S.D. Farmers Union Celebrates the Springer Farm Family

by Lura Roti for S.D. Farmers Union

 Rock hound and fourth-generation Dixon farmer, Terry Springer, 65, says when he’s outdoors he’s always on the lookout for a stone that catches his eye.

 “Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve been walking around with my head down,” explains Terry, who over a lifetime has amassed a rare and extensive rock collection.

Terry’s collection boasts ancient arrow heads, mammoth bones, fossilized wood, rose quartz, moss rock and other unique geologic specimens.

 Many of the rocks were discovered on the land his great-grandparents and great-great-uncle first farmed in the early 1900s – the land where today, he and his brother, Wayne, 60, continue the family’s farming legacy. Together they raise corn, small grains, forage and a cow/calf-to-finish-direct-marketing beef operation, Springer Farms.

“I like living in the country and being my own boss. I enjoy working with cattle and being out working in nature,” says Wayne, who at 19 bought the farm neighboring the land his great-great-uncle Hans homesteaded near Gregory. 

When the neighbors were ready to retire, Wayne explains that they asked him if he was interested in the land because they knew he would take care of it.

 “Even in the late ’70s investors were buying up farm ground around here. They sold the land to me because, in their own words, “they wanted their farm to remain a working farm and didn’t want it to become an abandoned homestead,'” Wayne says.

 He adds that the land he owns was originally purchased by his great-grandfather Carl in 1904, one year after it was homesteaded. 

 Carl lost the farm during the Dirty Thirties.

The brothers can empathize with the challenges their grandfather faced.

To read more and view the photo gallery, click here