Tri-States Grain Conditioning

His crop fortunes improved after he put in two center pivot irrigation systems in 1981. “They cost a lot of money, but at least you know you’re going to get a crop every year. I always had cows and I was big into pigs for quite a while. I farrowed, and finished some out, and sold a lot of feeder pigs.” The Hermans made a good living on their diversified farm for a number of years. But the good times didn’t last. “About 20 years ago, I lost about five quarters of land I’d been renting. So then I had to start working off the farm. I went through a lot rough things. Sometimes I wonder how come I’m still here. I lost a lot of pigs with pseudorabies. Then, in the early 1990s, there was one year that was so bitter cold, I lost 32 cows. I usually carry over 100 big round bales of hay, but I ended up buying 100 that year. I went to the grain bin to get shell corn to feed the cattle. The vet said the cows just couldn’t eat enough to keep warm. They’d eat in the morning, lay down and they just wouldn’t get up,” he said. “The pigs kind of helped out then. My uncle, who is more like a brother to me, I worked for him doing carpentry. Then my one brother-in-law asked if I wanted to drive semi for him. I drove for him for about four years.” Then he drove semi for POET for 11½ years, before joining Klaudt Service. “When it was hard times, I just worked a lot more,” Don said “After my first wife left, I just worked all day and all night. I worked until two or three in the morning. My neighbor was worried about me working out there in the dark, but her husband said, ‘If he hits the fence, he’ll wake up.’” Those neighbors were his former in-laws. He continued to get along very well with them. “I worked with Clinton a long time. I couldn’t ask him to be any nicer.” During the hard times, he said, “You’ve just got to work a little harder and say your prayers; and hope things work out for you. I told my boys that when things are good be sure you put a little bit of money away.” When Don and Vickie got married, she already had two sons: Cory lives in Glenwood Spring, Colo., and Casey lives in Sioux Falls. The couple then had two more sons, James and Cody. “James works for Ortman Farms by Marion. He loves to farm, but there’s not enough here for me, let alone for him, too. He does mechanic work and drives semi and does planting and combining. He loves it there. The boss said they needed another one like him. They asked him if knew anyone and he said, ‘The only one I know like me is my dad.’” Their youngest son, Cody, raises Angus bulls with his fatherin-law in extreme northwestern South Dakota, south of Hettinger, N.D. Cody got a degree in mechanical engineering from South Dakota State University, and worked for 3M in Brookings, but he moved to his in-law’s ranch and loves it.

Age Media Qtr Page Color 7-12-19.pdf 1 7/12/2019 11:22:43 AM Don and Vickie’s newest grandchild at Christmas: Jacob Don Herman, son of Cody and Tricia Herman.