Volume CIX, No. 7 Huron, SD NOV/DEC 2024
A PUBLICATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA FARMERS UNION
SERVING SOUTH DAKOTA’S FARM & RANCH FAMILIES SINCE 1915.
Young Members Rebuild County Organizations
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Don’t Miss 2025 Tri-State Young Producer Conference
White House Invited SDFU Members PAGE 6
Farmers Union Herd Builder Awards Given During 2024 Western Jr. Livestock Show
Oakleigh Reis-Elwood of Reliance and Trace Urban of Pukwana won breeding heifers through the South Dakota Farmers Union Herd Builder Award presented during the Western Jr. Livestock Show in Rapid City. Reis-Elwood and Urban are pictured here with David Reis, SDFU Board Member, Dallis Basel, SDFU Board Member, Karla Hofhenke, SDFU Executive Director, and Rocky Forman, SDFU Member Services Coordinator.
More about Herd Builder Awards on Page 14
State Convention 2024
Grassroots Policy Is Set Here! Attend & Make Your Voice Heard December 11-12 in Huron More Information on Page 8
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Thank You Veterans!
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Farmers Union Celebrates Deuel County Farm Family
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The Goens family farms near Clear Lake. Left to right Jack, Uncle LaVern, Jennie, Grandpa Jake, Great-Uncle Gordon, Jerad, Jase and Amanda.
ombining corn in a field just outside of Clear Lake this fall, Jerad Goens reflects on the generations of family members who harvested crops from this same field and others he farms. There’s his mom’s great-grandma Mills, his grandpas Dale Hoftiezer and Jerald Goens, his great-uncle Gordon and many more. “It especially hits me when an old piece of farm machinery or a horseshoe gets caught in the disc openers. The only reason there is a horseshoe left in this field is my great-great-grandparents used to farm this ground with horses,” explained Jerad, a fifth-generation crop and cattle farmer. Last spring Jerad added another family artifact to the collection – an old skeleton key padlock. “It is interesting to think, the last person to touch this object was probably my ancestor,” Jerad said. As he thinks about those who cared for the land before him, along with pride in continuing the family farming legacy comes a bit of anxiety. “The generations before me came through tough times, but every generation was still able to add land to the farm. Right now, I am concerned about hanging on to what my family worked so hard to gain,” Jerad said. Jerad explained this harvest his concerns are compounded by high inputs and poor commodity prices. “We just came off a field before this
Goens Family Continued on Page 2