Officials at South Dakota State University Extension say that the recent rainfall across the region has made a big impact on the drought across the state.

Around one inch of rain fell in Yankton over the weekend, with other areas in the state seeing as much as 10 inches on some crop acres, according to Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension climate field specialist.

She added that the trend in the region during the past several weeks has been significant drought improvement and the concern now is not for a short-term drought.

“There is a little bit of concern with the drought in the long term, due to soil moistures,” Edwards said. “This could become more of an impact in the growing season. But, as of now, I’m not too worried about the drought in the Yankton area.”

She added that the cooler temperatures are also impacting farming.

“The cooler temperatures impacts agriculture, gardens and those kinds of things,” Edwards said. “Standing water is now one of the concerns we have from the weekend. Some of the flash flooding across the state could impact water ponding up in fields.”

She added that flash flooding can erode soils in a field and move seeds around, which could result in farmers needing to replant their crops.

“Longer-term flooding in a field brings on different issues and can hurt any kind of crop that’s starting to grow there,” Edwards said. “Any standing water that is emerged in a field for longer than two days is an item concern. If that’s the case, farmers need to look at that and consider what they can do, as far as replanting.”

She also cautioned that farmers looking at the National Drought Monitor might not see a change in the drought level for several weeks.

“The monitor has some unwritten rules and really can only improve an area by one drought category each week,” Edwards said. “So it may take some time for improvements to show up in the drought monitor, but I expect improvements to be made again this week.”

She added that the eastern side of South Dakota has made big gains this spring, which has led to a dramatically improved drought situations. However, Edwards noted that drought impacts could emerge quickly on the west side of the state as the area enters its dry summer season.

Despite the heavy rainfall across the area in recent days, Edwards said it’s still too early to project crop yields for this season.

“Some of the fields that have been damaged could still have their crops be replanted,” she said. “Farmers should consult their crop insurance agents on the details on what replanting might mean for crop insurance coverage.”

The weather forecast this week calls for more rain for Yankton, which could pose problems for farmers. In fact, the National Weather Service gas issued a flash flood watch for an area that includes Clay, Turner and Union counties through early Thursday morning.

“Conditions aren’t going to let up, at least not in the short term,” she said. “The additional rainfall creates issues with crop insurance because some crops might not qualify for coverage. Hopefully farmers planted most of their corn in the previous week or two.”

Connie Strunk, SDSU Extension plant pathology field specialist said corn and soybeans can generally handle about 48 hours of being completely submerged under water before they start to decline.

“However, that 48 hours number is with overcast skies and cooler temperatures,” she said. “The sun and warmer temperatures can change that number and can change the outlook on plants.”

Strunk said farmers looking to replant crops after the rainfall need to check with their crop insurance agents and look into what herbicides they put down last fall to see if there are any restrictions on crop rotation and replanting.

“If it continues to rain like it has been, we’re really starting to get close to the end of full days of crop insurance coverage,” Strunk said. “Some farmers in some areas also have not been able to get into the fields yet because it has been so wet.”

In addition to the rainfall only making impacts on farmers and the drought, releases from Gavins Point Dam have also been reduced following the heavy rain.

“Gavins Point releases have been reduced over the last few days from 24,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 15,000 cfs,” Jody Farhat, chief of the Missouri River Water Management Division, said in a statement. “Heavy rain across the basin increased flows on many of the tributaries below the system of reservoirs. Gavins Point releases are scheduled to be reduced to 12,000 cfs Wednesday morning.”

Releases were reduced by 3,000 cfs from Sunday to Tuesday.

More than 140 kayakers from across the country were in Yankton this weekend for a 72-mile journey down the Missouri River to Sioux City.

The South Dakota Kayak Challenge, in its fourth year, began Saturday morning at 7 a.m. at Riverside Park, and racers had until Sunday afternoon to finish the challenge.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our team to show off the beauty of the Missouri River,” said Jarett Bies, co-founder of the challenge. “The area we hold the kayak race is one of the most scenic and beautiful stretches of the river. It’s a great opportunity for people to come and experience that beauty first hand.”

The first South Dakota Kayak Challenge took place in 2010, and Bies said the event has been growing ever since.

“The South Dakota Department of Tourism took note of a kayaking event in Missouri and approached Steven Dahlmeier (the co-founder of the event) and to ask us if we could put together and comparable event in South Dakota,” Bies said. “We want to continue to make these events safe and open to everyone. We don’t have any time cut-offs for checkpoints like some races do. Anyone from a beginner to a hard-core paddler can come out and make the event their own.”

He added that he has been kayaking for about 15 years and said one of the things he loves about it is the tranquility and that you can get to places on the river you can’t reach with a boat.

“It’s also very intimate in that you’re only a few inches off the surface of the water,” Bies said. “You don’t get that with a boat or Jet Ski. It’s physically intense, but it’s also very rewarding and the opportunity to explore either a small stream or huge river is very appealing to me.”

Dahlmeier said his favorite place to paddle is the Yankton-Ponca stretch of the Missouri River and added that he enjoys it because the river is always changing each time he is out on it.

He said planning for this year’s event went well.

“Some of the racers have come from as far away as Rhode Island and Georgia,” Dahlmeier said Friday. “Water levels are a bit low this year, which will make for a new challenge looking out for sandbars and navigating the channel. But we know participants will be eager for the challenge.”

He added that some people in the race are doing it to challenge themselves, and not necessarily the other racers.

“If they do the challenge in their first year, they could look back next year and try to beat the time they had set,” Dahlmeier said.

Dahlmeier and Bies placed volunteers all along the river — including in Yankton, Myron Grove, Bolton and Sioux City — to monitor riders and safety.

The race began at 7 a.m. Saturday with a gunshot start. Riders were placed into one of two categories: the competitive class, for riders with more experience; and the adventure class for less experience paddlers.

“The competitive class is fun to watch. The kayakers in that group are serious and in it to race,” Dahlmeier said. “The adventure class has a number of people, some are more competitive and others are there just to paddle and enjoy the river.”

The average time it takes riders to complete the course is typically around 15-18 hours. Last year, the first place finisher took just about eight hours to complete the 72-mile course.

“This is a challenging course,” Dahlmeier said. “The upper stretches of it are part of the national park. Some of it is does not have a channel, is wild and changes depending on the flows out of Gavins Point. Each year the main channel may move to another part of the river, so kayakers need to use their best judgment to navigate where the channel is in the river.”

Kayaker Ben Busser, from Brookings, said Friday night he didn’t plan to get too competitive during the race, but was looking forward to it.

“This is something new for me to do,” he said. “I’ve been kayaking for about two years and came here with a group of four people. We haven’t kayaked at all this spring so this will be interesting.”

Dahlmeier said he appreciates the support from local communities, include the Yankton and Vermillion Chambers, city councils and parks departments in the area.

“It would be hard to move the race from Yankton because of the great support we have around here,” he said. “We plan on continuing this every year as long as we can. We don’t want it to grow too big that we can’t handle the race anymore. We need to be respectful of the resources we have and make sure the checkpoints don’t ever get too big.”

The results of the 2013 Kayak Challenge are as follows:

• Women’s Tandem/Competitive — Carol Heffinghaus. Rolla, Mo./Joan Twillman, St. Charles, Mo.: 11 hrs, 59 min.

• Men’s Tandem/Competitive — David Lackey, Ashland, Mo./Matt Green, Jefferson City, Mo.: 8 hrs, 51 min.

• Women’s Solo/Competitive — Nancy Smidt, Sturgis: 12 hrs., 24 min.

• Men’s Solo/Competitive — Calvin Hassel, Grand Island, Neb.: 8 hrs, 58 min.

• Women’s Solo/Adventure — Katherine Albers, Sioux Falls: 14 hr., 28 min.

• Men’s Solo/Adventure — Chad Cadwell, Dekalb, Ill.: 9 hrs., 51 min.

• Mixed Tandem/Adventure — David Deslauriers, Brookings/Erinn Ipsen, Brookings: 16 hrs., 10 min.

• Men’s Tandem/Adventure — Justin Herreman, Rapid City/Steve Jones, Rapid City: 11 hrs., 37 min.

• Women’s Tandem/Adventure — Jennifer Brown, Vermillion/Danielle Quist, Vermillion, 15 hrs., 45 min.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

District 18 state representative Bernie Hunhoff said he was “honored” to give the keynote speech at the annual Yankton VFW Memorial Day program Monday, and he spoke of those who died for their nation with the highest honors.

Specifically, Hunhoff spoke about stories of the soldiers from South Dakota and the patriotism the state displays.

“This is a day we need to remember the soldiers that didn’t return home from war,” he told the crowd at Memorial Park. “During the battles South Dakota soldiers have fought in, the state has lost around 3,000 soldiers in wars.”

Hunhoff added that it’s up to the rest of us — teachers, family members, friends and community members — to tell the stories of soldiers who did not return home from war.

“There are no stories more telling about us as a people then the stories of soldiers who have served overseas,” he said. “George McGovern, for example, served in World War II as a bomber pilot and flew around 35 bombing missions. After the war ended, he could have come home immediately but he chose to stay abroad and continue to serve.”

Hunhoff also told the story of Sig Anderson, who was a war hero in the Navy and would go on to serve as governor of South Dakota from 1951-1955.

But, the District 18 lawmaker said his most memorable story of a soldier in South Dakota was about a Native American who served abroad.

Eagle Elk, who would be renamed Clarence Wolf Guts by his father, grew up speaking the Lakota language.

“He would join the Army in high school and became a code talker while serving (during World War II),” Hunhoff said. “He would translate language into the Lakota language and the Japanese were never able to crack the code of the language. He survived the war and said that the one thing he was most proud of was being able to defend the freedom of our country.”

Hunhoff added that every day Wolf Guts would pray he could come home to South Dakota after the war ended.

Hunhoff also told the story of Don Smith, who grew up in Belle Fourche and was a football star at South Dakota State University.

“Smith was a pilot when he served and decided, in order to complete a mission, they needed to strip the plane down of extras in order to add additional gas tanks,” he said. “After he dropped bombs in Japan, his plane landed in the water near China. He had to paddle all the way onto the Chinese mainland.”

Hunhoff added that when Smith arrived in China, he was cheered by the Chinese. He also ended up on the cover of Life Magazine for his heroism serving.

“Smith returned to South Dakota in April 1942, and his wife had a baby,” he said. “He went back to war in November of that year and his plane ended up crashing, and he passed away as a result of the accident.”

Hunhoff said that the stories he told are why it’s important that people gather on Memorial Day to remember fallen veterans.

“We need to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to give us our freedom,” he said. “This is something we can be proud of.”

The event also featured music by Haylee Heinemeyer, Mary Schmidt and Rachel Wood. Post Commander Rich Wright acted as the Master of Ceremonies.

“These ceremonies are very important,” Hunhoff said. “Soldiers should be remembered for their sacrifices and their stories tell us more about who we are.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

‘We Start Your Care’

From left: Jamie Freeman, senior paramedic; Jared Drotzman, paramedic; and Mark Nickles, senior paramedic, all of the Yankton County EMS. Freeman stresses the importance of 911 and paramedics, rather than people driving themselves to the emergency room.

Benefit

Back row from left: Marcy Moser, Kris Ford, Pauline Akland. Front row from left: Pancreatic cancer survivor Bob Willcockson and Deb Weddingfeld. The group has been planning a benefit for pancreatic cancer, which is set for this weekend.

Pain In The Grass

Last year’s drought caused considerable stress on some area lawns, forcing many homeowners to reseed their grass and take special measures to keep their turf alive.

YHS graduating senior Jacob Bies said he wouldn’t be where he is today without the staff at Yankton High School.

Bies was recently named a National Merit Scholar and received a $2,500 scholarship. In addition, he also received the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor’s scholarship, which covers his full tuition.

It’s a fine way to cap off his high school career, which officially comes to a close Sunday at the annual YHS commencement at the Summit Activities Center.

“The process starts out by students taking the PSAT (preliminary SAT) exam,” said Jacob’s father, Marc Bies, a counselor at YHS. “The National Merit group identifies the top 50,000 PSAT scorers. Commended students are the top 34,000, while the other 16,000 are considered national merit semifinalists.”

As a national merit semifinalist, Jacob also had to take the SAT exam to confirm his PSAT score. He also had to complete an application that showed his school provided academic rigor, a recommendation from a staff member, an essay and a list of extra-curricular activities.

“I had to write a 500 word essay about someone who inspired me,” Jacob said. “I chose to write about my grandmother, who died about a year ago. I wrote about her and her impacts on my life.”

He added that the entire application process, which began at the beginning of his senior year, was a little bit stressful.

“It was a lot of work for me,” Jacob said. “I had to compile a resume, fill out all of my extra-curricular activities and just make sure I had everything done for the application.”

He noted that writing the essay was a long process, but was able to have an English teacher at YHS look over the essay to make sure he had everything he needed.

“Mr. Crandall and Ms. Kuhl were instrumental in filling out the academic rigor and demographics forms,” Marc said. “We found out he was a finalist for the scholarship in February, and then found out he received the scholarship in March.”

Since beginning his academic career at YHS, Jacob has run cross country for four years, track for three years, been involved with the marching band, jazz band, concert band and, this year, took part in the one-act play and spring musical.

He said he is looking forward to attending UNL this fall.

“I really like the location of UNL — it’s not too far from home and is one of the bigger universities in the area,” Jacob said. “I also have family near Lincoln, and know the town a bit because my brother goes there.”

He also added that UNL has a good biochemistry program, which is his intended major.

“I also applied to USD, and it came down to the wire on deciding between the two schools,” Jacob said. “I thought UNL would be a better fit in case I decided to change my major.”

Nationally, 8,300 students either will receive the National Merit Scholarship, or a corporate sponsor scholarship.

“I’m extremely thankful he got the scholarship. Not just Jake, and not just us. It’s the fact that this school has provided the academic rigor for him to be able to succeed,” Marc said. “With that, he invested in that rigor and did what teachers asked him to do, and it all paid off with the scholarship.”

Jacob said he’s thankful for the teachers he has had over the years.

“I never had a teacher here that I felt wasn’t involved or supportive of their students, regardless of whether they were struggling or excelling,” he said. “Teachers here are always trying to lift students up further, and I’m blessed to have had that as part of my education here. I’m thankful and really honored and glad I had the support and help on the way there from family, teachers and staff members.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal