helping on the farm with the cattle, horses and goats – she works full-time as a special education teacher for the Bridgewater Emery School District. She is a graduate of Dakota Wesleyan University. In addition to their cow-calf operation, beef cows, and putting up hay, Tom is also a “commission man,” independently buying western feeder cattle to place on feedlots and then helping to market finished cattle to beef processors. Jen is happy and content with their life as it is right now, but she said Tom is more driven. He replied that he isn’t “raging” like a rich man who wants to keep his riches, but rather he is raging to secure what they have. “When I came here to South Dakota and saw what was happening, I thought ‘What do I have to do to keep all this in place?’ I’m not raging for something big, but I just want to be able to rage long enough to secure what we have, so that my kids can do what they want to.” Tom concluded, “To live here is just awesome. I’ve lived a lot of great places and seen a lot of great things, but this place has got its own treasures.” Cash Martinez showing a Boer goat at the South Dakota State Fair FFA show.
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November 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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