South Dakota Farm & Ranch December 2023

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Local Postal Customer

DECEMBER 2023

CATTLE DRIVE TASTE OF TRADITION

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Happy H idays!

As we welcome another holiday season, we’d like to share our best wishes with all of the friends, neighbors and customers who make our community a home.

We greatly appreciate your trust in us, and we look forward to serving you again soon in the New Year!

Scott & Mary Tilberg,

Farmingisyourlife’swork.

Poweringyouroperationisours.

Agents

1140 Spruce Street PO Box 128 Alexandria, SD 57311 605.239.4513

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Business: 605-770-2957 Home: 605-449-4939

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Mike Polancheck 605-770-6537 or 605-539-0236 Al Meier 605-770-9679

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2 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023

Meyerink Farm Service 118 N Main St. • Avon, SD

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Grain bin entrapment doesn’t need to happen I N S I DE T H I S I S S U E On the cover

Cattle Drive: Taste of tradition .......................4 Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

T had W alter and his daugter K asey sit on a f our- w heeler during their annual cattle drive December 2023, near Fedora.

Features

Grain bin entrapment ..................................................3

(Mitchell Republic file photo)

Building a farming business ........................................6

A massive new

Farmers union panel ..................................................10

By UNMC, Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health Since the 1960s, approximately 1,400 grain bin entrapments have occurred in the United States. Some 75% of those cases happened in the Midwest. Of those incidents, the type of entrapment was documented in about 70% of them. Most grain bin entrapments occur when workers enter a bin or storage structure to check on condition of grain or to address problems with grain flow due to spoiled grain or equipment malfunction. Approximately 75% of cases occurred in the Midwest.

Salah Issa, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Affiliate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, notes that, in 2010, the number of grain bin entrapments shot up significantly, sparking a national interest in why these tragedies were becoming so frequent and how they might be prevented.

The Purdue Agricultural Confined Space Incident Database (PACSID) report revealed that, overall, the number of annual grain entrapment incidents ranges from 20 to 40. The fatality rate from these engulfments has fallen to 35% from 50-60%, likely because of better rescue training and equipment.

“According to PACSID, 49% of these entrapments involved a farm,” Issa said. “The rest occurred at a commercial elevator or commercial facility.”

Issa’s research on grain entrapment shows that the most common type of entrapment scenario involves free flowing grain that becomes stuck somewhere

Tracing a family tree...................................................13 SD rancher leads the way ..........................................14

Publisher JO N I H A R M S Editor L U K E H AG EN Advertising Director LO R I E H A N S EN Layout Designer JEN PH I L L I PS South Dakota Farm & Ranch is an agricultural publication dedicated to informing SD and Midwest area farmers & ranchers about current topics and news.

This publication fits the niche of our unique farmers and ranchers of the Midwest, and the diverseness we have in our area. Although the Missouri River divides our state, we are all South Dakotans and thank the land for supporting us each and every day.

Our readers may be livestock ranchers or row crop farmers, and everywhere in between, however, we all have a common goal in mind.

We feed and support the growing population, and want the next generation to find that same love and support that agriculture can offer.

We’re all SD Farmers and Ranchers’ and when you advertise in South Dakota Farm & Ranch, you are immersing your company, product, and service into a growing community of dedicated farmers and ranchers.

Welcome to South Dakota Farm & Ranch!

To subscribe to this FREE publication, contact The Mitchell Republic.

Contact Us PO BOX 1288 • MITCHELL , SD 605-996-5514 sdfarmandranch

grain bin is p ictured on a rural P lanki nton f arm. inside the bin. Other common types of incidents include vertical crusted grain collapse, crusted surface bridge collapse, free-standing pile entrapment/engulfment, structural failure, and unintentionally dumping grain inside a bin where someone is working.

“In the free-flowing incidents, grain that is out of condition is generally involved,” Issa says.

“Factors that can affect grain quality include high temperatures, high moisture content, striations, uneven drying, or leaks in the bin.”

Researchers have found that when grain quality declines, potential for entrapment increases.

“The definition of entrapment is when grain covers a person up to their chest,” Issa says. “The person can breathe; their airway isn’t blocked. When you’re engulfed in grain, you are completely covered, and you can’t breathe.”

When a person is pulled down into flowing grain, there’s between 2 and 3 seconds to respond and in 4 to 5 seconds the person is unable to extricate themselves from the grain.

Within 22 seconds, in flowing grain, a person can be completely engulfed.

In his research, Issa found that corn is involved in these incidents about 50% of the time. However, soybeans, wheat, rice, pinto beans, and cotton seeds have all been linked to entrapment.

Other types of grain entrapment include: ► Avalanche, when grain collapses on top of a worker. Account for 9% of all entrapment/engulfments with 61% fatality rate.

GRAIN BIN: Page 15

DECEMBER 2023 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 3

Taste of tradition

Three-plus mile cattle drive provided plenty to look at for vehicles passing by

“It’s kind of peaceful going down the road letting the cows pick here and there in the ditch and find an ear of corn in the neighbor’s field. … The whole family can help, drive along and just watch the cattle.”

THAD WALTER

By Luke Hagen M itchell R ep ublic FEDORA, S.D. — It was a taste of tradition as a slow-moving herd was out for a long morning stroll.

A three-plus mile cattle drive on Saturday, Dec. 2, captured the attention of each passing vehicle that patiently waited as 132 cows marched south down the highway to their new Miner County home.

“Did you see a few of those folks had their phones out recording?” said Will Walter, a Fedora-area farmer and rancher.

“Sometimes, I worry about the cars and think about shoving the cows over so the people can go ahead. Then I go back and ask and they’re just fully entertained watching it all.”

About a dozen people assisted in the drive, which is an annual occurrence for Walter, his son Thad, and their neighbor Pete Hansen, who is Walter’s son-in-law.

About a half-dozen cars got

to see the sight first-hand, slowing for the group and taking in the unique roadside view.

The three men own the cattle that were transported in the oldschool fashion. With four-wheelers and ATVs keeping the cows in check, they moved the herd along 421st Avenue (known locally as the Fedora-Alexandria oil) from a grazing pasture area to Arlen Foster’s harvested cornfield.

Rather than getting fed at a cost of about $3 daily per cow, the animals will be scrounging on corn stalks and fallen ears for the next four to five weeks. A general rule, it’s known among producers, is that about 160 cows can graze on a 160 acres of corn for one month.

“There was a windstorm that rolled through this area, when what was it, October? There’s a lot of corn on the ground for them to eat,” Hansen said, noting that weather impacts the length of time the cows will1 be in the field. The nicer the weather, the or longer the stay.

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4 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023

77 4 ompany S6c0o5tt-9S9u6p-p ly0C 2800 West Havens, Mitchell, SD 57301 scpolyttsCuopm plpyacn oy.com Scow ttwSwu.p 9i9tc6h-7e7ll,0SD 4 5 7301 2800 West Have6n0s5 , -M Sc utptspulypp Clo y w wowt.tsS co ycmop.caonm e he4eof lsla,le. SD For commercial use only. See your participating New Holland dealer for de2 tai8 ls a0 nd0 eligW ibilite y res qutireH me6 na ts0 .v C5 ashn bas c9 k,a6 pM plie7 dita7 tc ti0 m Offer is n5 on7 tra3 nsf0 era1 ble. Offer ends December 31, 2023.

9 Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. For commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See your participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Eligible equipment liw mitew d tow dea.les r ic nveo ntotrty s in u stop ck.p Prelvy iouc so reta.ilc sao lesm are not eligible. Down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2023. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard terms and conditions will apply. This transaction will 6 05-996-7704 be unconditionally interest free. Taxes, freight, setup, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in suggested retail price. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. ©2023 CNH Industrial America LLC. All 1

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rights reserved. CNH Industrial Capital and New Holland are trademarks registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

1 For commercial use only. See your participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Cash back applied at time of sale. Offer is nontransferable. Offer ends December 31, 202 Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. 2For commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See yo participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Eligible equipment limited to dealer inventory in stock. Previous retail sales are not eligible. Down payment may be required. Off good through December 31, 2023. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard terms and conditions will apply. This transaction w be unconditionally in1tFeroersct ofrmeem. eTracxieasl ,ufsreeigohntl,y.seSteuep,ydoeulrivpearryt,icaidpdatiitniognN aleowptHioonllsanodr adtetaaclehrmfoerntdsentaoitlsinacnldudeeldigiibnilsiutyggreeqsuteirdem reetanitlsp. rCicaes.hObffaecrksaupbpjelicetdtoatchtiamnegeofosraclea.ncOeflfleartiiosnnwonitthroanust fneoratibclee.. © usbterira3l 1A,m2e0r2ic3a. LLC. A Of2fe0r2e3nC dsNH DeIcnedm rights reserved. CNHOInffdeur ssturibajleCctaptoitaclhaanndgeNeowr cHaonlclaenlldatiaorne twraitdheomuat rnkostirceeg.is2tFeorer dcoinmtm heerUcniailteudsSe toatnelsy.aC ndusmtoam nyeropthaerrticciopuantitoriness,uobwjencetdtobycroerdliitceqnusaelidfictoatC s.erica LLC. See your ioNnHanInddaupsptrrioalvaNl.Vb.y, iCtsNsHubInsidduiasrtrieiasl oCraapfifitalilatAem participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Eligible equipment limited to dealer inventory in stock. Previous retail sales are not eligible. Down payment may be required. Offer g1Fooordctohm romugerhciDalecuesm NHenItnsd. uCsatsrihalbCacakpiataplpAlim LLeCofstsaanled.aO rdffteerrm trabnesra3c1ti,o2n0w2i3ll. e boenrly3.1S, e2e0y2o3u. rNpoat ratilcl icpuastitnogmNereswoHr oalplapnlidcadnetaslemrafyorqdueatlaifiylsfoarndthiesligraibteiloitry treerqmu.irCem ederaitcatim issnaonndtracnosnfdeirtaioblnes. w Oiflfel rapepnldys. TDheicsem

A cattle drive of this length, alongside a busy highway, isn’t overly unusual for this crew.

But it’s not a regular occurrence for most farmers and ranchers.

Usually, grazing cattle get rounded up from a pasture and put into a corral to be loaded up on a trailer and hauled off via pickup truck.

That takes a lot of time, equipment and fuel, Walter said. And, the timing of a drive is good now because the crops are mostly out. A recent United States Department of Agriculture report says more than 96 percent of the state’s corn crop is harvested, so pushing cows down the road won’t result in a neighbor’s trampled stalks.

The second day of December this year provided temps in the mid-30s and a brisk wind. Hansen, 34, joked toward the end of the push that with upcoming temps this week in the 50s, they picked among the coldest days to work.

But plenty of sunshine and abovefreezing temps? Farmers will take the rest of the winter exactly the same, Will Walter said.

“Every day we get like this this time of year is a bonus,” he said.

As Thad Walter, 32, drove a four-wheeler with his 4-year-old daughter, Kasey, bundled up and riding along, Hansen outlined the herd on the opposite side. Two vehicles acted as the caboose and honked every now and again as a way to tell the cows to move along.

The drive didn’t take too long, only a little more than an hour from start to finish.

“It makes a guy think about how things used to be,” Thad Walter said.

“It’s kind of peaceful going down the road letting the cows pick here and there in the ditch and find an ear of corn in the neighbor’s field. … The whole family can help, drive along and just watch the cattle.”

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Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic

Cars move through a cattle drive on December 2023, on 421st Avenue, near Fedora.

“Sometimes, I worry about the cars and think about shoving the cows over so the people can go ahead. Then I go back and ask and they’re just fully entertained watching it all.”

WILL WALTER

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IVERSON AUTO • 600 SOUTH BURR, MITCHELL • 605-996-5683 • IVERSONFEATHERLITE.COM

DECEMBER 2023 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 5

Building a farming business worth passing down

By Ariana Schumacher Agw eek

Jolene Brown, professional speaker and family business consultant from West Branch, Iowa.

WISHING YOU A

Will You Protect Your Calves?

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Makes CENTS!

• Full Service/Supplies - On Farm or Haul-In • Pelvic Measure and Bangs Vaccinate Heifers

Merry Christmas It’s not the gifts under our tree we cherish the most, but the people all around us who bring such joy and meaning to our holiday season. Thanks for shining your light into our year. We value your trust in us, and we appreciate your support more than you know!

Rob Nicholson

Nathan Kneebone

605-770-9185

605-864-8185

Location Manager

Lakeview Veterinary Clinic 2020 W. Haven, Mitchell 605-996-3242 6 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023

25258 413th Ave Mitchell, SD 57301 605-996-6677

Sales Agronomist

S

IOUX FALLS, S.D. — Deciding what to do with a family farm can be a daunting task.

Jolene Brown, a farmer from West Branch, Iowa, is a professional speaker and family business consultant who travels around the world helping families create business plans for their farming and ranching operations.

She says it’s all about having a plan in place.

“I love to remind them that you need to do things when the times are good or you’re going to have fighting on the way to the funeral home when the times get tough,” Brown said.

There are three things Brown says you have to transition for a legacy or any business: the education, the experience and the hard assets.

“Now the challenge I have is everybody wants to do the hard assets without doing the first two and then we get into things like entitlement and control,” Brown said. “If you want to break up a family business, those two words will do both.

When I work with people in a family business I remind them that there’s nothing better or worse than working with family genetics, but if you want to love and honor your family you’ve got to do the business right.”

To have a plan, it needs to be in writing.

“A conversation is not a contract,” Brown said. “If it’s not in writing, it does not exist.

We have to make sure we have legal and financial documents that back what it is we want to do.”

When passing down a family business, Brown says open conversation is key.

“Silence is the greatest destroyer of a family and a business,” Brown said. “When are you going to communicate this? Is it during your lifetime while you’ve got people walking alongside you? Or is it at the reading of the will?”

The farm or ranch has to operate as a business.

“Taking care of business does not demean the family, it does not say we are more important than the family, but what it does say is we love and honor you so much we better get the business right,” Brown said.

“If you don’t do this, and everything is not business oriented about the business, it’s a hobby. There’s no problem if you want it to be

a hobby, but you can’t count on it for decision making and profitability and productivity. By honoring the business, you truly honor the family.”

Fear, frustration, or just being overwhelmed can make it difficult for families when they are deciding how to pass down the operation to the next generation.

“I work very hard to give template tools or what they need to do to build a business worthy of transitioning,” Brown said.

You have to have a plan on how to handle conflict when it arises on your operation.

“The number of times I have mom call me and she’s in the middle, trying to keep peace

is modeling this because they have to hold him or herself to account as well,” Brown said.

Another key component to a business is a “managing people” chart. These charts need to say who is responsible for what, who do you have to consult with before you do something, who needs to be kept informed.

“That will not only be your job descriptions in a very easy chart form, it will also help you set your salaries, your compensation,” Brown said. “Compensation needs to be based on work done, it’s not just longevity and it’s not just legacy but it’s the value that you bring the business.”

It is also important that the senior generation is financially secure first by seeking help from a certified financial planner.

“They will never relinquish control if they are not financially secure because you are dinking with their security,” Brown said.

Brown says you also should find ways to keep the senior generations involved with the ag operation.

“They still need to feel worthy and worthwhile,” Brown said.

“Never kick a farmer or grower or rancher off the land, that is their soul, but what is it that they can still safely do?”

As a younger generation, Brown says you need to have your personal will set up before consulting the older generation about their plans for the business.

But, if they do not want to tell you what the plan is, you need to decide how much risk you are willing to take in the hopes that the business will be passed down in the way that you wish.

“How many years of blood and sweat and tears are you going to put into the business hoping that everything will be OK? I have learned that hopes aren’t a good business strategy,” Brown said. “Very professionally I often have to say to the younger generation, ‘I think it’s time to cut the strings and leave.

You’ve been a very good puppet, and you’ve danced so well, and the puppeteer is not telling you what is in the next scene and the next act. If I were in your shoes, I would cut the string and leave.’ I want the younger generation to work very hard to be standing on their own.”

You can learn more about Brown, or have her help you build a plan for your family business by visiting her website: jolenebrown.com.

“Silence is the greatest destroyer of a family and a business. When are you going to communicate this?

Is it during your lifetime while you’ve got people walking alongside you? Or is it at the reading of the will?”

JOLENE BROWN in the family and so I have to remind her that keeping peace in the family may just start the war because she didn’t cause the problem, she can’t change the problem, she can’t control it, so she has to give it back to the people who have the problem,” Brown said. “I actually have them practice with me of how they can get themselves out of the middle.”

When there are different generations with different standards on the operation, it’s important to have a code of conduct that is agreed on and signed by everyone, including outside employees that may come into the business.

“I always have to make sure that the leader

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8 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023 DECEMBER 2023 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 9

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Packer concentration, meat labeling, right-to-repair concerns shared with Department of Justice

By Ariana Schumacher Agw eek HURON, S.D. —A panel of speakers at the South Dakota Farmers Union annual convention on Nov. 30 - Dec. 1 discussed packer concentration, meat labeling, and the right to repair.

Joe Painter, a cattle producer from Buffalo, South Dakota, voiced his concerns on packer concentration.

“The packer concentration is just a huge problem for us,” Painter said. “There’s four major packers killing most of the cattle and they’ve just got so much total control over us, all the cattle feeders are at their mercy, there

are no competitive markets anymore, they give us what they feel like they are going to give us that day and that’s all there is.”

“That’s where the department of justice comes in,” said Oren Lesmeister, South Dakota Farmers Union District 6 president.

“If they feel that, and I hope they do, find that there is manipulation in the markets, there is price monopoly there, that not only maybe break them up, with a way to keep our markets open and successfully keep processing beef because we can’t just break them up. We’ve got to have a way to do it with and keep the supply chain going. But at least let them know that, ‘Hey you better start playing fair or we will be breaking you up.’”

10 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023

Michael Kades from the United States Department of Justice was also on the panel, so South Dakotans could voice their concerns directly to those working to make change.

“Our view is that we work for all of you, you may not believe that all the time, but it is how we think about our job,” Kades said. “We have concerns about how livestock markets are operating and anytime people think there is something untoward going on or suspicious, we want to hear about it.”

Meat labeling is also something that South Dakota producers are concerned about.

“We need to get the country of origin labeling back in place so that people, the housewives, the meat preparers, know where

J o e P ain ter

O ren L es meis ter

e

Michael K ades

A cattle p roducer f rom

the meat is coming from,” Painter said. “I have several relatives that would do anything they could to buy American beef, they don’t want to buy Australian beef, or foreign beef that has no rules, and that’s one of the huge things that they could do to help our cause.”

Audience member Cheryl Schaefers asked if the other food labeling laws have changed as they noticed that other foods were also not noting where they were manufactured.

“Why can’t we pick up our can of green beans or whatever and find out where they were processed? It’s not just the meat,” said Cheryl Schaefers.

“That is not an issue that the antitrust division enforces, but I would just say that I too have noticed labeling information on food

BEADLE COUNT Y

is far different than 10 years ago, but I need to stay in my lane,” Kades said.

Right to Repair was also a topic of discussion.

“You know, if we just had access so that we could ... a lot of times it’s just a simple fix, as soon as they plug in their software they find out it’s a sensor somewhere and it might be a $15 dollar sensor. It takes you 10 minutes to replace, and if we just had that ability to have that software on our own, so that we can quickly identify and fix our equipment and then avoid down times,” said Jeff Kippley, National Farmers Union Vice President and South Dakota Farmers Union Vice President.

“That’s not the way the world should be working,” Kades said. “One of the things that we have done at the Department of Justice we

SANBORN COUNT Y

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have talked about the investigation powers we have and bringing cases. We also can intervene in private actions and sort of say ‘well judge, court, this is how we think the law pays out here,’ and sometimes it’s very general and sometimes it’s very specific.”

The audience was still left with some unanswered questions.

“Michael really couldn’t answer a lot of the questions simply because of pending cases and such,” said Doug Sombke, President of the South Dakota Farmers Union. “So I wouldn’t say it was frustrating. People understood, but I think the thing that people really liked is that fact that we are finally having these discussions and it seems like there is some movement forward.”

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From all of us at Wolf’s

we would like to wish you Heartfelt Greetings of Love, Health, Happiness & Joy. We wish you a Blessed Holiday Season!

Tony & Jodi Wolf Owners

TONY WOLF — Owner/Mechanic 44 years experience Certified ASE Master

JACOB MOEGE — Mechanic 13 years experience Certified ASE Master • Diesel certified technician

NICK COLLINS — US MARINE Mechanic 13 years experience

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12 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023

TRACING AGRICULTURE IN A FAMILY TREE JENNY

SCHLECHT The Sorting Pen



C o urtes y / L ibrary o f C o n g res s

P hoto of a sugarbeet f arm. Five w orke rs, men and w omen, can be seen tending to the soil. A M odel A f arm truck is p arke d in the distance, near a f ew very tall trees. T he w orke rs are all w earing hats and bending over the soil, w hich has been p low ed in anticip ation of crop s. M any such w orke rs w ere V olga G ermans w ho came to the U nited S tates and f ound w ork as f arm laborers in the Colorado sugarbeet industry .

What does it mean to be certain generation of farmer?

Those of us in agriculture tend to be very proud of the family connections in our life. I was the fourth generation on my home farm in Montana, for instance.

However, I’ve been wondering lately how accurate a portrayal of our own families that phrasing — secondgeneration farmer, third-generation farmer and so on — really is.

A few months back, I was talking on the phone to my Grandma Marguerite.

She is my last living grandparent and, at 91, still sharp as a tack and a joy to be around. Somehow we started talking about family history, and she told me her niece had given her a box of family history documents.

Grandma is by far the youngest

of 16 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. Her parents are long deceased, and her last sibling died more than nine years ago. She has told me that she wished she had thought to ask questions about her family when she had the chance. But with the people who could answer the questions gone, she thought maybe the stack of papers would hold some answers.

And as luck would have it, she has a granddaughter who enjoys both history and snooping.

While home for Thanksgiving, I spent a morning with Grandma, my brother and my sister-in-law, combing through the voluminous papers from Grandma’s niece. I made little headway other than to be amazed at the records available on my Grandma’s mother’s side of the family. Names and dates and places went back centuries. Meanwhile, a family tree on her father’s side held only the names of his parents and one grandfather.

FAMILY TREE: Page 15

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SD RANCHER LEADS THE WAY IN CONSERVATION PRACTICES

By Ariana Schumacher Agw eek VEBLEN, S.D. — Conservation and family are at the core of one northeastern South Dakota ranch.

At just 17 years old, Neil Bien lost his father, and he kept the ranch going despite having a college football scholarship.

“Ranching has always been a passion. I have always been interested in the outdoors and the animals and the plants and all things associated with it,” Neil said. “So, I figured I could still learn some things staying home just by being a good observer, keeping the ranch going.”

Neil did eventually return to college at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he got a degree in biology and chemistry. He also took graduate courses at South Dakota State University.

Now, he has been ranching ever since, alongside working as a high school biology teacher. This year, Neil was named the Eminent Leader in Agriculture, Family and Community by South Dakota State University. The Bien Ranch was also honored for their conservation efforts by the South Dakota Grassland Coalition as the 2022 South Dakota Leopold Conservation Award recipient.

“I think a lot of the credit goes to the people that came before me that did a lot of the heavy lifting,” Neil said. “They aren’t here, and I am. So

when you get old, and you’ve been around a long time, sometimes they give you some of the credit for what some of the people did. I am not saying we haven’t done anything, because we have worked very hard on this. We’ve built all these buildings, we’ve planted over 100 acres of trees, we’ve done lots of things, but I still think we do it a lot of times to honor our ancestors.”

Conservation is playing a key role in keeping the legacy of the ranch alive for the next generation of Biens. They have planted trees, they utilize cross fence and rotational grazing practices and they don’t drain any of their wetlands on the ranch.

“You have to have an attitude that you’re not going to take everything out of the land that you could to try to make every dollar that you can at one time, you have to treat the land so that it produces and is sustainable for a long-term thing,” Neil said. “That means taking care of the soil, taking care of the animals, taking care of the plants that grow on it and of course, ultimately, taking care of the people, too.”

Now, his grandson Nate Bien has returned to help carry on as the next generation of ranchers on the Bien Ranch.

“Just really kind of wanted to come back once I got done with school, and I guess it wasn’t really a hard decision ... it was just something that I always thought I would do,” Nate said. “It’s a

beautiful area, too. I like living up here.”

Nate plans to continue his grandfather’s conservation practices throughout the ranch.

“Just kind of keep the same practices and ideas that my grandpa has been doing and people before him and hopefully it will be able to just keep being a profitable place,” Nate said. “Maybe down the road, if I have kids, maybe some of them might want to come back or something, and hopefully they will have the same kind of ideas in their head that I’ve had from him.”

Arian a S chumacher / Ag w eek

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Kari Fagerhaug

FAMILY TREE Armed with little more than some obituaries, I’ve been trying to piece together his life. His birthplace in Russia places him, from what I can tell, as a Volga German — referring to the people who lived in communities along the Volga River. The spelling of the town seems off from what I could find, but people of a similar last name lived in a similar sounding German community in Russia.

I know the Germans who lived in Russia often moved there because of availability of farmland and freedom — fleeting though it was — on the invitation of Catherine the Great. I can’t know for sure yet that my greatgrandfather or his ancestors farmed in Russia, but it seems more likely than not.

I do know, from his obituary and the obituaries of several of Grandma’s siblings, that he went from Russia to Canada to Sugar City, Colorado — a community that, as its name implies, had a growing sugarbeet industry that recruited Germans from Russia to work in the early 1900s. Without evidence yet, it seems likely he went to Colorado as a farm laborer. From there, he and my great-grandmother moved on to live possibly in Kansas and in Montana, where they certainly farmed.

I didn’t grow up on the farm that they farmed; he had retired from it

years before his death, which was more than a quarter century before I came into the world. But Grandma grew up on that farm before moving to my Grandpa Bob’s family farm, which is where I did grow up.

No matter what I find out as I continue my digging into the various branches of my family, I’ll still be the fourth generation to have lived on the farm outside Billings, Montana. My kids will still be the fourth generation to live on the farm where we are raising them in central North Dakota.

But from what I have read so far, it seems likely that my family’s farm roots in any direction go back far more than four generations. They likely go back to multiple countries on multiple continents. Generations have withstood harsh conditions and heartbreak — the kind I can only hope I never experience — and yet they remained in what can be a harsh, heartbreaking occupation.

The same likely is true for anyone else involved in agriculture today.

Somehow, for better or worse, we ended up where we are because they did it first. I doubt I’ll ever be able to put a true number on the generations of farmers in any direction in my family, but I remain optimistic that I’ll find some stories along the way.

GRAIN BIN ► Bridging entrapment, when surface grain crusts and forms a solid layer. As the bin empties, a void is formed under the crust. Account for 7% of all entrapments with 70% fatality rate. ► Unintentionally covered by grain – accounts for 6% of all entrapments with 83% fatality rate. ► Structural failure when grain is released from an access point.

Accounts for 4% of all entrapments with 90% fatality rate. ► Grain vacuum, when using the vacuum close to the workers feet, which results in grain fluidity.

Accounts for 3% of all entrapments with 85% fatality rate. ► Open pile entrapment, when an individual is standing on an unstable pile of grain which cascades and forms an avalanche. Accounts for 1% of all entrapments with an 80%

fatality rate (more common with cotton seed).

The most obvious way to prevent grain entrapment is to stay outside the bin. New technology such as a Binwhip or Grain Weevil may help resolve issues with clumping grain or plugged augers. Compressed air may also be effective in some scenarios, although the risk of explosion from grain dust is a concern when using compressed air.

Sump guards, plug busters, vertical stirators, and an enlarged sump are all options to help avoid grain flow or clumping issues and keep farmers out of grain bins.

“We need to continue studying this issue to understand the different ways people become entrapped, understand the ways grain puts pressure on the body, and explore strategies to minimize the necessity of entering grain bins,” Issa says.

Find grain handling safety details and additional resources at www.grainsafety.org.

Jenny Schlecht is Agweek’s editor. She lives on a farm and ranch in Medina, North Dakota, with her husband and two daughters. She can be reached at jschlecht@agweek.com or 701-595-0425.

AUCTIONEER D I R E C TO RY Be sure to watch the Mitchell Republic’s Classifieds for upcoming listings of auctions!

See these Auctioneers for all of your Real Estate, Farm, Household, Consignments, Business Liquidation or other needs.

your

ANDY HARR

AUCTIONEER/BROKER

TOTAuLtion 608 North West Avenue Sol Sioux Falls, SD 57104

C: 605-201-1559 | O: 605-274-6500 Toll Free: 1-800-817-8999 F: 1-844-605-SOLD (7653) E: andy@totalaar.com www.totalaar.com

AUCTIONS & REAL ESTATE

K KER CHERU- LC O AND BR E N O I AUCT N O T T U S

1116 N. West Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57104

Specializing in Land • Real Estate Auctions of All Types

336-6315 OR CALL Kuhle-Sutton Agency 127 2nd Ave. W • PO Box 325 Flandreau 997-3777 • www.suttonauction.com SELLING REAL ESTATE AT AUCTION & PRIVATE TREATY DECEMBER 2023 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 15

16 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2023