South Dakota Farmers Union Celebrates the Sombke Farm Family

November 2, 2015 – By #South Dakota Farmer Union

Celebrating a century of service to South Dakota’s farm and ranch families, throughout 2015, South Dakota Farmers Union highlights members who farm or ranch with their families each month. This November, South Dakota Farmers Union features the Sombke family who farm together near Conde.

 By Lura Roti, for SDFU; Photos by Kaylee Speck Photography

 In 1978, when Doug Sombke made the decision to farm fulltime after high school, times were tough.

 “To explain how broke we were, I tell people that when Mel and I got married we couldn¹t afford an oven. We cooked on a hotplate,” Sombke recalls.

 But he was determined to make a go of it. Starting with 38 acres and the 4-H flock of 150 registered Suffolk ewes he and his brother, Dean, had built, Sombke stuck with it. He leased from neighbors, share cropped and eventually purchased land.

 Along with sheep, the fourth generation Brown County farmer started a cow/calf herd and eventually expanded to operate a feedlot.

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Last Modified: 11/02/2015 9:11:08 am MST