Category Archives: News

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Clark County Farmer Recognized With Minnie Lovinger Award

Even before she had children of her own, Gail Temple volunteered her time to organize youth programming for Clark county as a South Dakota Farmers Union County Education Director.
“I saw a need. Clark County did not have an education director and I had friends with kids,” explains Temple, who grew up attending Farmers Union camps. “I first attended camp when I was 3 because the organizers asked my mom to stay and help.”
Temple was recognized for 30 years of dedicated service to South Dakota’s rural youth and Farmers Union educational programming with the 2021 Minnie Lovinger Award today, December 16, 2021, during the South Dakota Farmers Union Convention held in Huron.
“I think back on all the educational directors I grew up with, and didn’t think I was the same caliber. They touched my life in a positive way and I hope I have touched someone else’s life in the same way for their future,” said Temple, who grew up actively involved in Farmers Union youth programming, achieving the organization’s highest youth honor, the Torchbearer Award in 1983.
Farmers Union educational programming focuses on providing rural youth with education on farm safety, cooperatives and policy. The programming also incorporates opportunities for leadership development and personal growth. Fun games and music are also woven through the curriculum.
Reflecting on what she gained from attending Farmers Union camp as a child, Temple says although she still remembers the words to many of the camp songs, it’s the friends she made as a camper that she values most.
“It’s about the connections I made with other campers and Farmers Union families. I still have friends who I met at camp, who continue to be active in Farmers Union,” Temple says.
And her now-grown children, Jordyn and Jessica agree. “When I ask them about their Farmers Union camp experience, they say that camp was always a place where they could be themselves.”
Temple and her husband, Brad, raise cattle and crops on their farm near Clark. Growing up, Temple’s parents, Dee and Lloyd Battest, were active members of South Dakota Farmers Union.
In addition to youth programming, Temple has been active in supporting grassroots policy developed by Farmers Union members. She has served as a delegate to the organization’s national convention and advocated for policy during the annual Washington, D.C. Fly-In. Temple serves on the State Board of Directors representing District 3.
More about Minnie Lovinger Award
Established in 2004, the South Dakota Farmers Union Foundation instituted the Minnie Lovinger Award in recognition of the founder of all Farmers Union education programs.
Minnie Lovinger passed away more than 70 years ago, but not before she laid the foundation for all subsequent Farmers Union education efforts. As historian Lyn Oyos wrote in his history of South Dakota Farmers Union, Minnie Lovinger “snatched the thorny chance and broke the trail that others followed. Her soul has never left them in their sowing and reaping.”
This award is given to individuals who have made great contributions to the success and the longevity of South Dakota Farmers Union youth educational programming.
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Industrial Hemp Won’t Save Family Farms but it has A Future In South Dakota

Experts on industrial hemp drew a crowd of farmers and ranchers for a panel discussion hosted by South Dakota Farmers Union during the organization’s 106th Convention held in Huron Dec. 16-17.
“Industrial hemp is a crop I do not know a lot about, so I wanted to learn,” explained Kurt Bindenagel, a Frankfort cow/calf producer. “It appears there is a big learning curve, and it is quite labor intensive.”
Bindenagel does not plan on planting industrial hemp in 2022, but that’s not to say he is not considering it for the future. “After this panel discussion, I want to learn more,” he said.
Connecting South Dakota farmers and ranchers with information is the reason South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) hosted the panel. A few years ago, members of the state’s largest agriculture organization made advocating for the state to legalize the growing of this commodity part of their policy. Since that time, the organization has worked to ensure once industrial hemp was legal to raise, family farmers and ranchers had the information they needed.
“Industrial hemp has been a passion of mine for six years,” explains Oren Lesmeister, SDFU director, Parade rancher and District 28-A legislator. “It’s not going to save the family farm or make you a billionaire, but it can be added to rotations and be planted on marginal acres. It is good for soil health and it provides one more revenue stream for producers.”
Profit potential and weed control motivated panelist and Wessington farmer, BJ McNeil to plant 1,300 acres of industrial hemp in 2021. An organic food processor contacted McNeil and he was able to contract the hemp grain before he planted it. In some fields, he averaged 1,200 pounds per acre.
But this was not easy money. “Planting and growing this crop is simple. Combining was not easy. But the real challenge is when we brought the grain back to the farm,” McNeil said.
He explained that the grain needs to be on air within hours of harvest. Unlike corn, soybeans or other crops, industrial hemp does not mature evenly. Seed on one plant can be at several stages of maturity. Because of this, drying the harvested seed is necessary. It also needs to be done quickly and with low heat, McNeil explained.
“Your hemp cannot get above 130 degrees, or you will damage the oil in the hemp seed,” McNeil said.
In preparation for harvest 2021, McNeil had installed cone bins with rocket dryers.
They did not work.
“We ended up pulling the hemp out of all the cone bins, taking the grain to another farm with the old stirator drying systems and putting it on low heat,” McNeil said.
In preparation for 2022 industrial hemp harvest, McNeil is setting up another low heat stirator drying system.
Learning from a farmer who grew industrial hemp and having the opportunity to ask questions during the panel discussion was valuable, said Frederick farmer, Taylor Sumption.
“Asking questions and learning from the lessons of another farmer is a lot cheaper than learning the lessons yourself,” Sumption said.
Panelist Ken Meyer agrees. Meyer is the president of the South Dakota Hemp Association and owner of A.H. Meyer and Sons, a Winfred honey rendering plant, that began processing hemp for CBD oil in 2021.
“There is strength in numbers and in an emerging industry we need to help each other. If you want to get into raising hemp, make sure you connect yourself with people who have grown it,” Meyer said.
Providing farmers and ranchers with information and guidance is just one part of Meyer’s mission. As the association president, he works with the South Dakota Legislature to streamline the regulatory process.
He said legislators are listening.
Among the changes Meyer noted for 2022 – there will no longer be an application deadline. He added that growers should not procrastinate. “It can take up to three months to wrap up the background check process,” Meyer said.
Planning ahead was a theme among the panelists.
McNeil said if a grower is planning to raise industrial hemp, they should make sure they have it sold prior to purchasing seed. “Make sure you have it contracted. Don’t speculate,” he said. “I may expand my acres in 2022, but it all depends on the markets.”
The weather also plays an important role. And if it does not cooperate, panelist, Dennie Stratton said although it is not easy to find, there are insurance options for industrial hemp. Stratton is the crop insurance production manager for Farmers Union Insurance.  “I had to turn over quite a few rocks, but I did find out that hemp is listed in RMA coverage.”
When it comes to selecting the right seed variety, Derrick Dohmann, Sales and Marketing Manager with Horizon Hemp Seeds, Willow Lake, encouraged growers to select and plant multiple varieties. “This way you know what will grow best on your farm.”
Dohmann added that success of industrial hemp in South Dakota depends on producers asking questions and learning from each other.
“This is the reason we are all sitting here. I am not just here to sell seed. I am here as a resource. If I do not have an answer for you, I will find the answer for you,” Dohmann said.
When discussing the future success of industrial hemp, all the panelists were optimistic. “There are so many uses for this product, and more are discovered all the time. I toured a home in Idaho that except for the windows, it was constructed 100 percent out of industrial hemp and its biproducts,” Lesmeister said. “When it comes to the future of industrial hemp in South Dakota, the sky’s the limit. We are just at the beginning.”
News, Story

SD Farmers Union Honors Jim Woster and Joel Keierleber as 2021 Ag Ambassadors

South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) recognizes Jim Woster and Joel Keierleber for their dedicated service to South Dakota agriculture. The state’s largest agriculture organization named them the 2021 Ag Ambassadors during an awards ceremony held December 16 and 17 in Huron during the organizations 106th State Convention.
“South Dakota’s agriculture depends on strong leadership. And for decades, Jim Woster and Joel Keierleber have provided wisdom, advocacy and support for South Dakota’s family farmers, ranchers and the organizations that serve them,” said SDFU President, Doug Sombke.
Jim Woster grew up on his family’s Reliance crop and cattle operation. He is a 1962 graduate of South Dakota State University. Woster went on to become a cattle buyer, agriculture columnist, Associate Editor of Tri-State Neighbor and an enthusiastic advocate for South Dakota agriculture.
Joel Keierleber fought all odds to follow his passion for farming when as a young man, the third-generation Tripp County farmer endured a devastating farm accident. A conservation-minded and progressive crop and cattle producer, Keierleber saw the need to step away from his farm from time to time to advocate for policy to support family farmers and ranchers in Pierre and Washington, D.C. Keierleber is a lifetime Farmers Union member, serving seven years on the SDFU board of directors.
To learn more about Woster and Keierleber’s passion for South Dakota Agriculture, its people and what they see for the future of agriculture, SDFU recently interviewed the 2021 Ag Ambassadors. Below is the Q&A from this interview.
Q: Tell us about how you got your start in your career?
Jim Woster: My dad, Henry, like a hundred other dads of his generation, was not able to go to college. He insisted that the Woster and McManus clan would go to college. As the oldest, I was the first to attend. And there was never any discussion about where I was going. I was going to South Dakota State University.
He also insisted that no matter what we did after college, we did something that would get us out and off the farm to see what the world has to offer.
From my first trip to the stockyards as a 10 or 11-year-old with my dad and Uncle Frank, I have always been intrigued with the stockyards. I was able to get a job at the Sioux Falls Stockyards working for the Farmers Union Livestock Exchange and never had any urge to go any other place.
Joel Keierleber: I knew I wanted to farm from the time I was 5. I grew up on a dairy farm near Clearfield. The fifth of nine children, I was driving the pickup to help dad feed small bales before I started kindergarten. After high school, I took a course in diesel mechanics and returned home to help dad. Audrey and I began saving money to buy a place of our own before our wedding. A few months before the wedding I was in a serious farm accident. My arm was caught in a silo unloader.
When I was in the hospital, they told me that I would never lift my arm above my head again. They recommended I go back to school so I could get a desk job. I did not listen to them. I figured I had not failed yet. It’s my belief that you have to fail two or three times to see if you can succeed. And Audrey stuck by me.
In 1978 we found our farm, 320 acres, three and some odd miles from Colome. It was a less than ideal time to get started. The Farm Crisis was underway, but somehow, with Audrey’s small teacher’s salary and a lot of pencil to paper, we made the payments. And we’re still here.
Q: What did you enjoy about this career in agriculture?
Joel Keierleber: Caring for the land and livestock. And I get to be creative because I have to be creative. I never stick to one plan. I sit down and pencil it out to see what the most cost-effective way will be to farm and that is what I go with.
Frugal farming led me to no-till management practices. I could not afford tillage. When I started in 1980 the fields were only at .8 percent organic matter, and they did not hold moisture. Today, my fields are between 4 and 6 percent organic matter. I also plant cover crops.
In addition to improving soil health, Audrey and I have planted thousands of trees.
Today, I enjoy sharing what I have learned with the next generation. We are helping a young man who wants to make a career of farming, take over our farm.
Jim Woster: The people. In my work, I represented farmers in the sale of their cattle, hogs and sheep. In the mornings, I’d be at the sale barn and in the afternoons, I’d be out in the country driving up and down the side roads, meeting with farmers to let them know the value of their cattle.
These customers were people like my own family and the neighbors I’d grown up with. I’d pull into a place, walk through their 80 or 90 or 100-head of cattle, tell them what they were worth and then they’d say it was coffee time or lunch time. (It got to where I knew who would invite me in for lunch, so I’d purposefully plan to be at their place around noon.) So, we would sit and visit. I got to be really close with these families.
Like I said before, Stockyard customers were just like the families I grew up with. I always say how blessed I was to have been born and raised where I was, when I was, with whom I was. It may sound hokey, but neighbors helped neighbors. They shared farm equipment and labor. Everybody worked together.
Q: Joel, tell us what you enjoyed about raising your daughters on the farm?
Joel Keierleber: Because Audrey worked fulltime as a teacher, I was always involved with raising our now grown daughters, Brecky Cwach and Christine Wood. I got up in the night to feed them bottles just as much as Audrey did.
When they were old enough, they worked right alongside us. I have always said that our two daughters can push cows through a chute faster than any of the help, who were all boys. When I was in the hospital last fall, the girls worked all the cattle – they got them DNA tested and helped wean.
*Trauma from the farm accident left Joel a Type-1 diabetic at 23. In 2020, he received a kidney transplant. While he was recovering from the transplant, he contracted COVID-19 and suffered multiple strokes. He spent 100 days in the hospital, and away from his beloved farm. Today, he is not fully recovered, but he is farming once again.
Q: Jim, tell us how you became a columnist?
It went back to my work at the Stockyards. As secretary of the Exchange, I would do the markets for radio and TV. And because of this visibility, I would get asked to volunteer to MC different events – SDSU basketball games, FFA banquets, community fundraisers, well one day, I get this call from a Sioux Falls businessman who told me he was starting a farm paper. He was up front with me. He said, “everybody knows who you are, and I need someone everyone knows to be a part of my paper.”
I was up front with him and said, “I am not a journalist or writer.” He told me to just write how I talk.
Q: Tell us about your passion for agriculture advocacy?
Joel Keierleber: Well, somebody needs to stand up for the family farm and individual farmers. I grew up watching my dad’s involvement in farm organizations. He was part of the National Farm Organization. As a child I would go to meetings with him.
I know that as farmers we are busy trying to make money. And some say they do not have time to get involved. But if we do not take time away from the farm to stand up for better prices, we will not be able to make money on the farm.
I have seen what involvement in organizations can do. Farmers Union advocated for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). And it was good for cattle producers during the short time that we had it.
Jim Woster: The importance of agriculture and family operations really started hitting home to me with the struggles of the 1980s. We lost a lot of good farmers. And I knew a lot of farm families who lost their farms. The 80s were tough, not only economically, but socially for our state.
Q: What are your thoughts about South Dakota agriculture today and into the future?
Jim Woster: For many years, to help solve problems, farmers and ranchers formed groups – whether it be co-ops or commodity organizations. And not all these organizations may have been on the same page when it came to ways to solve these problems. Well, it appears to me, that today, when it comes to working to fix this cattle market issue, everyone is back on the same page. We are one group working together. This is encouraging.
Another thing that we are all on the same about is sustainability. You can’t attend an ag conference without at least one session focusing on sustainability. To ag people, sustainability of the environment makes sense. The land is our life and livelihood.
Joel Keierleber: I hope to see more young people get involved in farming. But it’s tough to get started in agriculture if you do not inherit land from your family. I encourage farmers looking to retire, to seek out a young farmer trying to get started and work with them to take over. I think this is a better plan than selling land to the big farmer buying up all the land in the county.
To help the next generation of small farmers, I feel they need more rural access to non-agricultural income. Since the early 90’s I have worked to get wind development started. Our area is a Class 4 wind area, one of the best in South Dakota. But we do not have the large power lines to move the electricity to areas that need it. There have been numerous groups interested. It has not happened yet.
News, Story

SDAHO Recognizes Avera St. Mary’s and the Pierre Community as the December Hometown Healthcare Heroes

The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) is launching the Hometown Healthcare Hero campaign, to assist member healthcare facilities with workforce recruitment needs. The campaign is designed to recognize and celebrate healthcare facilities, professionals, the community, and available employment opportunities within that community and across South Dakota. The December 2021, Hometown Healthcare Heroes facilities include Avera St. Mary’s Hospital and Clinics in Pierre, South Dakota.
Congratulations to this month’s SDAHO Hometown Healthcare Heroes recipients, Pierre’s Avera St. Mary’s Hospital and Clinics.
Avera St. Mary’s Hospital has an array of medical and health services, including multiple areas of specialty care. This regional hospital and related facilities is the only hospital of its size located within a radius of 112 miles.
Located in the central part of the state in Hughes County, Pierre is South Dakota’s state capital. In addition to state government, Pierre is also known for outstanding outdoor recreational opportunities. Sara Rankin is the CEO of the Pierre Chamber of Commerce. “If you like hunting and fishing, Pierre is an outdoorsman’s paradise.”
Dr. Mark Hagy is an orthopedic surgeon at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre. Dr. Hagy has traveled the world serving patients as a healthcare provider, until settling down in Pierre in 2017. “It has been an absolute blessing to come to South Dakota, it has reinvigorated my life. If I could bring together my former colleagues where I’ve practiced before to talk about how you can take care of patients and really take care of them in a good way, I would bring them all to this setting without a doubt.”
Lindee Miller is the Emergency Charge Nurse at Avera St. Mary’s. She was born and raised in Faulkton, SD, but left the state for a short stint as she pursued her education and healthcare career. She and her family decided home was South Dakota, so they moved back. “As my career advanced and I was ready to raise my kids, I knew Pierre was a safe community and that is where we wanted to be.”
Pierre is a robust community with continued growth. Avera St. Mary’s Hospital and the healthcare team are part of that growth with a variety of job opportunities.
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Gov. Noem Announces Fairness in Girls’ Sports Legislation

Governor Kristi Noem released the text of draft legislation to defend fairness in girls’ sports at both the K-12 and collegiate level. This legislation will codify Governor Noem’s executive orders and extend further protections to women and girls.

“This is about fairness. Every young woman deserves an equal playing field where she can achieve success, but common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition. It is for those reasons that only girls should be competing in girls’ sports,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “Women have fought long and hard for equal athletic opportunities, and South Dakota will defend them, but we have to do it in a smart way.”

“Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, shall participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls,” the legislation reads. The legislation describes “biological sex” as “the sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate issued at or near the time of the athlete’s birth.”

“This legislation does not have the problematic provisions that were included in last year’s House Bill 1217,” continued Governor Noem. “Those flawed provisions would have led to litigation for our state, as well as for the families of young South Dakota athletes – male and female alike.”

Governor Noem previously protected fairness in girls’ sports earlier this year when she signed two executive orders to defend it, both at the K-12 and collegiate levels. Now she is asking the Legislature to put it into law.

Following widespread misconceptions about Governor Noem’s position on this issue, she published an op-ed in National Review to correct the record.

You can read the draft legislation here.