South Dakota Farm & Ranch June 2023

How a Wild West character brought sugarbeets to SD

Bullock, Sheriff

Our readers may be livestock ranchers or row crop farmers, and everywhere in between, however, we all have a common goal in mind. We feed and support the growing population, and want the next generation to find that same love and support that agriculture can offer.

We’re all SD Farmers and Ranchers’ and when you advertise in South Dakota Farm & Ranch, you are immersing your company, product, and service into a growing community of dedicated farmers and ranchers. Welcome to South Dakota Farm & Ranch!

To

to this

contact

Courtesy / Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library at Dickinson State University Seth

of Deadwood, South Dakota, and friend of Theodore

How a Wild West legend founded a sugarbeet industry with a lasting legacy in SD

By Laura Rutherford

One of Ken Eide’s earliest memories is celebrating his fourth birthday during the sugarbeet harvest.

“It was Sept. 27, 1954. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my birthday cake and watching them harvest beets,” said Ken, 72, of Nisland in Butte County, South Dakota.

Ken’s father, Palmer Eide, was one of the early homesteaders of Butte County and among the first farmers to grow sugarbeets in that area in the 1920s. The story of sugarbeet production in Butte County began when the crop was first introduced by Seth Bullock in the early 1900s. Bullock, who was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1849, came to Montana at the age of 16 and went on to become an American legend.

In his lifetime, Bullock was a businessman, politician, rancher, sheriff and U.S. Marshal who helped create Yellowstone National Park. He arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota on Aug. 1, 1876, the day before Wild Bill Hickok was murdered in Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon, according to Jayme L. Job in article for Prairie Public Broadcasting. He became that city’s first sheriff after being appointed by thenGov. John Pennington of Dakota Territory in March of 1877.

The Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University said the circumstances surrounding the first time Bullock met his lifelong friend and future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt are unclear. In his 1921 book, “Roosevelt in the Bad Lands,” author Hermann Hagedorn wrote that the two met when Bullock was apprehending a horse thief known as “Crazy Steve” near Belle Fourche, South Dakota, on the northern slopes of the Black Hills. Roosevelt later called Bullock, who had served as a Rough Rider, as “a true westerner, the finest type of frontiersman.”

In an article for the Black Hills Pioneer, Kaija Swisher wrote that Bullock effectively founded the city of Belle Fourche as a place for ranchers and the railroad to load cattle onto freight cars for shipment to packing plants in the Midwest. He also owned and operated a ranch called the S&B Ranch Company near the city and is credited with introducing alfalfa farming to South Dakota in 1881.

At that time, sugarbeets were becoming established worldwide as an easier alternative to cane sugar. In 1887, P.P. Vallery planted the first sugarbeet crop in the Belle Fourche River Valley, according to information provided by the Newell Museum in Newell, South Dakota. Bullock was convinced a sugarbeet factory would be successful in Butte County,

Aurora Cooperative is accepting applications for the following positions:

Agronomy Sales: Sales agronomist, experience preferred.

Agronomy Location Manager for Mitchell & Tyndall locations: Applicant needs to have strong agronomy background, including seed, crop protection and fertilizer knowledge. Management experience is preferred, as well as leadership skills.

Agronomy Service/Applicator: Custom Applicator. License required.

Field Agronomist: BS in agronomy or 5-7 years experience preferred.

All positions are full time and come with an excellent benefits package!

Apply online at www.auroacoop.com or send resume and/or application to 25258 413th Ave, Mitchell, SD 57301 Equal Opportunity Employer.

Courtesy / Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library at Dickinson State University Seth Bullock, Sheriff of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Bunks

especially if the proposed Orman Dam (now known as the Belle Fourche Dam) came to fruition.

In his 2001 article, “Belle Fourche Project,” Christopher J. McCune of the Bureau of Reclamation wrote that the dam was one of the first irrigation projects for agriculture development in America created by the Bureau of Reclamation following the passage of the Reclamation Act in 1902. It was part of the Belle Fourche Project that today irrigates 57,068 acres of farmland

near the towns of Newell, Vale and Nisland. The project facilities are comprised of a diversion dam, two primary canals, an inlet canal, and Belle Fourche Dam, a homogenous earth fill structure located on Owl Creek, a tributary of the larger Belle Fourche River.

astrong, long-lastingsolutio urlivestock. arereinforcedusing acombinationofhighstrengthsteelreinforcingand thminimum5000psi concrete.OurprecastJ -stylefeedbunksare made with reasymountingofaccessories,suchas posts .Weight:4000lbs .

In 1906, Detroit industrialist Charles Bewick sent sugarbeet seed to R.F. Walter, an engineer supervising reclamation work at the Belle Fourche reservoir, according to an article called “Sugar Beet History” by Linda (Kuntz) Velder, curator of the Newell Museum. Velder wrote that

lopeBackBunkMold

the seeds were distributed to 20 farmers on irrigated land who agreed to cultivate one acre each of sugarbeets as an experiment. Beet piling sites were set up along the railroad lines coming into Nisland, Vale and Newell, so farmers could haul beets without having to make the long trip to the plant. The first few years were unsuccessful but educational, and the crops were used as animal feed. On Sept. 16, 1916, Bullock sold part of his ranch to the Great Western Sugar Company of Denver, Colorado, for a factory site. Districts with company field men were established

throughout the Belle Fourche irrigation project, and company representative

W.D. Hoover promised the factory would be built if farmers would contract to grow 8,000 acres of sugarbeets. By December of that year, 7,000 acres were contracted. In the spring of 1917, the company brought in German and Russian families from Colorado with sugarbeet growing experience to help plant, grow and harvest the beets on local farms, according to the Newell Museum. By October of that year, the first 400 rail carloads of sugarbeets were shipped from Butte

County to the Great Western Sugar Company factory at Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Growers realized a $150 per acre profit but plans to build the factory were derailed by World War I and Bullock’s dream was put on hold, according to Linda Velder. Seth Bullock passed away in September 1919, but his dream of a sugar factory lived on. In 1926, the Commercial Club of Belle Fourche redoubled their efforts to attract a factory to the area. The Utah and Idaho (U&I) Sugar Company

SuGARBeeTS: Page 6

Feed Bunks - Slant and Straight Back with or without end caps

V-Lock Blocks

Available at:

Precast Plant Location

Salem, South Dakota - (605) 425-2094

Retail Locations

Mitchell, South Dakota - (605) 995-6058

Pipestone, Minnesota - (507) 562-4203

Rock Rapids, Iowa - (712) 472-4229

Sioux Center, Iowa - (712) 722-3770

Worthington, Minnesota - (507) 376-2200

Contributed / Tri-State Museum

The sugarbeet plant at Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

Contributed / Tri-State Museum

A man holds the first bag of sugar produced in South Dakota.

BEST BUYS IN USED EQUIPMENT

2015 Case IH 8240 Combine, approx. 1,700 hours, 20.8x42 Front Duals, 750/65R26 Steering Tires, Luxury Cab, Rock Trap, Field Tracker, Power-Fold Grain Tank Ext., Long Unloading Auger, Chopper, Pro 700 Display, Autoguidance Ready

2015 Case IH 5140 Combine, approx. 800 hours, 20.8x42 Front Duals, 480/70R30 Steering Tires, Luxury Cab, Rock Trap, Field Tracker, Long Unloading Auger, Chopper, Pro 700 Display

2012 Case IH 7088 Combine, 2,636 Rotor hours, 20.8x42 Front Duals, 540/65R30 Steering Tires, 2-Speed Hydro, Rock Trap, Field Tracker, Power-Fold Grain Tank Ext., Long Unloading Auger, Chopper, Pro 700 Display

From Page 5

ultimately committed to building the plant if the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad would agree to build a railspur to the area, according to the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center in Belle Fourche. The railroad agreed, and the U&I Sugar Company transported a dismantled sugar factory from Colorado to South Dakota and reassembled it at the Belle Fourche site. The new factory was up and running by October 1927 in time for the sugarbeet harvest and operated 24 hours a day for 60 to 70 days per year.

Palmer Eide attended a factory meeting with other area farmers in Nisland about sugarbeet production in the 1920s, his son Ken recalled.

equaled corn for fattening livestock with little waste, and beet molasses was a good additive to poor quality hay.

“This is sheep country here in Butte County, and beet pulp was a big deal. Every morning we hauled it from the pit at the factory to our farm for our sheep. There were tons of pulp in that pit,” said Ken Eide. “After the harvest, the farmers would turn thousands of lambs out to graze on the beet tops.”

1994 Case IH 4800 31 ft. Field Cultivator, 7.60-15 Walking Tandems on Main Frame &; Wings, 3-Bar Harrow

2007 Case IH 1250 24R30 Planter, 2-pt. Hitch, PTO Pump, Precision Plant V-Set Meters, Pneumatic Down Pressure, Markers, Bulk Fill, Martin Floating Residue Managers

1996 JD 1760 12R30 Planter, ForwardFold, JD Monitor, Markers, Liquid Fertilizer, Dawn Residue Managers

“It was kind of scary at first for Dad and the other farmers, because they didn’t know if they could raise them,” said Ken. “However, the German families from Colorado taught them how to irrigate and use canvas dams. Colorado was ahead of the game in irrigation. The first year Dad planted sugarbeets, he got 21 tons per acre. It was the mother lode and there was good sugar content.”

2006 Case IH 1200 16R30 Planter, Pivot Transport, 1000 PTO Pump, Pro 700 Monitor, Shark-Tooth Residue Managers

POSSIBLE LATE MODEL, LOW-HOUR LEASE RETURNS COMING IN 2023!

2019 Case IH Magnum 310 MFD

2018 Case IH Puma 150 MFD, With L106 Loader

(2) 2020 Case IH Puma 165 MFD, With L106 Loader

(2) 2020 Case IH Puma 185 MFD, With L106 Loader

2015 Case IH Steiger 420

RowTrac 4WD

2016 Case IH Puma 185 MFD, With L765 Loader

2020 Case IH Steiger 470

RowTrac 4WD

2017 Case IH Maxxum 150 MFD, With L765 Loader

2018 Case IH Magnum 310 MFD

2010 NH H7150 16 ft., HS Head, 1000 PTO

Power-Fold Grain Tank Ext., Long Unloading Auger, Chopper, Pro 700 Display

2021 NH 560 Specialty Crop Plus, 3,672 bales, Net/Twine, Wide Pickup, 21.5x16.1 Tires, In-Cab Density Control, Moisture Monitor, Endless Belts, 1000 PTO

USED ROUND BALERS INTEREST-FREE FINANCING FOR 1 YEAR!

2021 NH 560 Specialty Crop Plus, 4,772 bales, Net/Twine, Wide Pickup, 21.5x16.1

Tires, In-Cab Density Control, Moisture Monitor, Endless Belts, 1000 PTO

2021 NH 560 Specialty Crop Plus, 3,672 bales, Net/Twine, Wide Pickup, 21.5x16.1

Tires, In-Cab Density Control, Moisture Monitor, Endless Belts, 1000 PTO

USED MOWER CONDITIONERS

Ken’s mother, Gussie Nedella Eide, was from Selfridge, North Dakota. Every year Gussie would accompany her parents and 12 siblings to South Dakota to work in the sugarbeet fields and help with the harvest.

The Belle Fourche factory endured the Great Depression and had its highest number of growers in 1932, with 581 farmers producing sugarbeets on 12,857 acres. However, new challenges came with the outbreak of World War II, when high grain prices caused some farmers to stop growing labor-intensive sugarbeets in favor of grain for export to Europe, Velder wrote in “Sugar Beet History.” Farmers also had to contend with water shortages, fixed sugar prices, government limits on acreage, increasing equipment costs and soaring labor pay rates and a shortage of laborers. The U&I Sugar Company augmented its South Dakota acres by contracting with Nebraska growers to ship sugarbeets to the Belle Fourche factory. The factory hired Texans, Jamaicans, Native Americans, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp members, displaced Japanese Americans, Boy Scout troops and crews of high school students to meet labor requirements, Linda Velder wrote.

12R20 Corn Head

USED CROP PRODUCTION

2008 Kinze 3200 12R30 Planter, Econo-

Fold, Yetter Residue Managers with Clean Sweep, KPM III Monitor, Seed Box Ext., Liquid Fertilizer w/Electric Pump, Precision Plant Corn Meters, Kinze Soybean Meters, Copperhead V-Closing Wheels

2007 Case IH 1250 24R30 Planter, 2-pt.

Hitch, PTO Pump, Precision Plant V-Set

Meters, Pneumatic Down Pressure, Markers, Bulk Fill, Martin Floating Residue Managers

2006 Case IH 1200 16R30 Planter, Pivot

Transport, 1000 PTO Pump, Pro 700 Monitor, Shark-Tooth Residue Managers

1996 JD 1760 12R30 Planter, Forward-Fold,

JD Monitor, Markers, Liquid Fertilizer, Dawn Residue Managers

2012 Case IH Patriot 3330

Self-Propelled

Sprayer, approx. 2,300 hours, 14.9x46

Tires, Pro 700 Display, 120 ft. Boom, Active

Suspension, AIM Command, Autoguidance

Ready

1994 Case IH 4800 31 ft. Field Cultivator, 7.60-15 Walking Tandems on Main Frame & Wings, 3-Bar Harrow

Sunflower 5034 29 ft. Field Cultivator, 3-Bar Mulcher

2010 NH H7150 16 ft., HS Head, 1000 PTO

2005 NH 1475 18 ft., HS Head, 1000 PTO, Rock Guard

2007 NH 1475 16 ft., HS Head, 1000 PTO, Rock Guard

2002 NH 1475 16 ft., 1000 PTO

1996 NH 1475 16 ft., 1000 PTO

USED

MISCELLANEOUS

2020 NH C345 Track Skid Loader, 90 hp, 4,500 lb. Lift, 949 hours, Pilot Controls, 2-Speed, High-Flow, Hydraulic Coupler, Cab with Heat & A/C, Air Seat, 84 in. LPE Bucket Rowse 290 9 ft. Trailing Sicklebar Mower

2015 Cub Cadet RZTS50 Zero-Turn Lawn Mower, 50 in. Deck

Feterl White 12 in. x 92 ft. Auger, Swing Hopper

Feterl White 12 in. x 34 ft. Auger Farm King 12 in. x 72 ft. Auger

Koyker Super 85C 8 in. x 71 ft. Auger, Swing Hopper

“They were a German family and that was their career. My grandpa got reprimanded by school officials for taking Gussie and her siblings out of school to work in the fields. However, she went on to attend teacher’s college in Madison, South Dakota, and became an excellent teacher,” Ken said. “She taught grades 1-8 in a one-room schoolhouse south of Nisland.”

Palmer Eide met Gussie when he hired the family to work in his sugarbeet fields.

“They got married in 1945 in the Nisland Catholic Church,” Ken said. “She did everything on the farm including hoeing sugarbeets and stacking hay bales. She stacked more square bales than any of us.”

Palmer and Gussie grew around 50 acres of sugarbeets in addition to sheep, cattle, and alfalfa.

“The factory furnished the seed and fertilizer, and the farmers worked at the factory,” Ken said. “The piling site was right by the school in Nisland and was a quarter of a mile long.”

The Newell Museum said that in addition to sugar, beet by-products were in high demand. Beet pulp, beet tops, beet silage and beet molasses were a cheap and efficient feed and were sold to any farmer who would haul it away. Beet pulp’s food value

In 1943, German prisoners of war began arriving in the United States. Linda Velder vividly remembers the POWs working at a neighbor’s farm.

“I was only about 4 years old. It was a fairly hot day, but we decided we should walk over to see these POWs. I don’t know what we were expecting. When we arrived, they were busy working in the beet fields and talking among themselves,” she said. “They stopped working to look at us, and some even waved and called out. Much to our surprise, they looked like ordinary people — like any neighbor or church member. Not one had four eyes or two heads or was even breathing flames. We turned and ran home. Our parents never knew.”

The U&I Sugar Company arranged with the U.S. Army for the POWs to assist local farmers in the sugarbeet fields, wrote Tim Velder in an article called “POW Camp.” Tim Velder said a high fence and three guard houses were put up around the former CCC Camp at Orman Dam, and the prisoners were housed there while they worked on area farms.

Linda Velder’s father was a German-Russian immigrant, and her mother was the daughter of Russian immigrants. The family spoke fluent German, and Linda’s father would occasionally be asked to interpret for the POWs.

“Most of the prisoners could speak and understand some English,” Linda said. “Dad was called upon

Eide

“Where SERVICE Means More Than The Sale Itself”

to interpret rules, regulations and labor instructions.”

The German prisoners were paid the standard labor wage of 60 cents per hour, while skilled laborers received 80 cents per hour, according to Tim Velder. The money could only be spent in the camp commissary.

Linda Velder conducted interviews with area farmers who had employed the POWS.

“Most of the prisoners were happy to be in the United States and never caused trouble. They realized a great sense of security from bodily harm and away from the horrors of war,” she wrote in an article called “Attitudes of the POWs.” “The captives accepted most farm tasks asked of them and were invaluable to area farmers. Seldom did the prison guards or camp guards have to concern themselves with their attempt to escape.”

The German POWs had varied views of America and the war.

“Some prisoners hated the United States and all it stood for. They were staunch followers of the Nazi Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler. They openly displayed their contempt and advocated that Hitler was going to take over the world, including the US,” Linda Velder wrote. “Some had a bitter attitude and would try the

patience of fellow prisoners, guards, cooks, or farmers. Most prisoners did not believe the news reports of the Allies winning the war, until word came from the Normandy invasion.”

However, the majority of prisoners were thankful to be away from the front lines. When the war was over and it was time for them to be repatriated to their homeland, some did not want to return, said Linda.

“They knew it would be a life of hardship and some would be going back to certain death,” she said. “They had made friends with the locals and with their comrades in camp, and they had plenty of food, shelter, and recreation. After their return home, a few did correspond with certain farm families, mostly in deep appreciation.”

The Newell Museum said that despite better farming practices, the Belle Fourche sugar factory was down to 176 farmers growing sugarbeets on 4,439 acres in 1948 and began to lose money by 1950. In 1960, costs had increased, and volume was down. The U&I Sugar Company looked for new growing areas in central and eastern South Dakota but were unsuccessful due to low sugar content and plant disease in beets produced there, according to the Tri-State Museum

and Visitor Center in Belle Fourche. The Belle Fourche factory processed sugarbeets for the last time on Jan. 12, 1963.

“I was 12 years old in 1962, the last year Dad did beets,” said Ken, who retired from sheep farming several years ago. Ken and his wife Beverly continue to grow alfalfa and corn with flood irrigation.

Seth Bullock’s vision of sugarbeet production and his many contributions to agriculture in

Butte County, South Dakota, are a fascinating part of the history of both the American West and the United States sugarbeet industry. Although sugarbeet production in that area ended in the 1960s, Bullock’s dream shaped the farming futures of many families and their descendants who farm in the Belle Fourche River Valley today.

(A special thanks to the staffs at the Newell Museum and the Tri-State Museum.)

Craig Dodds

Kari Fagerhaug

Contributed / Newell Museum

German POWs work in a South Dakota sugarbeet field in the 1940s.

Contributed / Tri-State Museum

A large sugarbeet pile in South Dakota.

Contributed / Tri-State Museum

Sugarbeets are dumped into a freight car in South Dakota.

By Ariana Schumacher Agweek

TWIN BROOKS & VERMILLION, S.D. — Farmers and soil health enthusiasts are growing connections through a new social media platform designed to give producers the answers they are looking for at the touch of a screen.

David Kruger took pictures of radishes in his field near Twin Brooks in northeastern South Dakota, which can be shared instantly with hundreds of people interested in soil health practices on the Growing Connections app.

“Soil health practices is a challenge, it is not something always easy getting into it and starting it you have to really change the way you think about farming, and by having the app it gives a place where people who are trying it or thinking of trying it can go and ask questions, and we can try to help to be successful,” Kruger said.

Growing Connections is a partnership between the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, South Dakota Grassland Coalition, USDA, NRCS, the conservation districts and South Dakota State University Extension.

The platform has many features, including places to ask questions, read articles and get connected with soil health mentors in every county across South Dakota.

“The app has the ability to connect farmers with farmers,” said Cindy Zenk, coordinator of the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition. “So far, the questions have been kind of a variety. You know, we’ve had some specific questions on when to terminate crops, or there’s been a question on how to set a planter. You know, what’s your experiences and how to get that right depth when you are getting ready for that planting season too. We have had some grazing questions, some are chemical, residuals, all types.”

“There’s guys asking, seems like first time cover crop users are wondering when to terminate, how

to terminate, best way to plant, and just what should they do for a cover crop to start getting ... There’s a lot more questions from new time people,” said Chris Nissen, Vermillion, South Dakota, farmer and mentor through Growing Connections.

“My favorite part of the app is being able to post a question or concern or something I am struggling with and to be able to get other people’s ideas,” Kruger said.

Since its launch in January, the app has seen a great response. There’s around 600 people using the app so far.

“We were really happy with the amount of downloads that we’ve already seen and the amount of users. There’s been questions and interactions, people commenting, liking, so we are very pleased with the number that we have seen,” Zenk said.

The app is growing a network of soil health experts from in the shop and out in the field.

“It’s important to have a network of people across the state because the more people that you can have contact with, share ideas with, get ideas from when you’re struggling with something, the better chance you are being successful and finding a resolution to the issue that you’re having,” Kruger said.

Growing Connections is free to set up. You can find it online or on your smartphone’s app store.

“This app is better than a lot of resources I’ve seen because there’s not the negativity,” Nissen said. “It seems more positive and it’s more in a helpful manner.”

“If you haven’t used the app, I think it would be good to get signed up and give it a try, look at the questions that are on there and see if any of those questions interest you and don’t be afraid to throw a question on there and ask a question and see what kind of responses you get,” Kruger said.

SuGARBeeT: Page 19

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

David Kruger creates a post on the Growing Connections app.

RURAL ReVIVAL

Iowa farm girl turned entrepreneur gives blueprint for SD leaders to revitalize small towns

By Sam Fosness Mitchell Republic

WESSINGTON SPRINGS, S.D. — Small rural towns have a special place in Danna Larson’s heart.

As a small-town girl from Odebolt, Iowa, Larson knows the challenges rural communities with populations around 1,000 or fewer are facing. Now, she’s on a mission to revive small towns where declining populations and vacant Main Street buildings are the norm.

The Iowa-based entrepreneur and podcaster has built a consulting company that aims to revitalize small Midwest towns, and she provided strategies to a group of South Dakota rural community leaders on May 31 during the 2023 Energize conference in Wessington Springs hosted by South Dakota State University Extension. Larson served as the keynote speaker at the economic agriculture event.

“In my town, we have some empty buildings on our Main Street that we need to fill with businesses. In order for people to want to bring their business to our town, they have to know we are committed to them. They have to know we are going to support them if they open a business,” she said.

An aging Main Street that’s seen a growing number of buildings come down has been the tale of the tape for Odebolt, Iowa — the small town of about 1,000 where Larson resides and is helping revive.

Sam Fosness / Republic

Danna Larson, an Iowa consultant and entrepreneur, speaks to the group during the May 31 SDSU Extension event in Wessington Springs.

To chart a new path forward for Odebolt’s Main Street, Larson created a community foundation that raises funds and seeks grants to help the city restore buildings at risk of being torn down. And it’s already saved a few in the community, she said.

“I went to town council and said, ‘Please don’t tear this down, and let’s see if we can save it,’” Larson said, noting the council unanimously voted against tearing the building down and partnering with her community foundation. “We’re a town of 1,000, and the city can’t afford to do everything on our list. By having a community foundation, we can get extra funds to come alongside the city and help support projects that need more funding than they can provide.”

The challenges in Odebolt, Iowa, mirror many small South Dakota towns.

To reverse the trajectory, Larson urged the group in attendance to host more community events that showcase Main Street businesses, agriculture and arts.

Larson said a survey that polled rural town residents revealed they wanted to see more arts and entertainment options. The survey also showed the closure of Main Street businesses and population declines were two major issues the respondents said are hurting

their communities.

“Start some events to draw younger crowds. Arts and entertainment like the survey results said, is something we need to bring more of to our towns. And that is cheap compared to putting $1 million into fixing up an old building,” Larson said.

Larson used a success story of a Minnesota couple who moved back to the husband’s hometown of McIntosh — a town with just under 600 people — as an example that reviving rural communities can be done.

“After they moved back, they decided to help rebuild the small downtown by starting a vintage business. Then they decided to fix up a building downtown and ended up buying nearly all the buildings that they rent to shop owners,” Larson said. “They worked hard to create this experience for people to want to come to McIntosh. They do things with food trucks and events. They have five events each year.”

By hosting community events on Main Street and revitalizing aging buildings, Larson said it provides the youth a reason to stay and build a career in their rural hometowns.

“I think there are a lot of young people and young families who would love to move back if they could, if the right opportunity was there. Our job is to give them that opportunity,” she said.

While Larson has success in sparking revitalization efforts in small towns around the Upper Midwest, she acknowledged that “it’s easy to get discouraged when not all community leaders get on board.”

“Unity is key. If everybody has the same vision, it makes the momentum that much stronger. To get everyone on the same page, communication is

key,” she said.

Larson challenged the group to take leaps at their entrepreneurial dreams and encourage the youth to do the same.

“Stay positive and leverage social media to reach people beyond your town. Create space for untapped dreams, which creates opportunity for economic development,” Larson said.

Sam Fosness / Republic

A pamphlet with resources community leaders can use to revive their small towns sits on tables at the SDSU Extension event in Wessington Springs..

CATTLe NUMBeRS DOWN 3% THIS YeAR

but market prices are on the rise

By Ariana Schumacher Agweek

SIOUX FALLS & MITCHELL, S.D. — Cattle prices are increasing as the number of cattle decrease across the country.

According to the USDA, cattle inventory is down by 3% this year, with 89.3 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farming operations as of January 1, 2023. Beef cattle are down by 4% at 28.9 million head.

Cattle entering the ring at Mitchell Livestock

Auction are selling at much higher prices than past years, however, input costs are contributing to those prices.

“The expenses have climbed just as rapid as anything has. Feed costs are quite atrocious, corn prices have gone up. We all know that. And it’s cost these producers a lot, whether it’s from renting the ground, to owning the ground to input costs to whatever, it just cost them a lot a lot of money,” said Lanning Edwards, auctioneer, Mitchell Livestock Auction.

Decreased cattle numbers are also causing a rise in the market.

“I would say that’s probably most of it, just short numbers, short cattle out in the country,” said Mike Koedam, owner at Sioux Falls Regional Livestock. “You know, cattle last summer probably did better in the fall, we had a little tougher winter, which probably pushed the cattle back a little bit. Probably didn’t get them as big as they usually did.”

After years of drought, feed is still hard to

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek Cattle

the sale ring at Mitchell Livestock Auction.

find, and the conditions are contributing to the decreased cattle numbers across the country.

“A lot of cows have been sold off,” Edwards said. “Cow numbers are definitely down I think totally across the United States, between the drought and the input costs, have forced some people out of business.”

Koedam mentioned feed costs like hay and corn remain high. The USDA hay costs range from $175-$210 per ton depending on the type and quality based on a May 25 report.

Conditions are improving in some areas of South Dakota, but Edwards says we aren’t out of the drought yet.

“It’s a bit better, we are still pretty dry,” Edwards said. “We had a bazillion dollar rain here a couple weeks ago, and I will tell you what, we can use another one yesterday wouldn’t be soon enough.”

Higher cattle prices are something consumers will notice.

“Probably the price of beef is going to increase, and it will,” Edwards said. “It’s still the best product you can get over the counter or off the farm or whatever, I will take that to my grave, it’s just one of the greatest.”

But as weather conditions

begin to improve in some areas of the Midwest, there is hope to replenish the cattle numbers.

“There’s rain around, east of here quite a few miles, the other end of Iowa, Minnesota, into Wisconsin, getting a lot of rain, out west, I mean they need more rain, but they have been getting some, that’s a good sign, I think the numbers will replenish, but as you know that takes a little time,” Koedam said.

“It’s in Mother Nature’s hands and that’s what’s going to get the wheel turning,” Edwards said. “Then when the grasses come back, the crops get producing a lot of feed supply, good feed supply, I think that will in turn help these people increase the numbers, but it’s going to take a bit.”

Producers are still happy to see the higher prices at the sale barn.

“Everybody is in a little bit of a better mood,” Koedam said. “They are making some money, some cattle probably not as much as they could because of just higher feed costs, higher interest, but overall, the mentality and the mood of people is good, so that helps.”

Both Edwards and Koedam estimate it will take at least two to three years to get the cattle numbers back up to average across the country.

Ariana Schumacher / Agweek

Cattle in the sale ring at Sioux Falls Regional Livestock.

LANNING EDWARDS

Cow numbers are definitely down I think totally across the United States, between the drought and the input costs, have forced some people out of business.

HUGE DISCOUNTS!

BEAT THE 2024 PRICE INCREASE!

SAVE THOU$AND$!

FINANCING AS LOW AS 0%(Maxxums)! PLUS WE WANT YOUR TRADE!

Scott Supply has 13 new 2023 Case IH Maxxum and Puma tractors. Choose from 6 Maxxum 150 ActiveDrive 8 125 PTO hp tractors, 6 Puma 185 PowerDrive (powershift) 150 PTO hp tractors, and 1 Puma 220 PowerDrive 190 PTO hp tractor with or without new Case IH Ll05 and L106 loaders. Don’t wait for government lease return tractors this fall - Buy your new tractor at government prices today!

Model Year 2024 Case IH Pre-Sell Programs begin June 1. Save $$$ on our HUGE 2023 inventory!

If you are planning to purchase a new tractor, you can’t afford to pass these deals up!

NOW’S THE TIME TO BUY! GREAT SELECTION!

Scott Supply has 1 new 2023 Case IH Magnum 310 AFS Connect PowerDrive 265 PTO hp tractor coming in for this fall.

SAVE THOU$AND$ – BEAT THE 2024 PRICE INCREASE!

2800 W. Havens, Mitchell, SD 605-996-7704

1-800-952-2308

www.scottsupplyco.com

“Where SERVICE Means More Than The Sale Itself”

Beef

This acreage site is located just east of Fulton, South Dakota, ready for you to build a dream home. The property has two old windmills that can be great decorations on the property or even reclaimed and put back into action. It also has a well-established tree grove around the likely building site. Rural water and electricity are already on site from the previous home that was there. The property can be accessed via two different county roads. It is only a short drive from a hard surface road, which includes Highway 38 and Interstate 90. The acreage has already been surveyed and will be platted with Hanson County.

WHITETAILPROPERTIES. COM

-BillMinor, Broker.LicensedinAL,GA,LA, &MS- SybilStewart,Broker.Licensed inTN -TimBurnette,Broker.LicensedinTN -BobbyPowers,Broker.Licensedin AR -Anthony Chrisco,Broker.Licensed inNC,SC, VA -ChipCamp,Broker.LicensedinNC -RichBaugh,Broker.LicensedinMI -EdmundJoelNogaski,Broker.LicensedinMD,WV -DebbieS.Laux,Broker.LicensedinID,MT,UT, WY,OR-AaronMilliken,Broker

WhitetailPropertiesReal Estate,LLC -DBAWhitetailProperties|IntheStatesof Nebraska &NorthDakota -DBA Whitetail TrophyPropertiesRealEstateLLC |LicensedinIL, MO,IA, KS,KY, NE &OK- DanPerez,Broker.LicensedinAR,CO,GA,MN,ND,SD,TN &WI- JeffEvans, Broker.