The Farming Families of Minnehaha County (SD)— February 2021

February 2021 | www.AgeMedia.pub

of Minnehaha County

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

Meet the

JOHNSON Family D.J., Danya and Trey Buseman; Kyler, Char and Wyn Johnson; and Lennyn, Katie, Maryn and Seth LeBrun. Story on page 20.

February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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ADVERTISING SALES Garrett Gross, AGE Media (515) 231-9367 garrett@agemedia.pub © The Farming Families, Age Media & Promotion The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural southeastern South Dakota. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial and advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The Farming Families and Age Media & Promotion.

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FROM THE EDITOR

LEARNED ANYTHING YET?

By Bob Fitch

Coca-Cola is perhaps the most successful brand in the history of global commerce. Its iconic red and white logo and “dynamic ribbon device” are known worldwide because of successful marketing pretty much everywhere – television, billboards, building signage, posters and more. As a collector of Coca-Cola memorabilia, I’m more than familiar with the corporation’s brand reinforcement efforts.

Coca-Cola doesn’t spend $4 billion a year on marketing just for fun. They do it because repetition works. Yes, repetition works. Repetition really works. I could turn this into a lesson about why you should advertise monthly in Farming Families magazine (which is an awesome idea!), but actually I share these thoughts as instruction to myself after an important life lesson was repeated to me recently.

In the January 2020 issue of our Iowa edition, a wise young Sioux County farmer named Zach Van Wyhe said he had recently changed his definition of success. He was now focused on reaching his own goals. “I was trying to keep up with everybody else, but that put stress and struggle and tension on family life where there shouldn’t have been,” he said.

and destruction.”

I don’t think the passage should dissuade me from pursuing financial security, but I think it does rightly advise me to avoid the trap of jealous desires.

Have I learned anything yet? At the very least, I’ve learned I’d better Bob Fitch, Editor post this message in big letters above my computer so someone else I’m interviewing doesn’t have to hit me over the head with it again a year from now. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

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Zach’s life lesson came roaring back to me a couple weeks ago when I was interviewing Dale Hora of Olivet for this issue (story on page 6). Dale said, “Probably one of my favorite Bible verses is in Timothy where he talks about godliness with contentment is great gain. When you start to compare yourself to someone else, you’re always going to be disappointed.”

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I needed the repetition of this message. In the past year, I’ve found myself comparing my life situation to others I know who are my age or younger. I keep kicking myself for decisions I made eight years ago and in the intervening years which have set me back on the road to financial security.

However, no matter how many times I kick myself or how many times I compare myself to others, this negative repetition isn’t reducing my stress or disappointment, nor is it improving my contentment.

Thanks to Dale’s timely reminder of Zach’s message from a year ago, I am prompted to flip the script and repeat to myself a positive message along the lines of “my life is great and here are the steps I can take to improve it.”

The passage in 1st Timothy which Dale cited goes on to say “if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin

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February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

5

HUTCHINSON COUNTY FAMILY

CURIOUS ENOUGH TO TAKE IT APART AND SKILLED ENOUGH TO PUT IT BACK TOGETHER

By Bob Fitch

Cows or carburetors? For most farmers, cows would be the choice.

But the Hora family chose carburetors.

Josh and Dale Hora operate Hora Repair LLC on their farm north of Olivet.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

Dale and Peg Hora farm north of Olivet with their son and daughter-in-law, Josh and Andrea Hora. Josh said, “I love farming – planting season, harvest season. I’d sit in a tractor or combine all day, every day. If I had enough ground to start in the spring and keep going through the summer, I’d do it.

There’s something about being out there and seeing your hard work grow and reaping the benefit at the end.”

However, available land is scarce right now. Last month, they sold the last of their cows and, while they continue to farm, Dale and Josh recently formed Hora Repair LLC to expand on their mutual expertise in tractor and combine repair and maintenance. The company slogan matches their attitude and approach: “Curious enough to take it apart and skilled enough to put it back together.”

After graduating from Menno High School in 1976, Dale attended the University of South Dakota at Springfield and earned a degree in diesel and power controls technology. “I started working at John Deere in Freeman in 1978. I worked in the tractor department, then in 1981 or ‘82, we started doing combine inspections where we bring them in the offseason and go through them. So that’s pretty much what I did was work on combines. I’ve done a lot of them in my time.” He left the Deere dealership in 1998 to farm full-time and take over his dad’s Pioneer seed dealership.

Age Media Qtr Page Color 1-8-20.pdf 1 1/8/2020 11:21:34 AM

Peg and Dale Hora.

But Dale didn’t give up any of his wrenches. He continued to do repair work at his shop on the farm.

Josh graduated from Menno High School in 2007 and then went on to complete the John Deere technician program at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. Like father, like son … Josh also worked at John Deere in Freeman.

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The mechanic skills of the two complement each other.

Dale said, “We’ve got a good situation. I’m really good with the older stuff and Josh is better with the new electronics.

It’s working pretty good. There’s a lot of joy when you fire up an engine that you’ve had all apart. When you put something back together, there’s satisfaction in that – when it works, of course.”

Even with rates that are competitive or lower than most shops, the economics of growing the repair side of their operation makes sense. Josh said, “You go through what you actually make on a cow versus the hours I put in the shop – in two-and-a-half hours in the shop, I can pay for the maximum amount of profit I could ever make on that cow.”

The bulk of their shop work is done in the winter, still allowing them time to operate the farm. Most of their work is on John Deere equipment. “There’s enough Deere tractors and combines, we’ve never had to really work on others,” Dale said.

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been able to sit around the kitchen table with people as much. Usually it’s 90 percent visiting and 10 percent business. But you want to be safe. It’s crazy how Covid affected people differently.”

Josh and Andrea Hora with their children Emmitt and Amelia.

the area, combined with local independent service shops which specialize in the green brand, is why the local area has a preponderance of JD equipment.

But all colors are welcome. Dale said, “We have been working on our neighbor’s Ford, making one tractor out of two. We’ll definitely take on more colors if we have the opportunity.”

Josh said, “For me, expanding the shop is going to be my number one priority for the next few years.

The crop side is hard to expand in this area because there’s a lot of competition for land. So I see the shop being an asset to us.

Hopefully, when some of my older relatives retire, we can pick up some their land. Some of the guys we custom farm for, hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to rent from them.”

The other aspect of diversification is the Pioneer Seed dealership which Dale’s dad started in 1981.

“This year has been different in the seed business because I haven’t

8

Dale grew up a half mile down the road where Josh and his family now live. Dale and Peg’s home and the shop are on a farmsite once owned by his aunt and uncle.

Their daughter, Joyce, is a fulltime substitute teacher of math, science and other subjects for the Harrisburg School District. She went to school in Rochester, N.Y., and has a degree in biomedical engineering. She taught for eight years in Milbank and then taught in Honduras for a year before going to Harrisburg. “She likes being a full-time substitute – there are no lesson plans and no grades to worry about,” Dale said.

Josh and his wife, Andrea, were married in 2013 and they have two children: Emmett is 6 and in kindergarten and Amelia is 3½. Peg watches Emmett every day after school. Andrea works at Mettler Fertilizer in Menno. The couple agrees on the value of raising their children on the farm. “I still look back to when Grandpa farmed,” Josh said. “I’d ride in the combine and fall asleep. When I woke up, they told me there had been three drivers in the combine while I was sleeping. I guess I want those experiences for my kids.”

Andrea didn’t grow up on a farm but, when she was 16, her mom remarried and they moved to a farm. Peg said, “Andrea loved it.

What she wanted was to marry a farmer. I think I thought she was the right one before Josh did.”

Josh quickly replied, “I doubt it.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

and said ‘I’m probably going to end up getting married to her.’ I knew pretty quick.”

Dale and Peg will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this summer. They’ve faced a few scares in their time together. While Josh was a “big boy” when he was born in 1989, he spent his first two weeks in intensive care. When Josh was two months old, Peg had a seizure. Doctors discovered she had a cyst on her brain. Luckily, the cyst was on the outside of the membrane and it was successfully removed. After the operation, Peg wasn’t supposed to pick up anything over 10 pounds. She said, “Josh was 9 pounds 8 ounces when he was born. So I had full-time help for six weeks. I have good family.”

To compound these troubles, Dale had a stroke in 1990.

But their faith life has always helped them stay focused on what’s important. Asked to define a successful life, Dale said, “Probably one of my favorite Bible verses is in Timothy where he talks about godliness with contentment is great gain.* When you start to compare yourself to someone else, you’re always going to be disappointed.”

*1 Timothy 6:6-11 (NIV) But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

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an example and can pass that on to our children and grandchildren.

That’s the most important part.”

Dale said, “The only earthly treasure you may ever see in heaven is your family. You ain’t going to take your tractor.”

The Hora farm in 2017.

Dale and Peg have been attending Dakota’s Walk to Emmaus for 22 years. The goal of the 72-hour weekend spiritual gathering is to inspire, challenge, and equip local church members for Christian action in their homes, churches, communities, and places of work. “There’s many ways to define it … it’s a shortcourse in Christianity to help you grow your faith,” Dale said.

Dakota’s Walk to Emmaus has been held at a number of locations in the area over the years including Inspiration Hills, Storm Mountain in the Black Hills, Joy Ranch near Watertown and Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell. Peg said, “Dale and I have been in charge of supplies for a number of years. We go and we work.

We’re there for them when they call.”

Dale added, “It’s one of our missions.

We’ve met a lot of good people and

we’ve seen a lot of lives changed.

We’ve seen a few people decide to go into ministry after being part of the Emmaus weekend. It’s been a confirmation for them.”

The family attends Olivet United Methodist Church. “They say everybody needs therapy with a psychologist – well, I figure I get that every Sunday morning in church,” Dale said. “If I don’t go, I miss it. We both grew up with strong Christian parents and grandparents.”

Peg continued, “As I look back, most of my family on both sides, there was one spouse who was very strong in their faith who married someone who was not quite as strong and they became strong. You can go back quite a few years and you get that heritage.

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When not planting, harvesting, selling seed or repairing machinery, the family has spent a lot of time over the years motorcycling. They have traveled as far as the Grand Canyon and California. In 2011, they and a group of about a dozen bikes took the “dam bike tour” which visited the major dams on the Missouri River. Josh and some of the younger bikers split off and rode to Glacier National Park.

“We’ve had some good adventures on our bikes,” Josh said. His motorcycle adventures included accidents in 2007 and 2009 which resulted in tissue damage, torn ligaments, a cracked cheek bone and even a cracked vertebrae discovered six months after the second accident.

Dale said he and Peg haven’t ridden as much in recent years, but with the cow herd and feeder cattle gone now, maybe they’ll have more time.

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LINCOLN COUNTY FAMILY

‘WE’RE GLAD YOU KEPT FARMING’

By Bob Fitch

The Van De Stroet farm south of Fairview is an equal opportunity workplace.

“When their dad raised them, they were treated equal,” said Sharon Van De Stroet. “Shana was a girl, but she was never treated different.

There was never ‘Oh, she’s a girl, she can’t lift that or she can’t drive that.’” Likewise, Sharon’s son Cody said, “A lot of my friends will come over and say ‘I can’t believe your mom is doing chores.’”

Sharon said, “You don’t get anything for free. Work hard.

You hope the crops come up. You hope you have a good calf crop.”

Daughter Shana added, “You hope it rains.” “And you hope it stops,” Sharon said.

The brother-sister team of Cody and Shana Van De Stroet farm with their mom, Sharon, east of the Newton Hills in the Big Sioux River valley. They run cow-calf pairs and start calving in March.

Most of their ground is pasture, but they also grow corn and soybeans, plus rent farmland, and Cody has started doing some customfarming. In addition, they custom feed some heifers.

Cody, Sharon and Shana Van De Stroet of Fairview.

12

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

Sharon and her late husband, Jerry, started raising cattle with just a handful of cows when they got married in 1985. In 1993, they bought the family farm from his parents, Case and Alice Van De Stroet. When they quit raising hogs, they changed the confinement to a calving barn.

Sharon said, “Cody and Shana were always outside even when they were very young, sometimes sitting in the pickup beside the headgate while we worked cattle. They were expected to help with field work and calving and learned how to drive at a young age.”

Jerry passed away from cancer in 2012. Cody said, “If we wouldn’t have farmed, Mom might have called it quits.” Sharon said, “These guys right away wanted to quit their jobs to farm full time.

But I said let’s just try it and see how it works. We figured if we could make it through that first year, we could probably make it through anything.”

She continued, “The first year I had to go take care of seed and fertilizer and chemicals was a little nerve-wracking. But Todd Schlup at the elevator was great. He walked me through it. He had tried to talk Jerry into different fertilizer and chemical applications. I went with Todd’s recommendations, but I was kind of waiting for a lightning bolt to strike me.

Shana, Sharon, Jerry and Cody Van De Stroet in 2009.

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“When I had Cody plant that first year, I had a lot of people tell me ‘He’s never planted before, you shouldn’t let him plant.’ But I was like, ‘He’s 24, he’s not a little boy, he can learn how to plant.’” Cody said neighbor Mike Thies helpfully provided some guidance plus let them use his tractor and planter the first couple of years.

For over 100 years, we have been financing farming operations, and we have roots that run deep in the community.

“We knew most of it, but it was a learning experience. For the most part, we were pretty comfortable with everything cattle-related; and we had baled and knew how to hay. It was just the planting because we had always been in school during planting season,” Cody said.

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Sharon said, “I had a lot of input from people. You ask 10 different farmers, you’re going to get 10 different answers. So we decided we just had to pick one or two guys we trusted to ask questions if we really had to.”

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Cody said the first year after their dad died was tough. “There was a drought, so we hardly had any crops. In 2012, we had 22 open cows which we had not had for 15 years, I’m sure.”

Sharon added, “So between the drought and all the open February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

13

cows, it kind of knocked us back a bit. At the time, Cody and Shana were 22 and 23.”

Cody said, “Once we did it a few years, we had a lot of people stop and say ‘We’re glad you kept farming.’”

Sharon said, “A lot of people have said to the kids, ‘Your dad would be proud you kept it going.’”

Up until 2018, Cody was working full-time as a heavy equipment operator in Sioux Falls, first for Myrl & Roy's Paving and then for Soukup Construction. He took time off for planting and helped with calving when he could.

Sharon also has a full-time off-the-farm job with the Lincoln County Equalization Department. So Shana was the only full-timer for six years until Cody came on fulltime at the farm in 2018.

Shana Van De Stroet with Sharon’s grandniece Logan feeding some of Cody's fainting goats. There are seven females and they don’t have any problem selling the kids, but mostly they own the goats for fun. Sharon said, “It didn’t take long for the neighbors to know we had goats because the goats would get out and be going down the highway.” One rainy night, they and a volunteer posse were roaming Fairview rounding up goats.

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And that arrangement changed again last year. Shana was working one or two days a week as a surgical technologist at Sioux Center Health, but after filling in for a co-worker, she went full time there in summer 2020.

Shana is enjoying the surgical tech career. “I really like my co-workers and the doctors I work with.” But she is still an integral part of the farm, especially with the cattle.

Cody said Shana is kind of the veterinarian of the family.

Sharon said, “We still don’t treat a calf without asking

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her first. And she’s been pulling calves since she was about 10.”

Shana said, “I had the smaller arms for heifers. I get the feet out, but Cody’s the muscle and gets the rest out.”

There was one calving season where they dealt with Crypto.

Shana said, “All I did all day in the spring was tube calves, treat them, feed them.” Sharon said, “You saved a lot of them.”

Not only do the sister and brother work hard, but they also play hard and have a daredevil streak. They love motocross, but both also paid a price in their off-road motorcycle racing – Cody and Shana each suffered broken backs in the sport.

“Whatever he does, she does,” Sharon joked.

Today Shana and Cody sponsor local youth in motocross events,

work the events and transport kids to the events. The last two years, they hosted a “hare scramble” team race in October on some of their steep pasture ground.

Love for motocross caused their mom some problems a couple of years ago when they both took a weekend to travel to watch SuperCross in St. Louis during the middle of calving season. Shana said, “All the pens were cleaned and ready to go. And we thought we had the neighbors all lined up to help, but none of them answered their phones when she called.”

Sharon was on duty alone for the birth of more than 20 calves that weekend. “Every time I went out, one was having a calf or had just had one. We didn’t have hardly any calves all week, so we should have known that would happen,” Sharon said.

The ability to poke fun at one another is an indicator of the importance they place on open communication and teamwork. The pair give their mom a hard time for her reluctance sometimes to back up trailers. One practice session didn’t go well. Cody said, “We set up two cones we called ‘Timmy’ and ‘Jimmy.’ She had to back the trailer in between them. She killed both of them.” Shana later forced the training by laying down in front of the tractor and feeder wagon and saying “Mom, you’re not pulling forward and turning around today.

You’re going to back up.”

Looking forward, Cody and Shana are hoping to continue to expand the cow herd, add some crop acres or do more custom farming, and make additional equipment updates.

February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

15

KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

Train car loads of sugar beets.

Bob Breen and Don Stotz in front of a two-block long pile of beets in summer 1961.

Trucks hauling sugar beets.

THE QUICK RISE AND FALL OF SUGAR BEET FARMING IN THE HURLEY AREA The story of sugar beets in Turner County actually finds its roots in western South Dakota in the 1880s. Sugar beets were first planted in the Belle Fourche area as early as 1887. At the time, sugar beet production was quickly expanding worldwide as an easily-grown alternative to sugarcane.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

Sugar beets in South Dakota got a big boost in 1904 when Belle Fourche founder Seth Bullock (also of Deadwood fame) sold part of his ranch to the Great Western Sugar Factory, a company that had pioneered the sugar industry in northern Colorado.

It seemed the industry would really take off in 1916 when Germans from Russia, who had experience growing sugar beets, moved into the Butte County area. But World War I intervened and plans stalled again.

Finally, the Utah & Idaho Sugar Co. (U&I) opened a plant at Belle Fourche in October 1927. The factory survived the Great Depression, but faced obstacles during World War II when manpower shortages made labor-intensive beet farming difficult.

The factory remained profitable for many years, but began to see losses beginning in 1951. In 1960, U&I began looking for new growing areas in eastern and central South Dakota. That’s what brought company representatives to Turner County in the late summer of 1960. With a number of Hurley area farmers adopting irrigation practices in the 1950s, U&I wanted to gauge interest in local farmers planting sugar beets and see how the crop would respond to southeastern South Dakota soils and climate. Farmers expressed a lot of interest.

Several meetings of interested farmers were held. U&I said it would put in a loading station if there was a commitment of 2,000 acres of sugar beets within a radius of 10-12 miles of Hurley. Over 2,000 acres were soon signed up and Hurley farmers were in the business of raising sugar beets in 1961.

Hoeing the sugar beets are Carol Rayburn, Karen Knutson and Diann Sherard.

Farmers made investments in new machinery including planters, cultivators and spraying equipment, plus harvesting machines such as toppers and pullers, as well as trucks for transportation. Migrant labor was needed to hoe and thin the small plants. Two hundred Mexicans and Mexican-Americans from Texas moved to the HurleyCenterville area during the summer months to work in the beet fields.

Raising sugar beets and feeding the tops to livestock was a thriving business for four years in the Hurley area, creating jobs for local people, grocery stores, and businesses in general.

Unfortunately, U&I Sugar Co. could not stem the financial losses at its Belle Fourche plant. Beets from eastern and central South Dakota often proved to have low-sugar content and were subject to disease. The Belle Fourche plant closed in January 1965, leaving Turner County farmers without a market for their sugar beets.

Beet growers moved most of their equipment to Hurley and held an auction sale, selling much of their best machinery to growers from Grafton, N.D. So ended a good industry that worked in Turner County.

This article was primarily adapted from a story written by Merle Flyger and published in 1983 in the Hurley 100th anniversary commemorative book.

Additional information from a South Dakota Public Broadcasting report on the Belle Fourche sugar beet factory. Thanks also to Heritage Hall Museum in Freeman.

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MINNEHAHA COUNTY FAMILY

Front: Wyn and Char Johnson with granddaughters Maryn and Lennen LeBrun on their laps.

Back: D.J., Trey and Danya Buseman; Kyler Johnson; Ethan Johnson and Lorna Riemer; Katie and Seth LeBrun.

TAKING CARE OF CATTLE IS A BIG LIFE LEARNER

By Bob Fitch

Growing up, the children of Wyn and Char Johnson of Baltic took part in a lot of livestock shows and livestock judging contests. “A lot of our lives was showing cattle,” Char said.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

But Wyn and Char’s progeny probably can’t be blamed for all that time in the ring – maybe a compulsion for livestock shows is one of those genetic faults. Perhaps point a finger at their father and grandfather. Wyn and his late father, Cortland Johnson, showed more than a few of their Marico Ranch cattle over the years. “We showed a lot of cattle in the 1970s and ‘80s into the ‘90s. We had reserve national champion

Katie, Ethan, Danya and Kyler at the Sioux Empire Fair 4-H ‘Pen of 3’ show in 2008. All earned animal science degrees from SDSU except Danya who has a degree in elementary education from Dakota State University.

Angus bull in 1976. We had a national champion Chianina bull in 1985,” Wyn said.

For the Johnson kids, there were definitely results to show for their efforts in the show ring. All four of Wyn and Char’s children – Katie, Ethan, Danya and Kyler – have successful agribusiness careers today. Wyn said, “You’re proud to see your kids accomplish so much from working so hard. Taking care of cattle, that’s a big life learner. Their upbringing in 4-H and FFA and livestock judging has been pretty important in their confidence and their ability to be in sales or other parts of ag business.”

At the Rushmore State Royal in Brookings last year, Katie and Seth LeBrun’s daughter Maryn continued the family’s livestock show tradition. She showed her first goat at age 3. “Or the goat showed her, we’re not sure,” Wyn said. Kyler said goats are increasing in popularity for shows because they are smaller, cost less to feed, and take less time than cattle. Maryn is pictured with her Uncle Ethan and Aunt Lorna.

Katie works for Purina as a livestock production specialist, doing sales and consulting mostly for beef cattle producers in east central South Dakota. Her husband, Seth LeBrun, farms row crops and has a feedlot near Dell Rapids. He’s also a trucker. They have two daughters, Maryn and Lennyn.

Ethan lives at Andover and works for Zoetis pharmaceuticals.

His territory covers northern South Dakota and into North Dakota. He also raises Boer goats for the show goat market. His longtime girlfriend, Lorna Riemer, is an account coordinator for Insight Marketing Design.

Danya works as the training coordinator for Hefty Seed Co. Her husband, D.J. Buseman, farms and operates Buseman Angus with his dad near Canistota. D.J. also raises sheep.

They have a son named Trey.

Kyler has the longest list of jobs. He does marketing for Spronk’s hog company out of Edgerton, Minn; works for Genex beef genetics company; has started his own cow herd; and works at the family farm. Wyn said, “It wears me out thinking about all he’s doing.”

Kyler said the four siblings were always competing amongst each other at the livestock shows. However, Katie said, “At the end of the day, yeah, we were trying to beat each other, but we were also there helping to fit each other’s calves,

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21

so there was teamwork.” Danya added, “Somebody had a rowdy heifer at the fair one year. So, ahead of time, we took her into the ring together and worked to try to get her to listen a little bit better.”

Katie said, “We’d have eight to 10 calves down at the Minnehaha County fair between the four of us.

We spent a lot of time out in the barn working together on stuff.

One year at the county fair, we had pigs, sheep and cattle. Oh man, I had blisters on my feet. I could hardly walk.” Wyn called the time when all four were actively showing “the height of the chaos.”

On one hand, the South Dakota State Fair was considered a vacation. On the other hand, “I don’t know if State Fair was a vacation. We were running the whole time. We were so exhausted

Wyn’s parents, Marilyn and the late Cortland Johnson.

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by the end of the day,” Katie said. Wyn added, “I know it kept them out of trouble. Between open class cattle and 4-H cattle and FFA cattle … they showed in all three, plus showmanship.”

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In 2012, Ethan raised a steer named Thriller that won the South Dakota State Fair open show. Katie said, “To me, the coolest part is that our calves were ones we picked out and raised. That was really special to me that we had those calves the whole time – especially when Thriller won – because not many people win the State Fair with a calf they raised.”

Raising quality cattle is an 82-year tradition at Marico Ranch. “Dad bought his first Aberdeen Angus in 1939.

I don’t think we’ve ever had a year when there hasn’t been cattle on this place,” Wyn said.

Cortland and Wyn had production Angus sales from the late 1960s into the early 1980s. “With the introduction of new breeds – the Chi’s, the Charolais, the Simmentals – we started A.I.’ing some of the Angus cows to some club calf bulls. We started selling calves after the Angus sales, and eventually we got away from the Angus sales and started selling club calves full time. We sold club calves all over the country – Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. We had some success.”

Today, Wyn and Kyler have moved away from club calves and are going back to focusing on purebred cattle such as Maine Anjou, Angus, Red Angus, and some crossbreds too.

In addition to the cattle and crop farming, Wyn has also been with Consumer Supply Inc. for 23 years. His territory stretches from the Dakotas all the way to the west coast for the wholesale distributor of agricultural and animal nutrition products.

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An aerial view of the Otterby farm probably in the 1940s or 1950s. The house on the left was built from a Sears kit in 1928. Wyn and Char Johnson live there now after renovating it and adding on to it.

Wyn’s family history in Minnehaha County goes back to the 1870s when his great grandparents Hans and Marie Otterby immigrated from Norway and homesteaded just south of where Wyn and Char live. His sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Wayne Larson, live on the original homestead.

Hans and Marie had three sons, all of whom farmed. One of those sons was Wyn’s grandfather, Alfred Otterby, who lived to be almost 107. He resided in the house where Wyn and Char live now until he was 102. The house came from a Sears kit and was delivered to Baltic by train in 1928.

Longevity runs strong in the Otterby genes. Wyn’s mom, Marilyn, is 95½ and lives in the nursing home at Dell Rapids. Not only did Grandpa Otterby live to be almost 107, but his brother Henry lived to be 105.

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Cortland Johnson with an Aberdeen Angus, probably in the 1940s or 1950s.

were also farmers in the Brandt, S.D., area north of Brookings. She was a teacher until after Ethan was born. She has been an integral part of the Johnson farm operation.

“Wyn traveled a lot for Consumer Supply. So I took care of the cattle.

I was out on the skid steer in blizzards. I had little kids who were probably too young to be left inside by themselves. But don’t tell them that,” she joked.

Katie recounted how her dad caught her mom off guard one time. “Dad was traveling a lot when we were kids. One night when he was gone, the dog wouldn’t

A sampling of the trophies won by the Johnsons at livestock shows.

stop barking outside. I told mom there must be something in the barn.” Wyn’s brother and sisterin-law, Kent and Cindy, farm and live on Cortland and Marilyn’s old homeplace just a quarter mile away. So Char called Kent to come investigate. Kent turned on the lights in the barn and exclaimed, “You’ve got a donkey in here!”

Katie continued the story: “Dad had bought a donkey and hadn’t told mom. He’d had another guy bring it over.” Wyn explained, “You can use donkeys to help break cattle. We halter-broke and washed and clipped all these for

cattle for the sales. Every once in a while, especially in the club calves, you’d run into cattle that were a little more ornery than most. The donkeys really helped to take the fight out of them. They were very good at helping break cattle. They were so tough.”

Donkeys aside, Char has enjoyed life on the farm as much as the rest of her family. In the early days of her teaching career, she wrote a composition which captured the satisfaction of farming when she returned to her parents’ farm to help at the end of the school year.

Here are some excerpts:

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“For me it was off to the family farm where the feeling of usefulness explodes almost to the point of, ‘What would they have done without me?’ Due to the wet spring, the planting was way behind schedule. The task ahead of us seemed monumental … The plowing, digging and disking were time-consuming. But as soon as my brother and I moved our equipment onto the next field, the planter guided by my father’s steady hand, would race up and down making neat rows in the freshly stirred soil … It was a hectic week on the farm, a race against the lateness of the season and the ever-threatening weather. But the work itself lent a kind of peacefulness to the mind – no matter how rushed it became. I hoped I had helped to ease their workload. But I know the little bit I contributed would never match what it had done for me. I returned to my city, but with a renewed sense of gladness at having been a part of that lifestyle, and a kind of sadness for those who would never know it.”

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TURNER COUNTY FAMILY

Jon and Krista Schaeffer with their children Kash, Quinn, Hattie and Bailee.

HARD TIMES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN, EVOLVE AND ADAPT

By Bob Fitch

Jon Schaeffer can remember playing on the floor of the combine, riding along with his dad during harvest. Like most farm kids, he was learning and absorbing information during those ride-alongs.

“As I got older, I always wanted Dad’s job. I didn’t want to be the gopher anymore, I wanted his job.”

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He graduated from “gopher” a long time ago, but every change of season on the farm – calving, planting, haying or harvest – still provides a thrill. “It always seems like the first day we get into the tractor to start planting or the first day we get into the combine to start harvesting, it almost chokes me up and I think ‘Man, I’m really lucky.’

The Schaeffer family in summer 2020. Seated in front: Hattie, Quinn, Deb and Roger. Middle row: Bailee, Denise, Jenna, Cael, Conner and Kris. Back row: Krista, Kash, Jon, Jacob, Collin, Matt, Chad.

“Now that’s on the first day, I think that. By day 50, I might not be in the same mindset,” he joked.

When it’s your livelihood that counts … count on me.

“I’ve always had farming in my blood. You’re doing something different every day. You’re planting the crop in the spring, you’re watching it grow, you’re nourishing it. Hopefully, with some rain and the good Lord, we’ll be harvesting a good crop in the fall. We start calving in late January and into February. And I’m excited because I’m already looking at bulls or semen to A.I. cows that won’t calve for another year.

That’s just one cycle.”

Jon and his wife, Krista, farm in the Viborg area with his parents, Roger and Deb Schaeffer.

Jon and Krista met while they were students at South Dakota State University. After graduation, she took a nursing job in Reno, Nev. Like a good love story, Jon followed her to Reno several months later. “My grandma told me once that you need to move away to a different address where you don’t have any relations to figure out life a little bit. When I moved out there, I knew within two months that it wasn’t for me. In fact, I bought a house in Viborg in October. And I flew home every month to farm.”

After a year in Reno, Krista got a job at the Pioneer Memorial Nursing Home in Viborg and Jon got a position as a crop adjuster with Diversified Crop Insurance (now known as Sompo International). “We just kind of flourished. Me and

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Jon, Kash and Roger Schaeffer.

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Sue and Don Olson on their farm near Colton. Photo by Bob Fitch.

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my dad started renting a little bit more land and building our cow herd.

We got into cows really heavy when I moved back.” Jon said he is blessed with great landlords who have given him the opportunity to care for their land.

In their cow-calf operation today, they typically background the calves until January before selling them. “A lot of times, we’ll buy more back and then sell them when the grass greens up at the end of May. The cows have really worked well for us and I really enjoy it.

I do a lot of A.I.’ing heifers and keeping our own heifers back.”

Schaeffers have diversified by putting up grass hay for livestock and by selling corn to a dairy west of town.

“We’ve got a lot of small pastures.

We’re spread out from Hartford to Wakonda all the way out to the Jim River,” said Jon, who is a member of the South Dakota Soybean

Association board of directors, a member of the Viborg Volunteer Fire Department and a graduate of the South Dakota Ag & Rural Leadership program.

He views hard times as an opportunity to learn. “Mother Nature always has a play in it. Two years ago was the toughest spring.

No matter what we did, those cows were in mud. It was a battle. We worked and worked, and bedded and moved cows. Then you’d go home. You’d check on them in the night. But when you’d go out in the morning to check the calves again, they had moved just a little bit and died in the mud. We learned from it and adapted. We’ve split up some cows and moved some around. I told myself that maybe it’s best not to calve all the cows in the spring.

So now we’ve gone to a fall herd also. Plus that splits up selling calves at certain times. We’re

not quite so much at the mercy of the weather.”

Jon said his nephews, Collin and Jacob Graves, are a tremendous help during calving season as is their hired man, Kolby Lee, who is a student at Lake Area Technical College. “We are a true family farm. It really brought us together this last year when my dad was diagnosed with AL amyloidosis, a form of blood cancer. So he had to take treatments all last summer and he was doing a stem cell transplant this last fall.

“Everybody kicked in to help. Both of my brothers-in-law helped run a grain cart or did whatever was needed. My uncle came from Fargo and did all the trucking. My mother’s sister came out and was the lunch lady during harvest. My wife and my sister were a huge help in the fall with meals; and my wife

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Roger and Deb Schaeffer.

took off work to run the grain cart.

My sister also helped with the grain cart or shuffling us around because my mom was up in Sioux Falls with my dad. It’s really amazing how family can come together in time of need.” Roger is now 100 days past the end of his treatment and the cancer is in remission.

Hard times help Jon stay focused on what’s really important. “The main crop we grow is kids. Even kids who move off the farm seem like they have that drive to succeed, no matter what they do in life.”

Jon and Krista have four children: Bailee, 9; Quinn, 6; Hattie, 4; and Kash, 8 months. “I’m very lucky that I’ve got a wife who’s very caring and understanding. There’s times we don’t get to do things with friends because we’re farming.

You know, we might have to go out and tag baby calves. But the kids love to see the baby calves and we get to spend time together.

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Nothing glamorous, but going out in the evening on a side-by-side ride is fun.

“Faith plays a big part in our life,” Jon said. “In farming, you can have some really good days and some really tough days. Some days you’re on top of the world and rich; the next day you’re poor and at the bottom. That’s a cycle you’ve just got to learn to live with.”

His grandfather, Ted Schaeffer, has been a good example of adapting and making the best of what life gives you. Ted farmed near Menno many years ago, but he decided to sell the farm because of tuberculosis and the lack of expansion opportunities at the time. “Grandpa didn’t let his farm sale set him back. He just kept running. He learned from those tough times.” He left South Dakota and worked in different parts of the country for Farmers Hybrid hog

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

company where he did very well.

Over time, he purchased farmland in South Dakota, including the land where Roger was able to get his start farming. Ted now resides at the nursing home in Viborg.

“When Grandpa retired and moved back here in the early 1990s, I spent a lot of time with him checking cows or chopping thistles,” Jon said.

“I can always remember when I was with him, I would want to go hunting at the end of the day. But he’d say ‘No, no, we’ve got one more thing to do.’ And pretty soon it was dark and there was no time for hunting. Now I see myself doing that same thing with my nephews: ‘Let’s get one more thing done.’”

“We’ve gone through some tough times, but you learn to evolve and adapt. You can’t be at the top all the time. You learn from the tough times to help you weather through the next one.”

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February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

33

FROM THE KITCHEN

QUICK AND EASY 7 UP DESSERT From the kitchen of Mary Lee Gayer, Hudson, S.D.

INGREDIENTS: • 12 ounce package of frozen berries • White or yellow cake mix • Small bottle of Diet 7 Up • Pecans • Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS: Spread frozen berries in a 7x10 pan. Cover the berries with the white or yellow cake mix dry from the package.

Pour a small bottle of Diet 7 Up over the top. Add some pecans to the top and then shake on cinnamon. Bake at 360 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

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Contact Bob Fitch at (712) 551-4123 or Bob@agemedia.pub 34

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021

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February 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

35

of Minnehaha County February 2021

Introducing

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INNOVATIVE FINANCING SOLUTIONS that save you critical operating costs! farmerscoopsociety.com 36

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | February 2021