South Dakota Specialty Producers Podcast

This episode is from the June 2025 SDSPA Flower Growers meeting where Jessica Chase from Sierra Flower Farm in Gardnerville, NV shared about Maximizing Production on a Small-Scale Flower Farm. Jessica gave practical strategies for increasing productivity on limited land, including succession planting, space-efficient systems, and streamlining your workload. She also touched on how to evaluate what’s working, what’s profitable, and how to adjust your crop mix or approach as your business grows. For the full video and presentation, visit the SD Specialty Producers Association's YouTube. Additional Sierra Flower Farm resources can be found on their blog. https://www.sierraflowerfarm.com/ This project was supported in part by a Specialty Crop Block Grant Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its contents is solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

During this Fresh Bites podcast episode listeners will hear from Dr. Ariana Torres Bravo about the Hort Calculator Tool developed by the Purdue University Horticulture Business team. This tool can assist beginning or seasoned farmers with calculating crop profitability and planning profitable farm investments. To access the tool, webinars, and other resources visit: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/hortbusiness/This podcast episode is made possible through a specialty crop block grant SDSPA received through the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

During this Fresh Bites podcast episode listeners will explore market garden profitability by learning important record keeping considerations, common mistakes made by specialty crop farmers, and how to utilize the Grow Your Green profitability resources created by the Minnesota Farmers Market Association.https://mfma.org/Grow-Your-Green-Farm-Profitability/This podcast episode is made possible through a specialty crop block grant SDSPA received through the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Listen in to hear about Market at the Mill, a new year round market for local businesses in Shenandoah Iowa, as well as learn about some of the community resources that helped Dr. Margaret Brady successfully implement this project. The Market at the Mill aims to create a year round market for local businesses while also offering education and support to assist each vendor in strengthening and expanding their businesses. This podcast episode is made possible through a specialty crop block grant SDSPA received through the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 

Hear from Jared of Budding Moon Farm about considerations and methods he uses to increase profitability while distributing 100% of his produce through CSA and Rx Programs.

Kiara Poytra and Michelle Grosek of Bear Butte Gardens Farmstand, LLC. will share considerations and methods they use for their garden and store to determine a price that is fair to both grower and consumer. South Dakota Specialty Producers Association is made up of growers, consumers, and others interested in producing, marketing and supporting South Dakota specialty crops, meats, and locally made products. This podcast is made possible through a specialty crop block grant SDSPA received through the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This season our podcast theme is Grown Here: How South Dakota Producers can have a profitable market garden.

Dirk Oudman of Blue Sky Vegetable Co and Darin Waldner of Waldner Farms are going to be sharing their process to assure a healthy harvest of roots crops, such as potatoes, carrots and radishes. This podcast is made possible through a specialty crop block grant SDSPA received through the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

How cut flower growers are starting their seeds. Kristine Lang, SDSU Assistant Professor & Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist and Tanya Flegel, owner of Flegel Flower Farm, will share their advice and tips. 

Angela Jackson of Prairie Sun Organics in Vermillion, and Bernadette Barnaud with Owl Creek Organics in Nisland will be sharing with us about what it looks like to be an organic specialty crop producer in South Dakota.

Connie Johnson of Freedom Acres in Brandt and Christy Heckathorn of Fleurish Flower Farm in Elk Point share how they got started with cut flowers, and provide ideas for others looking to start.

2023 Fresh Bites- Grown Here: How South Dakota Producers are Growing their Specialty CropsGrown Here: How South Dakota Producers are Growing their Specialty Crops. Today we are learning from two South Dakota Producers who provide their fellow residents with a summer salad necessity- lettuce. Kent Wilsey of Elk Creek Foods and Peggy Martin of Cedar Creek Gardens will be sharing how they produce lettuce on a large scale, while also giving ideas and tips that apply to producers of any scale.

South Dakota Producers & Consumers surrounding Sioux Falls have a great option for local foods with the Dakota Fresh Food Hub. Since 2016, Dakota Fresh has been working with producers of fruits, vegetables, honey, meats, dairy products, and more to help market and distribute their products with a system that is easier for both producers and the consumers. In this episode, their manager Connie McDonald and board member Chara Hymans (owner of StarFresh Farms) tell us about how what makes their system work well for consumers and producers.

Located near Minneapolis & St. Paul, The Good Acre Food Hub serves producers and consumers in their region. Going beyond simply connecting farmers with wholesale market needs, The Good Acre is also all about educating and supporting their producers, training school kitchen staff, and helping individuals in their region to enjoy food that was produced by their neighbor. With us today is Nikki Warner, The Good Acre Communications Director, to share their story.

Teresa Wiemerslage, of Iowa State University Extension, shares with us how Iowa has set up Food Hubs to serve local schools, and other wholesale customers. Teresa played a role in starting the Iowa Food Hub in the northeast corner of the state, and continues to be involved with the Iowa Food Hub Managers working group, as well as working to help schools develop procurement and use plans to make the implementation of local foods successful long term.   

SDSPA member, co-owner of Stewart’s Aronia Acre, and Vice President of National Aronia Growers, Jeff Stewart, shares his knowledge of the impressive aronia berry, and how he has worked alongside fellow aronia berry growers to develop a system of aggregation that helps producers to reach a broader market.

Episode 4

Integrated Pest Management for tomatoes and Peppers, with special guest Kristine Lang.

Integrated Pest Management for Curcubits with Marissa Schuh

with Dr Raymond Cloyd