South Dakota
VOLUME XCVIII, NO. 5
HURON, SD
MAY/JUNE 2015
UNION FARMER A PUBLICATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION
Camp Season Begins!
Jr REAL
Farm Safety Quiz Bowl
Page 11
Page 12
Page 16
South Dakota Farmers Union Members Advocate for COOL in D.C.
South Dakota Farmers Union Celebrates the Kolousek Farm Family
S
Doug Sombke, SDFU President; Karla Hofhenke, SDFU Executive Director; Sen. John Thune; Matt Sibley, SDFU Legislative Specialist; Dick Kolousek, SDFU member; Chad Johnson, SDFU Board member; and Janet Kolousek, SDFU member.
A
fourth-generation South Dakota cattle producer, Dick Kolousek, has spent his life’s career raising quality beef cattle. He and his son, Scott, operate a 600-head Angus/Hereford cow/calf herd and backgrounding operation near Wessington Springs. This May, Dick left the calving to Scott for a few days and he, along with his wife, Janet, joined South Dakota Farmers Union staff and about 60 farmers and ranchers from across the country as part of National Farmers Union’s special Spring Fly-In to show their unwavering support for Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL). “Consumers need to know where their food comes from. COOL is Continued on Page 9
Tee Up for Youth! Join us for the Farmers Union Foundation Open WHEN: June 16, 2015 WHERE: Lakeview Golf Course, Mitchell (3300 N Ohlman St., Mitchell) DETAILS: The tournament will be a four-person, best ball format. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) Tee off is at 9 a.m. All proceeds will support Farmers Union Youth Programming. Learn more on page 3.
hadowing an engineer for a few days his sophomore year of college was all the exposure Scott Kolousek needed to realize he would be happier building a career on his family’s Wessington Springs cattle and crop farm. “That experience saved me a lot of time pursuing the wrong degree. I quickly figured out that I didn’t want an office job, so I switched degrees and graduated with a General Agriculture degree from South Dakota State University,” says the fifth Celebrating a century of service to South generation farmer. His dad, Dick, also an Dakota's farm and ranch families, SDSU graduate, can relate. In throughout 2015, South Dakota Farmers 1976, he returned to farm Union will highlight members who farm or with his dad, Pete, and ranch with their families each month. For the months of May & June, South Dakota brother, Raymond. “I enjoy Farmers Union features the Kolousek family, the independence farming (pictured here) who raise cattle and farm provides. I’m able to make near Wessington Springs. my own decisions, work in the fresh air and watch crops and calves grow – this has been a good career for me - so much better than an office job.” In 2000, Dick’s father passed away, and in 2002, brain cancer took Raymond, leaving Dick to buy out Raymond’s wife’s shares in the family farm corporation and take over farming on his own with Scott’s help. In 2010, Dick and his wife, Janet, and Scott and his wife, Amber, formed a new family farm corporation. “It’s been wonderful having Scott and Amber join our family farm. If we don’t have smart, hard-working young people come back to our communities, there really isn’t any hope to sustain them,’” recalls Scott’s mom, Janet. Today, the Kolouseks operate a 600-head Angus/Hereford cow/calf herd and backgrounding operation. The family utilizes intensive grazing to manage 5,700 acres of rangeland. They raise oats, winter wheat, alfalfa and grass hay on an additional 1,300 acres of farmland, and do some custom farming and hay moving to supplement their machinery budget. To learn more about the Kolousek family farm, turn to page 10. For more photos, visit www.sdfu.org. by Lura Roti, for SDFU