The Farming Families of Turner County (SD)—September 2021

September 2021 | www.AgeMedia.pub

of Turner County

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

Meet the

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

39

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© 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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September 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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MINNEHAHA COUNTY FAMILY

Dalton Foster and Ron Person in their shop with a Christmas-themed, church bird house.

GRANDPA AND GRANDSON SOLVE THEIR COVID BLUES PLUS GIVE BACK TO THE CROOKS COMMUNITY

By Bob Fitch

When Covid hit in spring 2020, the lockdown of different organizations hit some people harder than others. Dalton Foster is a 22-yearold young man diagnosed with Down Syndrome who lives in rural Crooks. Covid precautions closed his post-high school classes at Lifescape Pathways to Life program. Suddenly, Dalton went from very busy to a little lost.

Because his health made him compromised, he spent his days 6

There aren’t too many people who would disagree that Covid is for the birds.

Dalton and his grandfather took that literally.

isolated and spent a lot of time with his also-isolated grandparents, Ron and Judi Person. As time passed, they noticed Dalton was becoming a little withdrawn. He missed his friendships and it was difficult to keep him motivated and active.

bought those and came home and started refurbishing them. The nice thing about old, used birdhouses is they’re all built by somebody else and they each have their own design. You can’t go too wrong on what you do with them.”

“Dalton and I were bored,” said Grandpa Ron. “But we were able to get out a little bit. At a rummage sale one day, we ran across some old, beat-up birdhouses. We

So Ron and Dalton went to work and began designing and remodeling birdhouses, hanging them in the yard and grove on their acreage north of Crooks. When

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

Boot-scootin’ bird house.

A place for the birds to camp out.

they finished with the first set of birdhouses, they started searching for more. “I look in the Crooks marketplace on Facebook every day. You’ll almost always find somebody putting bird houses on there plus there are rummage sales we might check out,” Ron said.

“One older lady whose husband had died gave us a ton of birdhouses he had built. I just kept going back there to get another 10 or 15 until she said there were no more.” On top of the old birdhouses, they began taking old wooden boxes they’d find or buy on rummage sales and convert those into homes for their winged friends. Dalton and Ron have also turned odd items such as pans and cowboy boots into birdhouses.

“I do the sawing and screwing and air-nailing,” Ron said.

“Dalton does the painting and comes up with the ideas and designs, and picks up the tools – and asks a million questions about how we’re doing it. We sit in our old hoop shed and work away in there, then leave our mess and come back a day or two later.” Dalton’s sister, Tori, helps paint floral images on a lot of the houses.

Dalton likes do a project and “get it out of the way.” Ron said, “After you work for a little while, you’ve got to take a break and that revolves going to the convenience store and getting something to take a break with. Dalton likes the painting and the breaks.”

When the weather turned cold last winter, Dalton’s mom, Ronae Foster, told the pair to bring their work into the house.

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Bus ride for the birds.

But Ron said no because he didn’t want to spend more time picking up than doing the work. “The winter slowed us down, but there was still a lot of tinkering we could do,” he said. The houses hanging in their own stand of trees have done well through the winter because Ron anchors them to the trees since they get beat up when left to swing.

Ronae said, “Once people in town heard about what we’re doing, we’ve had a lot of unique donations to use with the birdhouses – things

like bags of wine corks and beer caps. We had a lady from church donate a whole bunch of her mother-in-law’s old jewelry that they didn’t know what to do with.

We have some houses that are pretty gaudy.” Ron added, “When people make the effort to save something for us, we thought we’d better use it. The other day, a gentleman from Crooks whose father had just passed away brought out some deer antlers. So we started adding those to a deer house or two.”

Thursday nights in the summer, Critter’s Bar in Crooks hosts motorcyclists and others at “Thursday Night Thunder.” Each week includes an auction of items to benefit a charity or worthy cause such as the Crooks Daycare Center, Tri-Valley Archery or a local woman fighting cancer. Dalton decided to start giving birdhouses to the auctions.

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donated key lime pie might bring $70 or $80,” said Ron. “We give birdhouses to most of these auctions.

The highest priced one brought $320 at an auction.”

To date, Dalton’s birdhouses have helped raise more than $2,000 for various local charities.

“Once we started donating birdhouses for benefit auctions, then they started coming up with themes,” said Ronae. They’ve done birdhouses with western themes and motorcycle themes.

“It made it fun to shop for odd little pieces we needed. So Grandpa might find something at Dollar General or Grandma might find the piece at Hobby Lobby.

“Usually the buyers want Dalton to sign the birdhouse and get their picture taken with him,” she said.

“The community has given so much to Dalton which makes us appreciate a chance for him and us to give back. Dalton is a people person who truly considers everyone he knows as dear friends,” she said. Dalton attended Tri-Valley High School and was a member of the band and FFA and was named homecoming king. He was honored to be among those who turned the first shovels of dirt for the Sanford Children’s Hospital. He has been in several Lifescape theatre productions at Augustana University and is active in Special Olympics. He currently is a member of the Crooks Fire Department as a helper.

Dalton with one of his favorite birdhouses, a fishing boat.

Butch Oseby, mayor of Crooks, has Dalton help on different projects such as watering plants around town or picking up trash in a parking lots in Sioux Falls. Dalton said they built a birdhouse with a backhoe on it because Butch likes to do dirt work.

“Some of our neighbors live on a century farm around the corner. They restored an old barn, making it into an event center of sorts. They had a family gathering when they finished it and we got a barn birdhouse from Hobby Lobby and added our special touches to it,” said Ron. Ron retired a number of years ago from a position as an executive at Sunshine Foods. When Sunshine Foods was sold and moved out of Sioux Falls, he raised some cattle, drove bus and did various odd jobs.

Dalton has been donating bird houses to local charity auctions. This one had a roof and foundation made of used wine corks.

10

Grandpa Ron Person supervises while Dalton paints one of the 100 or so birdhouses they have refurbished.

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

Ronae retired from her position at Lifescape soon after Covid hit. She stays home now with Dalton plus provides state-contracted shared living for a woman named Tammy. Group homes for people with special needs are overfilled. For people who don’t have behavioral issues, the state is trying to find other solutions. Tammy didn’t have a family and is a ward of the state. “Tammy said all she wanted was

a family. So we said ‘Welcome to our family.’ And she loves it here,” Ronae said.

Ron spends a good amount of time helping get Dalton and Tammy to their activities and appointments.

“We’re in a pretty happy spot right now. Some of Dalton’s friends come out here to visit.

Life revolves around Dalton and Tammy. She and I have a project a couple of times a week where we go out on our golf cart and pick up sticks. It’s never-ending with an old grove like ours,” he said. Birdhouse remodeling has also been neverending. “Right now, the waiting list for birdhouses is full. We’re not looking for business,” he joked.

Their yard and grove are home to approximately 100 birdhouses.

They regularly give tours to friends and neighbors. Are there birds in all of them? “Not yet,” said Dalton.

A collection of little birdhouses hung on the branches of an old log.

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

11

KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

The United Brethren in Christ church building in Milltown was constructed in 1880.

FAITH, DETERMINATION AND A SENSE OF HUMOR AT MILLTOWN’S UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH

By Bob Fitch

Faith and determination were hallmarks of the pioneers who moved to the barren prairies of Dakota. Faith and determination are also hallmarks of the United Brethren in Christ Church in Milltown, S.D. The Milltown congregation stands alone as the only outpost of the United Brethren in Christ (UBC) in South Dakota. Milltown UBC has stood the test of time over the course of more than 140 years of existence in this unincorporated town. The Hutchinson County village has a population of about 10. The church has weekly services even though there are only 11 enrolled members. The numbers might say “it’s time to shut the doors,” but the faith and determination of the members and regular attendees keep the Milltown UBC going strong as a gathering spot for the faithful.

12

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

“God’s hand is on this church. He has His reasons for keeping us going,” said Dennis Schutt, a long-time member. “We firmly believe that’s what God wants and God has a plan for us.”

The Milltown UBC has been part of Darlene Juhnke’s life since she was an infant. She has fond memories of Christmas programs when the sanctuary was elaborately decorated under the supervision of Beulah Muchmore. Darlene started teaching in the summer Bible school when she was in high school, and she and her husband were married at the United Brethren church.

Darlene remembers when the church hosted revivals each year in Milltown. At a revival in 1955, “The revival leader painted a portrait of Jesus during the service. And it’s still hanging here,” she said.

Dennis’ wife, Theresa, also has a life-long connection to the church.

Her father, grandfather, great grandfather, and cousins were all brought up in the Milltown church.

“I remember my mother ran a little grocery store here in Milltown and I remember the little white school house in town. Over the years, I also remember the sad days, the funerals. The church pews were full on those days,” she said.

Darlene said, “There used to be so many farms around with large families. As people left when farms began to get larger and farm families began to be smaller, it became harder and harder to hold good numbers in here.”

When the church lost its regular pastor about 15 years ago, Darlene’s late husband, Bill, was determined that the faith community of Milltown UBC would continue. Dennis said, “Darlene’s husband charged ahead to set up a system of rotating ministers. So the Good Lord has provided for someone to bring us the message here for the last 14 or 15 years.” This revolving set of three ministers delivers the message on the first, second and fourth Sundays of the month at 8:30 a.m. The ministers are Willmer Herr, David Guericke and Maurice Bieber. Willmer Herr has been preaching part-time for the congregation for 14 years.

On the third Sunday of the month, the church meets at 7:00 in the evening when the service features traditional gospel music – almost like an old-time revival meeting. The band, led

by Maurice Bieber and The Happy Memories Band from Tripp, usually provides the music those nights. (When there’s a fifth Sunday in the month, the church usually holds an evening service as well.) The evening worship draws a good crowd of people, many of whom are members at other local churches.

One of the group’s favorite songs is “Shall We Gather At The River,” appropriate on the banks of James River.

Darlene is the church’s lead organizer and makes sure local newspapers include information on their services. The church no longer leaves its doors unlocked, but contact information for Darlene and other members is posted on the door in case someone has a need to use the sanctuary for prayer. The doors may be locked from Monday to Saturday, “but we’re not closed to anyone. We try to be here for people,” Dennis said.

The church began its mission in 1876 when a small group of believers gathered. They became more organized in 1878 and constructed a church building in 1880. The United Brethren

Milltown UBC members Theresa and Dennis Schutt and Darlene Juhnke.

continue to meet in the same building, with the same pews and the same hardwood floor they’ve always had. Like the congregation itself, the physical structure was made to last.

The Milltown United Brethren in Christ building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Even though the structure is small, Dennis said there’s a lot of upkeep and repair necessary for a 141-year-old building.

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The legs under the pews are a hidden gem of craftsmanship in iron work.

A painting of the church building when the bell tower was still on top of the roof.

Rev. E.K. Lund painted this picture of Jesus while simultaneously preaching at the revival held in Milltown in 1955.

But members invest their time and resources to keep the structure operational and are faithful to the requirements of the National Historic Register. When the windows needed replacing, Darlene said it was a challenge because no two windows measured the same size.

For many years in the early days Hutchinson County, United Brethren was the only English-speaking church around. “For a long time, the Catholics stuck with Latin, the Mennonites stuck with German, and so on,” said Dennis.

The United Brethren in Christ was the first Christian denomination to begin on American soil.

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

In the mid-1700s, colonists frequently gathered at independent religious gatherings during “The Great Awakening.” In 1767, a “Great Meeting” was held in a big barn in Lancaster, Penn. William Otterbein, a German Reformed pastor, traveled 30 miles from York for the event. He listened to a Mennonite preacher named Martin Boehm. Otterbein was amazed at how he and Boehm had the same religious experiences and believed the same things. After the speech, Otterbein embraced Boehm and said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Wir sind bruder!” which meant “We are brethren!” It was the start of a movement and, eventually, the United Brethren denomination.

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Boehm and Otterbein were polar opposites in their upbringing, economic status, education, personality and even physical stature. But they agreed on the basics of faith. Their movement spread throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. A common belief unified them – that when you give your life to Christ, He radically transforms you into a new person.

In the 1820s, the United Brethren took a strong stand against slavery. Beginning in 1825, slave owners could not become members. While other denominations made compromises to appease their churches in slave states, the Brethren did not bend on this issue and some of their churches were stops on the underground railroad.

When the church started founding colleges in the 1880s, it admitted both women and African Americans.

The Milltown UBC Church has no running water, so the only relief station is a good ol’ fashion outhouse. While there’s no running water, the outhouse is wired for power and there is a light bulb on a chain pull switch.

GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR The Wright Brothers, pioneers in aviation, were active in the United Brethren Church. Their father, Milton Wright, led the church as bishop after a denominational split in 1889. He visited Milltown a number of times – and the chair he sat in behind the pulpit still holds a place of honor at Milltown UBC. Theresa said Milton Wright stayed at the home of her great-great grandfather, Asa Brink, who was the minister at the time. Asa’s son and Theresa’s great grandfather, John Brink, also served as a minister of the church.

Perhaps Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the airplane in response to their father’s long absences and difficult travel to outposts such as Milltown? The answer to that query is “probably not.” But Dennis said members in the Milltown UBC believe God has a sense of humor. One thing that is easy to joke about is the church has never had any running water. In fact, the only relief station is a single-seater outhouse which Dennis and Theresa’s grandson, Tyler, describes as “awesome.”

In the evening, Darlene goes to the church to turn on the church’s outdoor lights, which includes a light illuminating the path to the outhouse and a single lightbulb in the outhouse … which might give new meaning to “this little light of mine.”

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Theresa told a story from several years ago when Dennis along with Darlene’s brother, Dean Simmons, were reroofing the outhouse. Dean fell and dislocated his shoulder.

Dennis took him to the emergency room where the doctor had to ask several times, “Now, how did you do that?” It’s not often a doctor encounters someone who falls off the roof of an outhouse in the woods behind a 140-year-old church building.

Laughs aside, the small congregation has hope for the future because several young families regularly attend. Dennis said, “It’s by the grace of God that there are still children involved in the church. It’s hard to find that nowadays.”

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Theresa said the Milltown church keeps going because the group is a family. “Like most families, we have our disagreements, but we always forgive.”

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RYE HARVEST PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY.

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

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LINCOLN COUNTY FAMILY

Seated are Doris with her children Jim, Vern and Susan Stensland. She’s surrounded by many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

LITERATURE BASED IN FARMING, FAITH AND NORWEGIAN HERITAGE

By Bob Fitch

When you’re almost 98 years old, worked 66 years as a farm wife, written three historical novels and six other books, plus collaborated on a South Dakota pictorial book, contributed to books on church history, and had your writing featured nationally, there’s really no need for an encore – except if your name is Doris Stensland.

Clint, Elizabeth, Paige and Lance Olesen of Turkey Ridge.

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Doris just released the second edition of her book, Our Words Are Blossoms. With the addition of previously-unpublished material, the new edition is double the size of the first edition. Our Words Are Blossoms is a collection of poetry, free verse and writings about Christian life, nature, family, special days, and remembering days past. On top of this expanded book, she and her daughter, Susan, are working on the life story of Doris’ mother who was born in 1901.

The first historical novel Doris wrote was 1977’s Haul The Water, Haul The Wood, which has sold more than 12,000 copies. It focuses on the pioneer life of her great-grandparents who homesteaded in Lincoln County in the 1870s. These ancestors immigrated from Norway and lived briefly in eastern Iowa before settling in Dakota Territory.

A collection of the books written by Doris Stensland.

“My great grandfather Ole Overseth worked on the railroad to get money with the goal of claiming some land. He made his application at Vermillion in April 1872 for a homestead in Norway Township,” she said. “The part of Norway where my ancestors came from was full of trees. But they came to this land that was empty with no trees. They’d get seedlings from the river banks and plant windbreaks in rows.”

Doris became curious about her great grandparents after looking at the Norwegian language hymnal of her great grandmother, Johannes Overseth. In the front of the hymnal, she had written her name and a reference to Philippians 3:20, which reads: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” For a woman who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, traversed half a continent, endured the hardscrabble life of the prairie, and traded her Norwegian citizenship for American citizenship, Johannes’ brief reference to scripture bears witness to a Christian’s true citizenship has nothing to do with nationality and that the ultimate reward is not an earthly one.

Much of Doris’ writing is grounded in her Norwegian heritage, her Christian faith and her decades on the farm. An example in Our Words Are Blossoms is this excerpt of free verse from “Grandpa’s Barn” where she compares the barn to the Biblical ark:

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Doris with her late husband, Hans, on their 74th wedding anniversary.

For her first book, “Haul The Water, Haul The Wood,” Doris painted this picture of her great grandparents.

It was his pride and joy, this huge structure that added the finishing touch to his farm.

It was his ark, filled with animals and hay where he was Noah tending to all his creatures.

Doris was born in the back room of a country store at Leeville, which was located north of Beresford in bygone days. She spent many of her early days at her grandparent’s farm. “So I was happy to marry a farmer,” she said.

Before moving to The Inn on Westport in Sioux Falls in 2009, she and her late husband, Hans, farmed on Highway 11 about two miles north of the turn towards Lands Lutheran Church. “We had chickens, pigs, milk cows, and we fattened cattle. When we had hail and didn’t have any crop, we could still make it because we had milk to sell. Hans wasn’t afraid of work.” Today, their son, Jim, farms land adjacent to Lands Lutheran, on ground once farmed by his great grandfather and his great uncle.

In Our Words Are Blossoms, Doris defines “The Basic Ingredient” which unites these farmers over the generations:

What makes a man a farmer?

It isn’t his land, or his tractor and plow, or his overalls, work shoes, or lots of ‘know-how.’

It’s an intangible thing that runs through his veins, that carries him through the dust storms and rains.

That makes him invest his money without a guarantee of receiving a dime.

That gives him confidence with nature to cope.

It’s that tender but powerful substance called Hope.

Doris and Hans Stensland on their wedding day, June 6, 1943.

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Doris always enjoyed writing. As a senior at Canton High School, she and her classmates each wrote an essay entitled “What America Means to Me.” Her essay received recognition in a national magazine and it was published in the Sioux Valley News, a Canton-based newspaper. A number of years later when her children were in school, she returned to the Sioux Valley News, writing a weekly column for three years in the late 1960s.

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Over the years, she also had some of her prayers and devotionals published in national journals for Lutheran women. Then came Haul The Water, Haul the Wood, followed by its sequel Ole’s Promise about her grandparents, the next generation to carve out a living in Lincoln County through good years and bad.

Her next historical novel was The Music Man from Norway.

“I always heard from my mother about her uncles who were musicians. Well, in those days, there was no TV or radio. The schools didn’t even have music classes. A fellow came from Norway who liked to direct men’s voices.”

Professor Andrew Indseth directed multiple choral groups and bands in Canton and other area communities. “He put music into the lives of my great uncles and other young farmers. He got all the kids of local farmers trained on instruments. Think about the farmers nowadays – you couldn’t take a bunch of them and make a band out of them when they never had any music training before.”

Doris and Hans explored their Norwegian roots by making multiple trips to Norway. Hans, in fact, was born in Norway.

The couple traveled there four times and Doris went an additional three times. Their son Jim and his family also welcomed distant cousins from Norway into their home so they could experience the United States and work on their English language skills.

In addition to her writing talents, paintings by Doris have graced the covers of five of her books. “I had a friend who was an artist. When Susan was little, my friend had a little boy the same age. We’d get together every couple of weeks and she taught me to paint.” Her other hobbies in the past were doing Norwegian Hardanger embroidery and baking Norwegian foods.

Doris’ books are available to purchase at Haisch Pharmacy in Canton and Crossroads Books & Music in Sioux Falls; plus are available to order online at www.stenslandbooks. com and www.amazon.com. In 2012, she received the Governor’s Award for History from the South Dakota State Historical Society. It recognized her work describing an important part of South Dakota’s history.

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TURNER COUNTY FAMILY

Farm families who show livestock thrive on the competitive experience at fairs and shows. For the Voegele family, the fiercest competition starts at home in their own barn.

The Wirt family. Men in back row: Jon, Travis, Adam. Middle row: Katie, Brysen, Sarah, Jovie, Braelyn, Emerson, and Melissa.

Seated: Randy and Chris. Photos courtesy of the Wirt family.

WIRT FAMILY HAS A PASSION FOR SHOWING LIVESTOCK

By Bob Fitch

Considering the family’s history, it’s only natural an interview with the Wirt family would take place at the Turner County Fair.

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“There are a lot of kids who join the show world. We were born into it,” said Randy Wirt, who raises livestock and grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa south of Parker with his son, Adam, and daughter, Sarah Baloun.

Randy’s parents, Russell and Bonnie Wirt, moved to a farm south of

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

Parker in the early 1960s. “We’ve been purebred hog raisers forever.

Dad did it for 45 years and I’m 65, so I suppose I’ve been doing it for 65 years,” said Randy. “We used to be a swine seedstock producer, but now we’re into producing show pigs and show lambs. I still raise seedstock for my own use. And I have a boar on feed for the National Barrow

Show.” His parents first took him to the South Dakota State Fair when he was three.

Randy’s late father focused on Durocs. “Now my grandkids are raising them again. Hampshires are my passion. And we do have a few York sows and few Spot sows. About half the sow herd is crossbred animals.” Adam said most of the traditional seedstock producers who were around for years are not operating any longer because the industry converted to more youth events, demonstrating the need for agricultural operations to be flexible and diversified.

“Kids have so many choices to be active today.

The livestock associations are really trying to make their events big and keep the livestock kids engaged,” Adam said. “Livestock takes so much time and a lot of people don’t want to make the effort. So the associations are trying to make the shows special, making the trip and the money invested worthwhile.”

In addition to hogs, the Wirt family also raise sheep for FFA and 4-H projects. In the pig and lamb youth markets, Randy said the Wirt operation falls somewhere in the middle size-wise.

Chris and Randy Wirt of Parker.

Their other strong tie to livestock showing is the fact that Randy’s wife, Chris, works for the SDSU Extension Service in Turner County. Randy joked, “Some people might call the Turner County Fair the four best days of summer, but my wife works for the Extension office, so don’t ask her that question.

But she still enjoys every minute of it.” Chris has worked for Extension for 26 years. Adam said, “The month before and the week of the fair is a blur for her.”

Chris helps with the Turner County 4-H program throughout the year, but says the fair is the showcase of what 4-H’ers have worked on. According to Randy, “It’s helped Chris in her job that she grew up showing livestock in Minnesota as a 4-H’er and then had experience with us at the national level at places like Aksarben and the American Royal in Kansas City.”

After Adam and Sarah finished their years of showing at the Aksarben Stock Show in Grand Island, Neb., Randy continued the tradition set by his father of helping out at the shows for six or seven additional years. “Another tradition my dad started years ago, if you’re going to put on a show, it better be a good one and a well-run one. We work hard to uphold that tradition. I try to give a little advice to people running shows to make them better – hopefully without stepping on their toes.”

Adam said, “Grandpa Russell knew everybody.” Randy said his dad was often called ‘the oldest 4-H’er.’ “He had one of those personalities – he was a people person, always goofy and telling jokes. That was my dad. Once you met him, you never

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forgot him. There are still days I get called Russell by people who remember him.”

Helping youth have a positive experience showing livestock is a common goal in the family. “It’s just like my mom teaching kindergartners all those years. She taught the kids of kids she taught a generation before. We do the same thing in 4-H,” Randy said.

Adam said, “Showing livestock is what we do. We’re super busy in the summer, not only working on our own livestock projects, but also farming and helping our customers. It’s what we enjoy. Showing is our sport. We go hard at it trying to get those big outcomes.”

Randy said, “The biggest thing you get out of showing livestock is the friendships. I’ve got life-long friends all over the country.

You build a lot of connections over the years.”

Of course, the world has changed with more connections occurring online. Adam handles the farm’s website, social media and online sales. They have a few online sales every spring and held their 43rd annual live sale this year. “Every spring, I’ll sell in the neighborhood of 80 to 100 show lambs.

Dad will sell 150-200 show pigs.”

Cousins at the fair: Emerson, Jovie, Braelyn and Brysen

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In addition to his role on the farm, Adam manages the POET Bioethanol plant at Hudson. “My story is pretty simple. When I got done with college, there wasn’t enough land for me to come back to the farm fulltime. There was my grandpa, my dad and my uncle. Trying to slide a fourth one in wasn’t possible. You can only cut the pie so thin. Meanwhile, over the horizon nine miles was a new ethanol plant at Chancellor. I didn’t think 18 years later I’d still be working for the company.

But it has provided me a career pathway in agriculture that I didn’t see coming when I was in school.”

He started in Chancellor in 2003 on the front line of production as a plant operator. Because the ethanol industry was booming, the company couldn’t find people fast enough to fill leadership positions. He became a night supervisor and then kept moving up in management. He’s worked at six different POET locations including the corporate office. “Everything I’ve ever needed in a career, they always put it in front of me. I’ve done research, I started our biomass business, I worked in our pilot testing facility, and now I’m back in Hudson for a second time, this time to manage it.

“POET has good people. Most importantly to me, though, the ethanol space is huge for supporting agriculture on so many levels – supporting our local corn farmers and creating that market opportunity; supporting our communities and helping to keep them alive. While I didn’t get the chance after college to come back to the farm fulltime like I had hoped, by running the ethanol plant and driving stronger grain markets, I hope I can create the chance for others to start their farming career like I was not able to.” In his current role, Adam has the flexibility to be able to help farm and run a part of Wirt’s operation.

Adam applies lessons and strategies he learns in the ethanol world to the farm, and vice versa. “Dad talks a lot about diversification. That’s what our business model is at POET. We try to diversify to be able to ride the commodity market. As things move, we’ve got to be in the right spot.

Just like you can’t raise pigs for one market, you can’t process corn for just one market. We’re always trying to keep our eyes open for where those opportunities are. You’ve got to be smart and flexible,” he said.

“POET never sits still very long.

We always have a lot of change going on.” When the economic slow-down hit the ethanol industry in the wake of the pandemic in spring 2020, the Hudson plant was fortunate because of its diversified product mix. Not only is it producing ethanol fuel, it also produces CO2 and a specialty corn oil. “When the ethanol market is bad, we can make it work selling other products. It creates more stability,” Adam said.

“And it doesn’t hurt we’re right next door to Sioux County, Iowa, and that area’s demand for livestock feed.”

Sarah also splits her time on-farm and off-farm. “Twice a week I collect commercial boars for Rasmussen’s swine herd by Hurley. The rest of the time, I spend helping dad with the sow herd and the ewes and farming,” she said. Sarah and her kids have been raising Duroc hogs.

Going forward, they will include Durocs in every group of feeder pigs sold because of the demand for them, said Randy.

Sarah’s husband, Travis, is a service manager at Standard Plumbing in Sioux Falls. They have a daughter Braelyn, 12, and a son, Brysen, 10. Adam’s wife, Melissa, is a veterinary technician at All City Vet Care in Sioux Falls. They have two daughters: Jovie, 13, and Emerson, 11. All four kids are active in 4-H livestock shows.

Sarah and Adam’s sister, Katie, is an emergency room nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, part of the Mayo system in Rochester, Minn. She’s married to Jon Fish, who is an office manager at A&A Electric Underground Construction.

Turner County pork producer Randy Wirt.

Sarah said it takes a lot of long hours to be successful in the livestock business. Adam concluded, “You’ve got to love what you do. If you’re passionate about it, you can find a way to make it work. Today (at the Turner County Fair), our kids had a very good day in the sheep show and that makes the long hours worth it.”

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

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HUTCHINSON COUNTY FAMILY

FARMING FUELS ABILITY TO ENTERTAIN THOUSANDS ON THE OUTLAW CIRCUIT

By Bob Fitch

No one stands to cheer when Mark Ulmer completes a pass planting corn. And no one cheers when he harvests the corn in the fall. But farming provides the means for him to pursue his tractor-pulling passion, delivering victories to his devoted fans across the Midwest.

Huge crowds of people roar their approval when Mark releases a torrent of black exhaust from his 3,000-horsepower tractor – and suddenly man and machine explode down the track harnessed to thousands of pounds heaving towards a goal 300 feet away.

Tractor pulling is a tremendous amount of work, but Mark relishes the thrill when he puts the hammer down. “I imagine I love the element of competition. We’ve been very successful which is probably what drives us more than anything. We entertain thousands and thousands of people with these tractors.”

Mark and Cindy Ulmer and their dog, Lily.

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For 50 years, the Ulmer family has been a part of the tractor pull world, either by actively driving at events or by building and repairing the super-charged engines in the world’s most powerful motorsport.

Mark’s dad, Marvin, started taking part in tractor pulls in the 1960s.

Mark competes in the light super stock class. His brother, Curt and his son Craig, are also heavily involved

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Mark Ulmer and the engine of “The Weapon,” one of the most well-recognized tractors on the Outlaw circuit.

in the pulling industry. They take part in the modified division in which automotive-type motors are added to a homemade chassis. “So at Christmastime, we don’t usually talk politics – we talk horsepower.”

According to Mark, “Dad started pulling in the ’60s with farm tractors, pulling at area county fairs. He was always a fixer, builder-type person. I called him the welder and torch guy. If he could make it himself cheaper or it just wasn’t able to be purchased, he would just make his own parts.”

Mark and his wife, Cindy, farm south of Menno on ground homesteaded by his great-great grandfather in 1896. He said he loves farming “just as much” as the tractor pulls. Cindy laughed with a quick reply: “Oh no you don’t!” Mark’s gentle response: “Oh yeah, I do. It’s made all this available.” “You’re right,” Cindy said, “It gives you the freedom to do what you do.” He describes farming as their base living income. Yet more of his time is spent driving in tractor pulls or working on tractors for other people. Cindy said, “When he’s not working, the other pullers and mechanics are always picking his brain.”

The tractor pulls consume his summer. “We start in June and end in September. It gives you time to plant your crop and harvest your crop,” he said. Mark is part of the Outlaw Truck & Tractor Pulling Association (OTTPA) circuit. Formed in 1982, OTTPA is the largest of three sanctioned national pulling associations, endorsing over 70 sessions of pulling in more than 50 Midwestern cities from Texas to South Dakota.

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

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Outlaw events reach more than 500,000 fans with an average attendance of 10,000 people per event. The association has 16 classes and more than 350 competing vehicles.

The light super stock class uses an ag tractor rear end and the motor has to match the hood (i.e. a Ford hood must have a Ford motor). “After that, you can do pretty much anything you want to them as far as making them go fast.” His class has 19 events this year. One of Mark’s two tractors has finished in first place at 16 of the 17 events held through the end of August. With just two events left (at press time), he’s in a strong position to become the overall season points champion for the second year in a row. Still, Mark is realistic about the ups and downs of the sport. “It all cycles around. There’s been times we’ve been beat so bad we didn’t want to go again.”

Mark traveled to National Tractor Pulling Association (NTPA) events for three or four years in the 1990s. “We’d leave in June and come back in September, maybe be home for a few weeks here or there.” His travels took him all over the Midwest, plus Canada and the southern, eastern and northern parts of the U.S. Several of the panels from Mark Ulmer’s tractor named “The Weapon.”

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“I’m blessed I’m mechanical enough, I get a lot of work from other tractor pullers. I’ve actually designed a few pieces and parts and made them which have helped the whole tractor pull industry.”

One of his tractors even migrated across the Atlantic. “I built a tractor in 1992 and we took it to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ken. But we didn’t even get to bring it home. I sold it there to Peter Clark and it went to England. That summer, he blew the motor out of it. So I went over there for two weeks and re-built it for him. Then I had a chance to pull it in England and in Amsterdam, Holland.”

The original shop his dad built in 1959 is still in use. “There has been Grand National Super Stock sitting right there. We’ve got turning lathes, drilling machines, a shaper. We can make gears and internal spines; we

build couplers; we make our own transmissions and power axles.

There isn’t much in the pulling world that has to leave the shop, unless it needs heat-treating or needs something super special. We do it all right here – it just takes a lot of time,” Mark said.

He gave credit to two part-timers who work with him. Jake Law is a machinist who works at Handel Repair. And Bobby Wagner does truck equipment repair for Mettler Fertilizer. Mark and Cindy’s son, Tyler, also helps out when he’s not working as a CNC machinist at PMC LLC in Emery. “They make me look good,” Mark said.

Menno farmer Chris Fergen is also an essential cog in the machine, spraying the crops and providing other essential labor at the Ulmer farm in exchange for the use of Mark’s machinery.

Cindy usually only travels to tractor pull events which aren’t too far away. “A lot of wives say to me they’d never let their husbands be gone like that all the time. But I knew when I married him 43 years ago – all the Ulmers are pullers.”

When their daughter, Jessica, was little, she wasn’t as accepting of Dad leaving for the next tractor pull.

“She’d get mad and not talk to him for two or three days,” Cindy said.

Jessica and her husband, Andrew Bruzek, have three daughters, Jemma, 9, Jayda, 7, and Jersey, 5.

Tyler and his wife, Heidi, have two sons, Aiden, 10, and Henry, 3.

Cindy grew up north of Olivet on the farm of her parents, Edgar and Elda Schaeffer. About 20 years ago, Cindy started a greenhouse operation on the farm. Then they bought a greenhouse in Menno and attached a flower shop to it. She

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A look at the engine of “Eleanor,” the tractor leading the light super stock class on the Outlaw Truck & Tractor Pull circuit this year.

was in the greenhouse and flower business for about 15 years before health issues pushed her to sell the property in 2017. “Now I’m just a stay-at-home wife, which I really like.” In 2012, they moved from the farm to a house in Menno adjacent to the flower shop.

On top of their own children and grandchildren, they have an extended family all over the country. “The tractor pull family we’re a part of just took to all of us, including Tyler and Jessica.

The memories we’ve made are unbelievable. We’ve made a lot of friends in different states.”

Cindy said.

Mark said, “If we have a flat tire traveling, we pretty much know

32

somebody, somewhere, that isn’t too far to give me some help. I don’t need AAA.” All of the work and travel is worthwhile because of the friends they’ve made. “That and the horsepower,” he said.

“The fuel systems are pretty elaborate. We’re computermonitored so we’ve got data logs.

We can tell if something’s going wrong just by reading those,” he said.

“Everything is so modified. There’s very little you can go over to the Ford New Holland dealer and just pick up. Motor-wise, there’s only two pieces in this whole tractor that are original – the block and the crankshaft are still Ford New Holland.” The blue tractor is named “Eleanor” and is the points leader in its class right now. Their other tractor is a Case IH called “The Weapon” which has been on the circuit for a decade and is running second to Eleanor in the class this year.

“It’s come a long ways from when we used to pull with the farm tractor. We used to cultivate in the day and pull at the county fair in the afternoon or night with the same tractor. The level we’re at on these is unreal – you take a 100 horsepower farm tractor and turn it into a 3,000 horsepower pulling tractor. Then to be able to say I build a lot of it myself is the other accomplishment. It’s quite a feeling of success.”

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

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FlygerConcrete.com or check us out on Facebook September 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

33

FROM THE KITCHEN

CORN PUDDING From the kitchen of Doris Stensland as published in her cookbook “vaer saa od – Come and Eat”

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

of Sioux County

OUR PHILOSOPHY There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year, he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

-Author Unknown

Call it power of collectivity.

Call it a principle of success.

Call it a law of life.

The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:24-25

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

35

of Minnehaha County September 2021

BEHIND EVERY MEAL IS A

SUCCESSFUL FARMING OPERATION

Whether you are expanding your acres, or investing in new equipment or livestock, we will be here to help.

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Sioux Falls | Colton | Estelline | Hartford | Hayti | Hazel | Humboldt | Tea | Watertown

36

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