SDSU offering more features during 2010 Dakotafest

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The South Dakota State University presence at the 2010 Dakotafest has not only doubled in size, it has also grown in the number of services and features it will provide.

The SDSU site at the annual outdoor farm show, which runs Tuesday through Thursday, will be nearly twice the size of last year’s site, and scientists and staff from a wide range of SDSU departments and laboratories will offer information and services.

Dakotafest is held at Schlaffman Farm, located just south of Mitchell at Exit 332 on Interstate 90. The 2010 event includes a wide range of activities in the SDSU “campus” at the site, including:

• Virtual coffee shops each day at 9:30 a.m. Extension pesticide education coordinator Jim Wilson will lead daily discussions, both online and in person, with producers and the public. Attendees who attend in person will receive free coffee during these meetings, and people unable to attend Dakotafest can join the conversation online.

• Candidate forums. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., along with congressional hopefuls state Rep. Kristi Noem, the Republican candidate, and B. Thomas Marking, an independent, will take part in a forum. South Dakota gubernatorial hopefuls Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, the GOP candidate, and state Sen. Scott Heidepriem, the Democratic candidate, will take part in a forum on Wednesday.

• Free SDSU ice cream each day at 12:30 p.m.

• SDSU faculty from many departments will host booths in the area where they can answer questions of Dakotafest attendees. Among the attractions will be ethanol-powered race cars. SDSU engineering students designed the cars, many of which compete around the U.S.

• An agricultural “Quiz Bowl” championship is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and Extension food safety specialist Joan Hegerfeld-Baker will lead a discussion called “Profiting from Locally Produced Food” at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

• Extension risk and business management specialist Matt Diersen will host a discussion on livestock insurance at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

• In addition, SDSU staff will host pavilions that focus on seed technology, plant science, animal science, and many other facets of agriculture and education. Staff at the SDSU Student Union Pavilion also will share free water with those who attend Dakotafest.

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