Celebrate National Arbor Day and plant a tree! Trees offer many benefits to our life, the vitality of the soil and water. On June 26, 1952, South Dakota State College West Farm, Brookings, C.M. Nagel is showing cottonwood specimens at a farm forestry meeting. Extension Farm Forestry encourages farmer to make best use of trees for their situation. Trees planted in windbreaks protect livestock from windchill, help cool homes in the summer and function as snow fence in the winter. Trees protect the soil from wind erosion, offer floodplain protection and provide habitat for wildlife.