field days this summer at research farms across the state. The field days will highlight research happening on the farms and include presentations and demonstrations by SDSU Extension specialists and SDSU faculty.

• June 29 - Dakota Lakes Research Farm Field Day
• July 11 - Southeast Research Farm Field Day
• July 13 - Northeast Research Farm Field Day
• September 14 - Southeast Research Farm Fall Field Day
• TBA - West River Research Farm Field School 
• TBA - Precision Ranching Technology Field Day 

Research Spotlight

A South Dakota State University College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences research team was recently awarded an $80 million USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative grant. The project title is, “The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Developing Climate-Smart Beef and Bison Commodities.” The long-term goal of this five-year pilot project is to create market opportunities for live beef and bison commodities that are produced using climate-smart practices.