Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in South Dakota (2026 Guide)

Cedar creeping across a pasture, a shelterbelt well past thirty years old, pine slash on a Black Hills acreage: whatever brought you here, the first thing you want is a price. Our crews in Minneapolis and Denver charge $1,500 to $4,500 an acre for this kind of work, and based on their prices, that is the budget to plan on for South Dakota land. Volunteer cedar along a fence row costs least; an old belt pulled row by row, stumps and all, costs most.

At a glance:

• Fence rows, CRP cedar, brush under power lines: $1,500 to $2,500 an acre
• Cedar, juniper and young pine mulched where they stand: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre
• Shelterbelt rows or timber removed, stumps out, wood hauled: up to $4,500 an acre
• Black Hills slash piles: a state or Forest Service permit inside the fire district, valid 1 November to 31 March, with at least 2 inches of snow around the pile (6 inches for big piles)
• Stormwater: an acre or more of disturbance needs DANR construction permit coverage, applied for at least 15 days ahead
• Tax: brush and timber clearing, shelterbelts included, carries the 2 percent contractor’s excise tax

Tell us where your South Dakota land is, and our crew will contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. Our Minneapolis and Denver pages show the same work.

How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in South Dakota?

What we charge depends on what is growing and how much of it has to leave. Cedar cut low and mulched into the grass is a one-pass job. A belt whose rows come out with their roots, and whose wood goes on a truck, is several jobs in one.

What is growing	Reference price per acre	What it looks like in South Dakota
Volunteer redcedar in fence rows, CRP and pasture; brush under power lines	$1,500 – $2,500	South-central and southeast rangeland, James River farm ground
Cedar, Rocky Mountain juniper or young pine, mulched in place	$1,500 – $4,000	River breaks, Black Hills foothills, creek draws West River
Shelterbelt rows or timber taken out, stumps dug, material hauled	$1,500 – $4,500	Farmstead windbreaks past 30 years, cottonwood bottoms
House site cut from trees: building envelope, drive, utility path	$1,500 – $4,500 per acre equivalent	Acreages around Rapid City, Spearfish, Sioux Falls and Brookings

Travel and your property set the quote.

Where these numbers come from. Our Minneapolis pricing page and Denver pricing page publish the same bands, and those are the rates in the table. Small jobs still start near $1,500, since getting a tracked machine to the gate costs the same for one pasture corner as for the whole quarter.

What Moves a South Dakota Clearing Price

Five things decide where a South Dakota job falls in that band.

Planted cedar or volunteer cedar. SDSU Extension calls the Dakotas “the cedar frontier” and expects escaped redcedar in every county: in fence rows, under power lines, inside hardwood shelterbelts and on CRP ground. Cut below the lowest green branch, the stump will not sprout, so there is no herbicide visit to pay for afterwards. Under about 6 feet tall, prescribed fire is often the cheaper tool. Scattered young trees sit at the bottom of our band; a closed stand on a draw side lands near the middle.

How old the shelterbelt is. DANR’s windbreak renovation guide starts with one question: is the windbreak over thirty years old? Trees standing under 10 feet apart and overtopping each other mean single trees or whole rows come out. Taking out a full row with its stumps is a dig-and-haul job at the top of the band.

The 2 percent excise tax. The Department of Revenue lists “brush or timber clearing services (such as for a shelter belt), and stump removal in fields” under the contractor’s excise tax: 2 percent of gross receipts, about $90 on a $4,500 acre. Removing ornamental yard trees is taxed differently, at the 4.2 percent state sales tax plus city tax. Ask whether each quote includes it.

Green pine slash in the Hills. SDSU’s Tree Pest Alert of June 2026 found pine engraver beetles breeding under the bark of green slash left by the winter windstorm, and endemic mountain pine beetle pockets of 10 to 100 trees in the northern Hills. So what happens to slash is part of the price: mulched now, or piled and held for a snow-covered winter burn.

Clay and standing water. West River ground on Pierre shale is clay that takes water in slowly, turns very sticky when wet and cracks open when dry. In the northeast, pothole soils such as Parnell hold a water table half a foot to a foot and a half down from November to June. Either way, the month the machine arrives moves the number.

Pro tip: Plant replacement rows before you pay to take out the old ones. DANR suggests 40 to 80 feet of open ground between an old windbreak and a new one, planted early enough to shelter the yard before the old belt fails. Then each removal quote covers only the rows you no longer need.

Clearing Costs Across South Dakota

Black Hills: Lawrence, Pennington, Custer and Meade counties. Around Spearfish, Lead, Hill City and Custer, ponderosa pine grows on Vanocker and Citadel soils on the Limestone Plateau and on Buska soils in the crystalline core near Lead, on slopes as steep as 80 percent. Work here is thinning and slash more than full clearing, and grade sets the pace. Most of the Hills south of I-90 lies inside the fire district described below, though land within a town does not.

West River plains and Badlands. From Belle Fourche and Newell east toward Philip and Kadoka, Pierre shale plains are mostly rangeland. Clearing means creek draws, cottonwood bottoms and old homestead tree rows, with salt cedar, a statewide noxious weed, to watch for along water. Long ranch trails can take more hours than the brush on them.

Missouri River breaks. Around Pierre, Fort Pierre and Chamberlain, Opal clay soils on shale cover dissected hills with slopes up to 25 percent. SDSU believes Rocky Mountain juniper is native to the breaks, and says owners in south-central and southeastern South Dakota know the cedar problem best.

Eastern glacial prairie. Sioux Falls, Brookings, Watertown, Huron, Mitchell and Aberdeen sit on till soils such as Houdek and Barnes, nearly all of it cropped, with Parnell potholes in the low spots. Jobs here are shelterbelts, fence rows and CRP cedar.

Burn Permits, Stormwater and Contractor Tax in South Dakota

Inside the Black Hills fire district. The Black Hills Forest Fire Protection District runs from the western state line along I-90 through Rapid City, then down U.S. 16B, SD 79 and U.S. 18 to the Cheyenne River and back west along the river; land inside a town is excluded. Under SDCL 34-35-16, burning slash, brush or grass there without a permit from the Department of Public Safety or the U.S. Forest Service is a Class 2 misdemeanor. State rule 61:33:01 sets the terms: pile permits run 1 November to 31 March, you call county dispatch before lighting, piles up to 6 feet tall and wide need 2 inches of continuous snow around them and bigger piles 6 inches, and nothing burns under a county burn ban, wind advisory or red flag warning.

Outside the district. SDCL 7-8-20 lets each county commission prohibit or restrict open burning, and some build in an exception. Fall River County’s 2026 ordinance bans open burning outside towns and the Hills district when the Grassland Fire Danger Index reads High, Very High or Extreme, and allows it at Low or Moderate. Call the county before lighting a pile.

Stormwater. DANR’s construction general permit applies when clearing, grading or excavation disturbs one acre or more, or less inside a larger plan topping an acre. The pollution prevention plan comes first, then the Notice of Intent at least 15 days before work, with a fee of $100 under 5 acres, $250 from 5 to under 40, $500 from 40 to under 80 and $750 at 80 or more. Filing and grading stay with you and your dirt contractor; we clear.

Checking a contractor. Anyone contracting for construction work in South Dakota needs a Department of Revenue contractor’s excise tax license. Ask for its number, a certificate of liability insurance, and a written scope covering acreage, stumps, where the wood goes and the finish.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to remove an old shelterbelt in South Dakota?

Budget toward the top of the band, up to $4,500 an acre, when whole rows come out with their stumps and the wood is hauled. Thinning crowded rows or pulling cedar seedlings out of a belt costs much less. Add the 2 percent contractor’s excise tax.

Do I need a burn permit for slash piles in the Black Hills?

Yes, inside the Black Hills Forest Fire Protection District. Pile permits run 1 November to 31 March, need snow on the ground, and allow no burning during a county burn ban. Land inside a town is outside the district, so ask the town.

Will cut cedar grow back?

Eastern redcedar cut below its lowest green branch does not sprout from the stump, according to SDSU Extension. Birds will still plant seedlings, so plan on light follow-up or fire while they are small.

Is land clearing taxed in South Dakota?

Yes. Clearing brush or timber, shelterbelts included, and removing stumps in fields fall under the 2 percent contractor’s excise tax. Taking out ornamental yard trees is charged state sales tax instead.

Get a Clearing Quote for Your South Dakota Land

Request a free quote for your South Dakota land and our crew will be in touch to go over the job: the way in (section line road, cattle guard, pasture trail, creek crossing), how many shelterbelt rows are involved and roughly how old they are, whether the land sits inside the Black Hills fire district, and the finish you want: open grass, a mulched floor under trees you keep, or a site handed to your dirt contractor. Ground north of the line is covered in our North Dakota guide.

Sources

• South Dakota Legislature, SDCL 34-35-16 (slash pile burning)
• South Dakota DANR, construction stormwater permit