Brown County Farmers Receive Farmers Union Ag Ambassador Award

By Lura Roti

South Dakota Farmers Union recognizes Paul Dennert and Don Schaunaman (posthumously) for their leadership and service to South Dakota agriculture. The state’s largest agriculture organization honors the Brown County farmers with the Ag Ambassador award during its 109th State Convention held in Huron, S.D. December 11 and 12.

“South Dakota’s number one industry benefited greatly from Paul and Don’s passion for agriculture and service to its people,” said Doug Sombke, President of South Dakota Farmers Union. “We recognize them with this award because they serve as great examples to those of us in leadership positions today and those who will lead in the future.”

Columbia farmer Paul Dennert

A fourth-generation Brown County farmer, H. Paul Dennert said he fell in love with livestock as a child growing up on his family’s farm.

“My dad bought me my first Angus heifer in 1956, and I raised a registered cow/calf herd until I sold it to my grandson in 2023,” explained Dennert, who feels fortunate to have been able to farm and live on the land his great-grandfather Herman Dennert homesteaded in 1893.

“I can look out my kitchen window and see cattle and my great-grandchildren playing outside – there is no better place to raise children than on the farm,” said Dennert who together with his wife, Peggy June, have two children Dana and Kelli McFarland. Today in their late 80s the couple has nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

A full-time farmer until 2023, Dennert said it feels good to know the family’s farming legacy is in good hands. “It does my heart good to know they are interested, and the farm will remain in the family name going forward.”

Along with farming and raising children, Dennert also made time to give back. For more than 50 years he served St John’s Lutheran Church treasurer and now as a board member at Our Saviors Lutheran church. He volunteered as a Sunday School Teacher and Superintendent. He also served on the board of the Columbia Community Fire Association.

“Growing up taking part in our community, I learned to work with people, and I learned how rewarding it is to give back,” Dennert said. “My parents were involved and gave back and my wife’s parents did the same. So, for me, giving back just came natural.”

In 1992 Dennert was asked to run for the South Dakota House of Representatives. He committed 20 years to serving the citizens of District 2 first in the House and then the Senate (over the years he served rural Brown County and portions of Marshall and Day Counties, as well as some of Aberdeen).

“As a farmer serving in the legislature, I was able to bring the agriculture view to policy,” Dennert said.

He worked tirelessly to revise how agriculture land was valued for taxation purposes. “The value of ag land was increasing so fast in areas of South Dakota, like the Black Hills or land near other urban centers, because they were using the value of the land around it, instead of basing the tax value on its productivity. I worked with a committee for years to get ag land tax value to be based on a productivity model.”

In addition to his efforts to support positive change for the future of South Dakota agriculture, Dennert also focused on legislation to cover the costs for cochlear implants for South Dakota’s children with hearing loss.

“When I think of the legislation I am most proud of, of course changing the way agriculture land is valued stands out, but all together different than farming, was the bill I introduced that passed to help pay for cochlear implants.”

Dennert was 55 when he began serving in the Legislature. And he said he could not have done it without help from his son, Dana. “It was good timing, because our son was of the age where he could handle the operation while I was gone.”

Dennert also appreciated his wife, Peggy’s support. Peggy traveled to Pierre with Dennert during the Legislative Session.

While he served, his grandchildren often visited him and Peggy in Pierre. As teens several served as Legislative Pages. In 2016 his grandson Drew was elected to serve as District 3 Representative.

After Dennert served his last term in the South Dakota Legislature in 2012, he was asked to serve on the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Commission.

Today, he and his wife continue to be involved in Our Saviors Lutheran Church, they enjoy travel and spending time with their family.

Aberdeen farmer Don Schaunaman

Ask brothers and Brown County farmers, Craig and Kirk Schaunaman what they want folks to know about their dad, Don Schaunaman, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 92, and without hesitation they say, “He was humble. He would not have liked all the attention an award like this brings,” Kirk said.

“He was always willing to help somebody,” Craig said. “And he always did the right thing.”

A third-generation Brown County farmer, Don Schaunaman grew up on his family’s farm near Westport, S.D., during the Depression. The middle child of 13, Don and eight of his 10 brothers would continue the farming legacy of their dad and grandpa.

Don’s farming career was built alongside his wife, Hazel, on her family’s farm just three miles from Aberdeen.

“You know, we are lucky, our parents were married for 70 years, they passed away a year apart,” Kirk said. “They were also really fortunate because they never buried a child or a grandchild.”

As a farmer, Don was a strong believer in the cooperative business model. He bought all the inputs he could from local cooperatives and served on the local Northern Electric Co-op board. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Henry.

“Dad was not a very talkative guy. But he didn’t need to say much, because he really led by example,” explained Craig.

Don served on the School Board for the Riverside Country School and was also an active member of South Dakota Farmers Union. “Dad really felt that Farmers Union provided a rural voice for farmers like us,” Craig said. “Dad looked up to the leadership and believed that Farmers Union was there for rural agriculture in South Dakota.”

Both sons say their dad’s example led them to serve. From 2009 to 2017 Craig served as the State Director for the Farm Service Agency. And today, Kirk serves on the Rural Electric Co-op board of directors and on the Farmers Union Industries board of directors.

“Like we said, dad believed in doing the right thing and always said, “do the right thing and do the best you can do,’” Kirk said. “And when you know something is wrong, do not be afraid to stand up for what is right.”

Kirk and Craig said even though times were tough in the 1980s when they were ready to farm full-time after high school, their dad made sure there was room for them on the family farm.

“Dad didn’t encourage us or discourage us to farm. But as long as we were willing to earn it, he told us that if we wanted to farm, he would make room for us,” Craig said.

“He wasn’t going to hand it to us. We had to get up and work for it,” Kirk said. “You want it, you earn it.”

The brothers both said farming was the career they wanted.

“My favorite memories with dad are delivering grain to the West Terminal. In the 50s the co-op built a big, new cement terminal. It is still standing. I have a clear memory of driving the new truck dad bought in 1973 to deliver wheat to the elevator. It was only three miles from the farm. I think I was 14.”

Don retired from farming in the 1990s when he was 65.

While Kirk and Craig built their career on the family farm, their older brother Mark made a career in ag banking in North Dakota and their sister, Kristie Erickson farms with her husband near Bath, S.D. Both Mark and Kristie also followed Don’s Leadership serving in leadership capacities in their communities.

“Dad was happy that we continued the farming tradition. You know for dad, farming was always a family deal,” Kirk said. “Today, our nephew, Chad, farms with us full time and other family members filling in when needed.”