Streff Farm Family

South Dakota Farmers Union Celebrates McCook County Farm Family

By Lura Roti for South Dakota Farmers Union

Vicki and Andrew Streff were recently asked how they met and nearly in unison they said, “church ladies.”

“The church ladies got together and thought, let’s introduce some Streff boys to some Rakus girls,” explained Vicki of how their first meeting was orchestrated.

The church ladies were on to something because in addition to Andrew and Vicki hitting it off, Vicki’s sister, Katie, ended up marrying Andrew’s brother, Mark.

“Katie and I have always been close. She is my best friend and since we married brothers, now we get to share the same last name for a second time,” Vicki said.

It’s appropriate that their shared Catholic faith brought them together because faith plays a large role in the Streff family, explained Andrew’s mom, Julie.

 “I moved to Salem to teach at the Catholic school here because faith is very important to me,” Julie said. “As the boys were growing up, we made sure to frequently talk about our faith.”

In fact, Julie and Eugene met because of St. Mary Catholic School. During the homecoming parade while she was teaching, Eugene saw Julie and decided to call her up and ask her on a date. “His nephew was a student in my class, so I knew the family,” Julie said.

A year later they married. It was 1992 and Eugene was more than a decade into farming the land his great-uncle, Bill Streff, sold him on contract-for-deed in 1981.

“My great-uncle came to visit me and offered to sell the quarter to me because he wanted to have a young guy over here and keep the farm in the family,” Eugene explained.

Great-uncle Bill Streff had good reason to keep the farmground in the family. The Streff family has farmed in McCook County since homesteading days. Over a century ago, Eugene’s great-grandfather Joseph Streff, was a successful farmer and he was able to help each of his six sons get land and a start in farming.

Today, Eugene and Julie continue the tradition. In their 60s, they are currently in the process of transitioning the farm to Andrew and Vicki. Andrew’s older brothers, John and Mark, pursued off-farm careers. But for Andrew, it was always farming.

 “I always wanted to farm,” Andrew said. “I’ve always liked driving tractors, and when I was a freshman in high school, Mom and Dad provided me an opportunity to actually farm as opposed to just being farm labor.”

His freshman year, Andrew leased 10 acres from Eugene and Julie. He made all the decisions on the land and kept the profits from the corn he raised.

By the time he graduated, Andrew’s 10 acres had grown to 100 acres that he leased and farmed together with Mark.

In addition to learning about what goes into raising crops, because he kept meticulous records on his farm acres as part of his FFA Supervised Agriculture Experience, Andrew said he learned quite a bit about the business of farming.

“Mom and Dad always were big into the fact that you need to know how to run the business of the farm, not just how to drive tractors… because tractors are driving themselves these days,” Andrew said.

Eugene said this mindset came from farming during the challenging 1980s and what he learned later in his farming career from one of his Mitchell Technical instructors.

“He stopped by the farm and asked if I wanted to work through a computer farm business management course with him. I learned the value in looking at the numbers instead of just focusing on production,” Eugene said. “You can produce all you want, but if it is not profitable, why do it? And marketing, marketing is No. 1.”

In addition to his crop acres, Andrew and Mark also did custom land rolling and operated an ag equipment detailing business. “Together we could detail a combine in one day and earn $400,” said Andrew, who also kept records on the agribusinesses as part of FFA.

Andrew’s recordkeeping paid off in more ways than one. From 2016 to 2019, Andrew received multiple state and national FFA awards including the American Star in Ag Placement. He was also selected to serve as the South Dakota State FFA Treasurer in 2016.

Getting involved and giving back through leadership is something that remains important to Andrew today. He currently serves on the board of directors of Central Farmers Cooperative. And each spring, he uses his planter’s precision technology and plants a corn maze for the community to enjoy. Last year, the family hosted nearly 500 people at the corn maze over two weekends.

After graduating with a degree in agriculture business from South Dakota State University, Andrew returned to farm full time with Eugene.

Together the men raise corn and soybeans, managing the land with minimal or no-till practices and quite a bit of precision agriculture.

“When I started, I had a small farrow to finish operation and some cattle, but my passion was really with the crops,” Eugene said. “I just enjoy seeing the crops grow and see what ways I can do better.”

Doing their best is a mantra of the Streff family.

Even though in the early years finances were tight, Eugene made an effort to maintain a pristine farmyard and do everything to the best of his ability.

“It has always been that if we are going to do something it needs to look nice and be done right,” Eugene said. “We all like things done well.”

Julie has the same mindset.

“The desire for excellence was taught and bred into us,” Andrew said. “If you are going to do something, do it well otherwise why do it? Also, we are quite competitive.”

“You should see board game night,” Vicki added. “I’m competitive too.”

Board game night has turned into board game afternoons. Afternoons are when Vicki and Andrew’s 9-month-old son, Luke, takes a nap.

Although Vicki did not grow up on a farm, she is grateful Luke gets to grow up on one. Before motherhood, Vicki was a K-12 music teacher. She moved to South Dakota from New Jersey with her family during COVID because South Dakota wasn’t locked down like New Jersey.

“I like the fact that Luke will be able to go outside and play in all this open space, ” Vicki said.

Transitioning the farm to the next generation

About the same time he returned home to farm with his parents, Andrew was recruited to work for a Mitchell commodity broker. He started in May of 2020 and by 2023 he purchased Farmers Trading Company.

“It is a fun time, we are growing the business and I get to help farmers,” Andrew said.

Even in the midst of the current Trade War, Andrew sees opportunity. “President Trump is both a challenge and an opportunity for a farmer. The Tariff War created a lot of market volatility which gives farmers the opportunity to trade price risk. If the price of cattle suddenly goes up, farmers can sell a contract of cattle one day. The next day, if the Trade War causes the cattle market to go down, another cattle producer may ask me to buy calves on the board.”

Working as both a farmer and a commodity broker, Andrew understands the stress the Trade War is causing for the agriculture producers he serves. “It is about trying to manage the price risk and take measured bets on the market,” said Andrew, who also runs Midwest Grain Marketing, a marketing service geared toward completely managing a farms grain marketing program.

Beginning in 2018, Andrew started leasing and operating a portion of the farm from his parents. In 2024 Eugene handed over the farm management to Andrew. Today, Andrew and Vicki lease and manage 70 percent of the farm.

“Transferring ownership and decisions over to Andrew is something we want to do, but it is not easy because I have been managing the farm all these years and now, I have to bite my tongue on occasion. But Julie and I feel that young people need the chance to develop their own lifestyle and future and set goals for the farm and reach for those goals,” Eugene explained. “I could keep farming full time and keep control of all the decisions, but is that good for Andrew and Vicki? We are proud of Andrew and Vicki and excited for their future on our family farm.”