KGFX Beyond the Mic Podcast

Letcher, South Dakota, area cattle rancher Calli Williams, her husband Tate and their two sons Jack and Tommy are 1st generation cattle producers operating TW Angus. They currently raise approximately 70 cow-calf pairs. Using various social media platforms, Calli not only shares her family's personal story, but she also answers questions from followers, markets their beef directly to consumers and receives invitations to speak with national media or groups about modern day cattle production.   Learn more about the Williams family and their operation at www.TWAngus.com.

The Stomprud Angus Ranch near Mud Butte is South Dakota's 2025 Leopold Conservation Award winner. The SD Grassland Coalition is hosting a public tour of the ranch Aug. 11, 2025. In this episode, SDGC Executive Director Judge Jessop chats with DRG News and Farm Director Jody Heemstra about the award and the upcoming tour. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by the end of the day Aug. 7, 2025. To do so, call or text Judge Jessop at 605-280-0127 or email jljessop@kennebectelephone.com. To get directions to the Stomprud Angus Ranch, click HERE.

To comply with preventive control requirements as mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act, a training course for ethanol producers is being held August 26-28, 2025, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Farm Broadcaster Cindy Zimmerman spoke with one of the organizers with the Renewable Fuels Association and has more. To learn more about the training course and to register, click here.

Country Music icon, Wynonna Judd, is going to be performing her greatest hits Wednesday at The Monument in Rapid City.  Kevin Larsen had a chance to get her thoughts in an interview.  

Travis Scott is cycling 2,800 miles across the country to raise money and awareness for the youth mental health crisis with his cause Cycling on Purpose, and he just made it through the beautiful state of South Dakota. We also make our picks for the Open Championship, break down the best Zap season in franchise history and recap the All-Star game and Homerun Derby on this episode of Players Perspective.  Open Championship & Zap (0:00- 30:00) MLB All-Star week (30:00-41:00) Travis Scott Interview (41:00-End)

On July 8, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the details of USDA's National Farm Security Action Plan. In this episode, hear Rollins, Hegseth, Bondi and Noem lay out their respective agency's role in implementing the Plan. To read the full plan, click this link.

Livestock Field Specialists from South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University have developed a training program to help those responding to vehicle accidents involving cattle, bison, sheep, horses or other livestock understand how to handle the animals in that type of stressful situation. In this episode, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist Robin Salverson chats with DRG Media Group News and Farm Director Jody Heemstra about developing a Bovine Emergency Response Plan.

Women who have taken up arms after their husbands fell in battle.

South Dakota State University Extension is offering free, on-site livestock water testing services to farmers and ranchers across the state. In this episode, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist Robin Salverson says animal health should not be used as the indicator of water quality. She encourages producers to test water sources prior to turnout because contaminated water can cause illness or death, and even clear water can be of poor quality.

Ryen Sheppick joins the show to talk the State High School Finals Rodeo and the upcoming National High School Finals Rodeo in July. We talk about the competition in Fort Pierre and what's to come in Rock Springs, WY. We also talk about the Oahe Zap's win streak and their red hot offense on this episode of Players Perspective (Ryen Sheppick 27:00 mins in)

July 7, 2025, is the scheduled official opening date for the new Drake Seed seed cleaning facility in Fort Pierre, SD. Business partners Cody Hostler and Chad Stoeser bought the Sioux Nation feed, seed and animal health store about 7 years ago. About 5 years ago, Hostler says they began talking about an expansion for the seed cleaning portion of the business.

The 4x200m relay team made up of Emlyn Swanson, Kali Ringstmeyer, Charlee Williams-Smith and Lennix DuPris made history at the State Track & Field meet by posting the first ever sub-1:40:00 time in the event. Emlyn, Charlee and Kali come on to talk about this historic accomplishment, their seasons and more. We also dive into the US Open, Stanley Cup Finals and Oahe Zap baseball's incredible standoff on this episode of Players Perspective.

Challenges of having a diverse crop rotation, integrating livestock on your farm when you don't own livestock, turning cropland back to grass and more will be topics during Dakota Lakes Research Farm's Foxley Farm Field Tour near Winner, SD, on June 17, 2025. To RSVP or to get directions to the Foxley Farm Field Tour, call the Dakota Lakes Research Farm at 605-224-6357 or email manager@dakotalakes.com.

People interested in learning more about different structures and techniques used for gardening have the opportunity to do that June 12, 2025, from 10am-4pm CT at Cedar Creek Gardens located south of Midland, SD. Held in coordination with the South Dakota Specialty Producers Association, co-owner Peggy Martin says there will be information for people at all levels of gardening experience. Registration is not required. Find more information at https://cedarcreekgarden.com/ or at www.sdspecialtyproducers.org.

Adrik Schoon beat a 46 year old state record held by US Senate Majority Leader John Thune. He and his teammates also won the 4x400 relay at the tournament as well. We talk about his career and what's to come, also about his meeting with Thune after he broke the record. We also recap the start of the NHL & NBA finals, including covering one of the worst losses in MLB history on this episode of Players Perspective.

South Dakota's USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service produces a forage production and outlook map, available to farmers and ranchers for free. In this edition of Agriculture In-depth, DRG News and Farm Director Jody Heemstra visits with NRCS State Rangeland Management Specialist Emily Rohrer to learn more. Forage maps relate to grassland forage production and not cropland, and the maps will not predict forage quality. These reports will subside starting July 1. Find more information using this link: https://bit.ly/Range_Pasture.

The trainer of the horse that won the 2025 Kentucky Derby (May 3, 2025) is originally from Mobridge, SD. Sovereignty had 7-1 odds of winning the 1¼ mile long Kentucky Derby for four-time trainer of the year Bill Mott, but the colt did it in a time of 2:02.31. DRG Media Group News and Farm Director Jody Heemstra had the opportunity to chat with Mott about his horse training roots in South Dakota, his Derby wins, the horse racing industry and more.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins hosted South Dakota ranchers Charles and Heather Maude at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2025,-- the day after the federal government dropped criminal charges it had filed against the West River couple. In this episode, hear that news conference in its entirety. Additionally, USDA launched a new web portal for potential victims of ongoing lawfare originating under the Biden Administration to submit their concerns and experiences. This site is www.usda.gov/lawfare.

The majority of the soil in South Dakota is coming into the 2025 spring planting season being very short or short of moisture. In this episode of Agriculture In-depth, SDSU Extension State Climatologist Laura Edwards says the rain expected during the last few days of April 2025 will help, but the U.S. Drought Monitor shows there's quite a bit of moisture deficit to make up for.

In this episode of DRG Media Group's Agriculture In-depth podcast features SDSU Extension State Climatologist Laura Edwards. She talks about spring weather models and what they show heading into spring planting Season in South Dakota.

Pierre Governor Head Coach, Steve Steele, joins the show to talk about the historic moment of Grey Zabel becoming the first Pierre Governor to get drafted into the NFL, what it means to the city and what his NFL career will look like. We also talk about the National Walleye Tour's first day out on Lake Sharpe, and the 3rd annual Sharpe Showdown coming up this weekend on this episode of Players Perspective.

We recap the dramatic finish to the 2025 Masters and I give you the perspective from the grounds of Augusta National. We also welcome on Pro Angler Thomas Huynh ahead of the National Walleye Tour coming to Pierre to compete on Lake Sharpe on this episode of Players Perspective. (Masters recap 2:00-32:00) (Thomas Huynh interview 32:00-1:14:00)

A new nationwide project called “Probing Our Country's Soil Health” and is looking for 80 South Dakota farmers to participate. The project leaders are working to understand the status of soil health around the country and use that information to develop a new tool called Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation-- or SHAPE. SHAPE is an online tool designed to interpret soil health measurements, monitor soil health change and offer management practice alternatives for improving soil health. The goal of the project is to collect 13,000 soil samples across the U.S. from approximately 6,000 fields, sampling different soil, climate and management conditions. The SHAPE tool will be available as a free web-based app for easy soil health scoring. For more information, go to https://extension.sdstate.edu/news/80-south-dakota-farmers-needed-nationwide-soil-health-project-enroll-today or contact Jason Clark, SDSU Extension Soil Fertility Specialist, at Jason.D.Clark@sdstate.edu, or Hans Klopp, SDSU Extension Soil Health Specialist, at Hans.Klopp@sdstate.edu.

South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden has signed a bill that will partially fund the horse races in Fort Pierre in October 2025. DRG Media Group News and Farm Directror Jody Heemstra sat down with Track Manager Shane Kramme to talk about how the dollars are used to keep the horse racing industry alive in South Dakota. The horse races will be held Oct. 4-5, 2025, at the Stanley County Fairgrounds in Fort Pierre. Fort Pierre is the last location left in South Dakota that still hosts horse racing events.

In this episode of Agriculture In-depth, South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Secretary Hunter Roberts chats with DRG Media Group News and Farm Director Jody Heemstra about conversations had during a recent trip to Washington, D.C., the 100th South Dakota Legislative Session, National Agriculture Week, the SD State Fair and more.

On this episode, we welcome on Pierre State Championship wrestlers Kezrey Benning & Ireland Templeton to talk about the season, the State Championship and what is to come in women's wrestling. We also wrap up the Girls State Basketball Tournament and talk NCAA Tournament Basketball.

South Dakota State University Extension is offering Master Gardener training classes, starting in mid-April 2025. Master Gardener Ruth Beck says much of the training course is virtual, but there are two, mandatory in-person sessions, with the location choices of Pierre, Sturgis or Sioux Falls. Registration is required. The training course costs $250 with 40 hours of volunteer work required or $500 with no volunteer work requirement. For details or to register, visit the SDSU Extension Events website and search for “master gardener,” email the Prairie Potters Master Gardener group at Pierre at prairiepotters.36@gmail.com or call the SDSU Extension Pierre Regional Center at 605-773-8120. The registration deadline is March 10, 2025.

The CattleFax 2025 Outlook shows the  U.S. beef industry is poised for another year of strong market performance, driven by tight cattle supplies and robust consumer demand. Additionally, weather conditions will remain a critical factor influencing grazing availability, herd expansion and cattle prices.

On this episode of Players Perspective, we talk to Timber Hanson who became the first Stanley County Lady Buffalo to place at the State Wrestling Tournament, we talk playoff basketball, and I tell you the story of my first encounter with the great folks from South Dakota Law Enforcement

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. That's why the National Farm Medicine Center, and the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, focus their research and advocacy on rural populations.  

The Eagles are Super Bowl 59 Champions after dismantling the Chiefs and maybe ending the dynasty. We recap the game, look at the NFL moving forward and break down where both teams go from here as the Eagles have placed themselves at the top of the mountain. We also have more information about our giveaway coming up in April and more show announcements about upcoming shows on this episode of Players Perspective. 

People from across the country came together in San Antonio, TX, Feb. 4-6, 2025, to have discussions, participate in educational opportunities or to network with people who interest in the United States' cattle industry. Jesse Allen, host of DRG sister network shows AOA and MarketTalk, was one of them. He spoke with Gene Copenhaver, who was the vice-president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.