TURNER, LINCOLN, MINNEHAHA COUNTIES KEY PLAYERS IN THE REVIVAL OF SOUTH DAKOTA’S DAIRY INDUSTRY

Adapted from a story in Growing Places magazine*

Turner, Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties are at the heart of a Midwest dairy revival in what’s known as the “I-29 Dairy Corridor.” The corridor includes east central North Dakota, western Minnesota, eastern South Dakota, eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Milk production in South Dakota has been growing at a near double-digit pace.

While production methods are more advanced today and larger producers have to meet more stringent environmental standards, the idea of adding value to local crops through livestock production is a tried-and-true formula for rural economic development. Dairy owners are counting on their neighboring farmers to help produce the silage and other feedstuffs the cows need. Growing dairies are also counting on local contractors for construction, electrical and plumbing services. Manure from the dairy is fertilizing local fields, typically at lower cost than commercial fertilizer.

Just about any rural economic development professional would salivate over the rate of growth local counties have experienced in the last 10 years. In the Farming Families magazine coverage area, Hutchinson County has held steady, growing from 2,707 cows to 2,900. However, according to the USDA Agricultural Statistics Service:

Minnehaha County had 7,300 milk cows in 2012 –which grew to 17,300 in 2022.

Lincoln County had 400 milk cows in 2012 –which grew to 13,300 in 2022.

Perhaps most stunning is the rate of growth in Turner County. There are 86 times more cows today than a decade ago. In 2012, there were a mere 96 dairy cows left in Turner County, but 2022 numbers peg the total at 8,300.

South Dakota led the nation in the increase of milk production year over year in 2021, per USDA data. The state continues to grow in milk production at a near double-digit pace even though much of the recently added processing capacity is now filled.

Bottoming Out And Ratcheting Up

Going back 20 years ago to the early 2000s, South Dakota’s dairy cow numbers hit an all-time low at just under 80,000 milking cows. This trend meant dairy in the state was in real peril. A future thinking group of stakeholders came together with a vision to turn the dairy industry around. They didn’t want to just survive, but wanted to create a path to thrive. The “South Dakota Dairy Drive” group consisted of dairy farmers, state officials, processors, dairy supply companies, financial institutions, the dairy checkoff, industry associations, and South Dakota State University experts and leaders. Their foresight and efforts helped expand processing capacity which in turn created a need for an additional 85,000 cows.

These leaders set lofty goals, but the cows came more quickly than many thought possible. Today, the number of cows in South Dakota is close to 200,000 – an increase of 150 percent in just 20 years.

Setting The Stage For Future Growth

Processing and an available market are generally the limiting factor when it comes to growth in dairy. Added processing capacity sparked the growth in the last 20 years. The good news for producers and the state’s economy is that Milbank-based Valley Queen Cheese announced last spring it is planning to expand again. That will create a need for production from approximately 30,000 more cows. While growth may level off somewhat in the near term, the long-term picture remains very positive for dairy in South Dakota. Readily-available forage and feeds and an overall business-friendly environment also contribute to the state being a great place to dairy with a reasonable cost of production.

CHALLENGES FROM WEATHER, LABOR AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Since dairy farming and processing are a 24/7, 365-day commitment, challenges are a constant. The most pressing issues in 2022 were weather, labor, inflation and supply chain factors in shipping and transportation.

A Great Story To Tell

Consumers today have questions and expectations about where their food comes from, whether production practices are environmentally sustainable, and if farm animals are being well cared for. There is a great story to tell about dairy in South Dakota. Local dairies in Turner, Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties and throughout the eastern part of the state are incorporating incredibly innovative technology that is good for the environment and good for the animals, plus enhances the production and availability of one of life’s most nutritious foods, be it delivered via cheese, milk, yogurt, or new innovative dairy creations.

The U.S. dairy industry has also embarked on a journey to become carbon neutral, optimize water usage and improve water quality by 2050. The Net Zero Initiative is an industrywide effort that will help U.S. dairy farms of all sizes and in all regions continue to implement new technologies and adopt economically-viable practices in feed production, cow care, energy efficiency and manure management. The industry will continue to make progress toward reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and significant improvements in water quality and quantity and farmer livelihood, from field to farmgate.

By Bob Fitch

Today’s story is about a family with a deep faith in the providence of God. Obstacles have fallen in the way of Mark and Amber Bradley’s daily lives and their dreams for the future. Very little of the comfort they enjoy today could have been foreseen a mere decade ago.

Mark and Amber farm and raise livestock between Menno and Freeman. Both grew up on farms, Amber in Hutchinson County and Mark near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They met when both were students at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

The couple married in the summer of 2009. Mark had graduated a year earlier and found work in Orange City with a heating and cooling contractor. When that company fell on hard times, he found jobs as a hired hand for local farmers. Meanwhile, Amber still had a year of school left. Nevertheless, the couple had a plan: They were going to buy farm land in Michigan near Mark’s boyhood home. Amber even arranged for her student teaching to be done in Michigan because they were confident destiny was taking them east.

But destiny is fickle and they never were able to get the right deal to come together.

home acres that he rents from his mother-in-law; and has a combination of strip-till and no-till on acres further away.

LOTS OF HELP, YET ON THEIR OWN

Amber’s parents, Clinton and Lori, did not co-sign the loan papers for the new hog buildings, just like they had not cosigned the original loan and operating loan Bradley’s had borrowed seven years earlier. The necks that were sticking out belonged to Mark and Amber. She said, “Dad helped us in many other ways, but he refused to co-sign the loans. He never wanted to put what he had built at risk as collateral for something we were trying to build. He would rather us fail and still have everything that's here to fall back on.”

Mark added, “We were fortunate Amber’s parents had a set-up that we could utilize to start our small sheep and cow herds as well as machinery to use. As for the new hog barns, there was nothing special about us. Anything that we did, for the most part, anybody else could do it. They just need to have the stomach to go out and do it.”

The Providence Of God Becomes Clear

Through the unrealized Michigan plan and various setbacks, Mark and Amber persevered, even taking on a large debt with a vision for their future. Fundamentally, though, they believe the reason they were in Menno, South Dakota, instead of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was becoming clear. “It was very much a God thing,” Amber said. In the mid-2010s, her dad began experiencing balance issues. Clinton’s symptoms were consistent with Parkinson’s disease, although the official diagnosis didn’t come until later. The disease began to progress quickly towards the end of 2016 and continued downhill in

2017 and 2018. According to Amber, “Everything with my dad; it was God's plan that we were here and we could help him and mom. We could cherish that time with him. Now we can carry on his legacy and build one of our own for the next generation. We’re very grateful for the providence of God.” Clinton passed away in June 2019.

Biblical scholar John Piper has said the root of the word “providence” in Latin comes from “provide;” with “pro” meaning “forward,” “on behalf of” and “vide” meaning “to see.”

The translation of the word means “to supply what is needed; to give sustenance or support.” In English, we might say “I’ll see to that.” Thus, providence is the act of God’s “seeing to” the universe; as in, “He’ll see to that.”

God also “saw to it” that Mark had time to learn about the managerial side of farming from his father-in-law. “Sitting in meetings with seed dealers and fertilizer decisions, chemical decisions, and all these different meetings, crop insurance meetings. There’s a lot of time that gets put into all of that.”

The Joy Of Today And The Hope For Tomorrow

According to Mark, “My ambition is to set up this operation so that no matter how many of our children may want to be a part of it when they get older, there will be room for everybody. I'm not saying I will achieve it, but that's what my target is.”

On the home place, Mark is raising cattle, hogs and sheep, while farming rented land. Besides some high schoolers helping out, his regular help is the crew he and Amber are raising under their own roof. Amber said their children – Abigail, 12, Hannah, 10, Jordan, 8, and Sarah, 6 –help on the farm all the time. “They will do whatever needs to be done. The last couple years have been really easy on me in terms of being in the barn.” Their kids’ work ethic helped her find the time to complete her master’s degree in education in December 2021. In addition to teaching, helping with farm work, and doing the farm’s bookkeeping, Amber is also enjoying helping to re-start the Freeman Area Children’s Choir. Both Abigail and Hannah are in the choir.

Mark said he’s worked hard to set up the operation to allow his kids and wife to help. “The kids are very hands-on, very capable, probably well beyond their years. I kind of grew up that way. Even our 6-yearold Sarah can handle swinging the gate open and closed. It really saves me effort and time when I’m moving hay at chore time. At the end of the day, if I'm just beat, I can tell any of them to go do the evening chores for the sheep and lambs in the barn.” The kids like baling and Sarah and Jordan like to go with mom to move bales.

During the wet spring of 2019, there were several times he buried the feeder wagon tractor or the loader tractor in the mud. Amber couldn’t leave the children in her in-home daycare to go out to help. “Abigail was only eight years old, but with our powershift tractor, I set it up, got the chain tight, and when I waved at her she put it in gear and pulled me out. She did it three times that spring.”

The kids also help with the harvest, quality control and sales of sweet corn in the summer. Off the farm, Abigail, Hannah and Jordan are involved with several sports. Jordan is a wrestler, coached in part by his dad, who wrestled in high school and college. Abigail and Hannah both play several instruments and sing. Both girls were in the South Dakota Elementary Honors Festival.

Sarah enjoys keeping up with all her older siblings.

Amber’s mom, Lori, is also an important part of the farm. “She helps out here when we need her. We call her the executive assistant. She does whatever’s needed, whether that’s running for parts or taking somebody to a field or fixing Mark’s pants.”

Mark concluded: “I've had plenty of failures on different things over the years. Most of those failures later turned into great successes. Her dad always said ‘the school of hard knocks’ helps you learn what to do and not to do. The good Lord has blessed us. Everything that's happened, good or bad, has led us to where we are today.”

SOURCES

• *Headline quote by John Piper, founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary

• www.desiringgod.org/articles/theprovidence-of-god

• www.preceptaustin.org/the_providence_of_god