Hey! I'm a South Dakotan, born and bred. In the Sioux Falls area, there is
Project Food Forest, a permaculture designer and consultant. I met an associate (and employee?) of theirs at
the public food forest in Luverne, MN at an event they hosted there. Frankly, you'll find a lot more permaculture-oriented resources in the Minnesota area, but they're welcoming to those of us on the other side of the border.
Gary Wyatt from the UMN Extension works the areas of MN adjoining SE SD and has been involved with the food forest project in Luverne. His email is
wyatt@umn.edu.
Regarding wells, yes, as rural water has become near-ubiquitous, at least along the I-29 corridor, well testing has become so much less common. I'm a real estate agent in the Sioux Falls area, and I don't know any other agent of the 900+ of us that has any clue about permaculture; although plenty of the old guard will know about well testing, and all the ag land people can advise and assist with assessing land. The few times I've had clients interested in using the wells on their properties, I've used
Chase Drilling out of Sioux Falls. He'll handle the mechanics of the whole thing and send the sample in to be tested for you. I've got a well on the property I recently purchased that needs some service, and I intend to use them.
I'm no permaculture guru, very much at the beginning of my journey, but I am an old farm kid who knows the area. If you send me a direct message, I'd be glad to give you my email and cell number, always good to know likeminded people.
