South Dakota Farmers Union Celebrates January Farm Family

January 29, 2015Celebrating a century of service to South Dakota’s farm and ranch families, throughout 2015, South Dakota Farmers Union will highlight a South Dakota farm or ranch family each month. In January, South Dakota Farmers Union features the Kippley family who farms near Aberdeen.

Like all business owners, farmers are always crunching numbers, so the fact that John Kippley, 69, and his son, Jeff, 35, both have accounting degrees works well for the Aberdeen farmers. “The two go hand-in-hand because you’re always trying to figure out what crop to plant based on cash flow,” John explains.The oldest of eight boys, John grew up on a diversified farm in Iowa. Because his family’s farm could not support more than one family, his parents encouraged him and his younger brothers to find careers off the farm right after high school.

However, this didn’t detour John from dreaming of someday owning a farm of his own. He attended a two-year business school in Sioux Falls and graduated with a degree in tax preparation.

In 1975, only five years after H&R Block sent John and his wife, Geraldine, to open an office in Aberdeen, he purchased his first 40 acres of land.
A few years later Jeff was born. “I never knew life without the farm,” explains the second generation farmer, who followed a very similar career path to his father.
Today, Jeff and his wife, Rachel, own the H&R Block and farm with John, who operates Kippley Tax Service.

Last Modified: 07/07/2015 1:14:35 pm MDT