By Owen Wiese
There are only a few businesses in Garretson that have been in operation for many years and have made Garretson the successful small town that it is.
One of the leading businesses in Garretson for many years has been the Garretson Farmers’ Co-op. During all those years, it has undergone many changes in the way in which it operates. I will not go back any further than the early 1950’s for most of this article because that is the time of my personal experience with the business. I will rely on current Location Manager Kelly Bunde for much of the information.
In the early history of the Co-op it operated a lumberyard in addition to the grain business. The lumberyard was located in open sheds at the south end of the current buildings. A.B. Doolittle was an early manager of the Lumberyard. He was followed by workers such as Martin Halverson and Keith Danielson. Don DeBates was the last employee to operate the Lumberyard.
For those who read this article and are not familiar with the Co-op method of operation, an explanation of a Co-op would be in order. A Co-op is owned by the patrons, the ones who do business with the Co-op. Each of those people or family has equal ownership in the Co-op and is issued one share. No one can own more than one share. The profit for each year is distributed to the shareholders based on the amount of business each shareholder did with the Co-op in that year. If the shareholder sold grain through the Co-op they receive a portion of the profit made by the Co-op when it sells that grain on the market. The profit from the shareholders’ purchase of supplies, (seed, feed, lumber, etc.) is also distributed the same way.
A Co-op was run by a Board of Directors who were chosen by the shareholders. The Board sets the overall policy for operation. A General Manager is hired to put those policies into effect and makes the day-to-day decisions for the operation of the Co-op. If he makes poor decisions that result in a loss for the Co-op, the Board of Directors is still responsible.
The structure of the operating Co-ops located in each town has changed considerably over time. As the farms became larger and the farmers became fewer, it was more efficient to consolidate the administrative operations in fewer locations. Garretson is part of Eastern Farmers Co-op, which is headquartered in Brandon, and further consolidation under CHS.
There are approximately twenty operating locations such as Garretson in CHS. Very few local Co-ops have chosen not to become a part of Eastern Farmers’ Co-op or CHS. Each operating location has a Manager such as Kelly Bunde, who has been here since 1991.
One of the early and long-time Presidents on the Board of Directors was Iver Henjum, a successful farmer who lived west of Garretson. Iver was immediately recognized as a leader and a person to be listened to. He served several terms as a Representative in the South Dakota Legislature and was one of the leaders involved in starting the Garretson Co-op Telephone Company, the forerunner of Alliance Communications. Iver and his wife Josie had no children and their substantial estate was distributed generously in the community of Garretson.
Farming practices in the early ‘50s were different in many ways from present days. Farms were generally smaller and many raised livestock. Crops grown were corn, oats, and hay. The agronomists had not yet done their wonderful work and crop yields were much smaller. A good yield of corn was 40 to 50 bushels per acre, picked by a tractor-driven corn picker and was picked on the ear. It was stored in corn cribs built with slatted sides that let the air in to dry the corn, and also often stored in cribs built of four-foot high rolls of corn cribbing, put in a circle about sixteen feet in diameter and three rings high.
Because the corn had been picked on the ear, when the farmer wanted to sell, it had to be shelled by a corn sheller. Most farmers did not have their own shellers so they called a custom sheller. It was mounted on a truck or pulled by a tractor. The corn was shoveled or raked into the sheller. The corn came out one auger spout into a wagon or truck, the cobs out a chain mechanism, and the shucks out a blower. Because there were a lot of chains and sprockets and moving parts on a corn sheller, trouble was frequent. Duane Davis owned a corn sheller which went to several farms. Duane had injured one hand in a corn picking accident several years before. To see Duane repairing a broken chain with a hammer and chain breaker in very cold weather with heavy gloves on could be interesting to say the least.
In the 1940’s and early 1950‘s combines had not yet been developed. The methods used to harvest grains such as oats or barley was very labor-intensive. When the grains were ready for harvest, they were cut by a machine called a binder. It had a seat for a person to ride on, was pulled by a tractor, and cut about a twelve-foot swath of grain. The grain was moved by a canvas apron to a mechanism which then tied the grain into small bundles with one string of twine. The bundles of grain then fell onto a carrier. When there were about six bundles on the carrier, the person riding on the binder released the basket and the bundles fell on the ground. After that, a crew of workers would pick up each of the bundles and stand them up with the grains up and together in what was called a shock. Shocking grain was a good job for high school boys in the summer. Seeing a whole field of grain shocked and standing in rows was really rather picturesque.
After the cutting and shocking of the grain was complete, it had to be threshed. Most farmers did not have a threshing machine by themselves, so they bought one together and had a threshing ring. A threshing machine was a large machine that separated the grain from the straw. (Sometimes they are seen in a corner of a field as a memento of times past). The threshing machine was powered by a tractor connected to the threshing machine by a long belt about eight inches wide and run by the pulley on the tractor.
Bundle wagons were pulled by a tractor or a team of horses. The bundles in the shocks were then pitched into the wagon by two men on the ground. There was a way on which the bundles pitched onto the wagon so they would be easy to be pitched off at the threshing machine. Bundle wagons would be driven to both sides of a long conveyer on the threshing machine, and a man in each wagon would pitch each bundle onto the conveyer. It would then go into the threshing machine. The grain would be augured into a wagon and the straw would be blown into a pile to be baled or used for livestock bedding on the farm.
From a childhood memory, I remember a bundle wagon being unloaded at the threshing machine and it caught fire from a spark off the steam engine running the threshing machine. The man in the wagon drove the team of horses away from the threshing machine very quickly and unhooked the horses in a hurry.
Another sometimes unwelcome task with hosting a threshing crew was the custom for the farmwife to cook a big dinner and an afternoon lunch for all the threshing crew.
Sometimes a threshing machine and other equipment was owned by a person who would thresh the grain for the farmers for a fee. One such person was Norm Engebretson, who lived on Fifth Street in Garretson. He had a shop and storage area where the new building owned by Richard Johnson now stands. Norm also did road construction and repair work. The bundle wagons he owned were larger than most and were a target almost every year on Halloween for High School boys to pull to the school and place in front of the School House doors.
As can be seen, the harvesting of both corn and grains was very labor intensive and time consuming. There was help on the way!
The advent of the combine could be considered as the single event that brought on more changes than any farm event to that point. As the farm operations became less labor intensive, the farms became larger in size. As farmers retired, they would rent their farms to other farmers and in many cases sell their farms. Fewer farmers could farm more land because of better machinery and the need for less labor.
The first combines were developed in Australia in 1938. They made their way to the U.S., and were then improved in size and efficiency. The first ones were small and pulled by a tractor. As a direct cut combine, they only cut a narrow windrow about eight feet wide. If the grain had to be dried before combining, the grain was cut into windrows and allowed to dry before being picked up by the combine. The grain was combined while moving, separated, and augured into a wagon pulled alongside while the straw fell to the ground. The straw was raked and stacked for later use. The self-tying baler was not yet developed.
Lee Lowe, grandfather of Rod and Brad, had a wire tie baler mounted on a truck. A man or boy sat on each side of the chamber of the baler. As the hay or straw moved through the chamber, the person on one side of the baler would drop in a wood block the had two holes through it. He would push the baling wire through the block and the person on the other side would tie the ends together. If the two workers felt mischievous, they could wait to put the second block in and tie a really big bale.
The earliest combine I can recall was a Case pull-type owned by Rudy and Ralph Engebretson. Case had a store where City Hall is now. Some of the original building is still in use. The Case dealership was owned by Fred Rademacher.
As combines developed and improved, they took the place of the binder, the threshing machine, the bundle racks and the job of shocking the grain.
The combines got large. In 1954 the first corn heads were put on combines by John Deere and International. That led to the demise of the corn picker, the corn sheller, and the storage of corn in outside cribs.
To meet the new needs, new equipment was developed. Grain bins for storage, corn driers, and grain augers to replace the grain elevators were built. As the combines got larger, the wagons to haul the corn got larger or were replaced by trucks. Tractors got larger to pull the wagons in the field.
Another machine which was popular and had much use was the feed grinder such as the one operated by Frank Koens from 1957 to 1964. Frank would go from farm to farm and grind the feed ingredients for the farmer. As the farms got bigger, many farmers bought their own tractor-powered feed grinder. Then, as the livestock farms got bigger, they relied on the local elevator to grind their feeds and deliver it to the farm. For the very large livestock farms they either have grinders in place, or more likely have the feed delivered from an off-site establishment.
The big changes in the farm operations led to a number of social changes, such as fewer people in rural areas, the demise of some small towns, and the movement of many people to larger towns and new jobs.
There have been many changes to farm operations in the past several decades, but the local operating location in Garretson provides many important services. In the spring before planting and after harvest they apply a large amount of fertilizer. In the spring before planting and during the growing season, and then again after harvest, they apply a large amount chemical weed and insect control. They also sell a large quantity of seed corn (DeKalb) and alfalfa seed (Allegiance) which they can seed using a piece of equipment designed for seeding. For farmers who want to spread their own fertilizer, the Co-op also has spreaders to rent. The Co-op sells a large quantity of chemicals for weed control to farmers who apply it themselves. The Co-op also has a small amount of feed for horses and pets.
There is a long history of the buildings used by the Co-op and many changes to them. The building presently used for business offices and for some chemical storage was originally the lumber yard. When lumber sales were discontinued, the building was fully enclosed for its present use.
North of the present warehouse was where the original elevator (South house) was. It housed the business offices in addition to its elevator function. It was also enlarged to hold the feed grinder to grind feed for delivery to farmers. North of the South house were two medium sized grain bins and beyond that, the North house and then three large grain bins, all connected by horizontal augers.
In addition to all those buildings, a large fertilizer storage building and a large bin and leg for storage of soy beans was built. An assortment of tanks used for chemical storage is at the south end of the complex.
The changes to the buildings began in fall of 2017. The original South house was taken down, being old and not functional. On June 22, 2015 a force of nature made very large changes in the buildings. A storm with 100 mph straight-line winds came through and caused severe damage. The three large grain storage tanks at the north end of the complex and the auger system connecting them were severely damaged and subsequently removed. West of the present office building the bean storage bin and leg were heavily damaged. The bin leg fell onto the roof of the office building, causing heavy damage. The whole roof of the office and chemical storage building was replaced. After removal of the large grain storage bins at the north end of the complex, it was not feasible to replace them, and the North house was taken down in the fall of 2017. The Eastern Farmers’ building complex is now as it was left after repairs from the storm in 2015.
The biggest task that Kelly Bunde and his staff have to do now is to recruit and hire enough drivers to drive all the sprayers, fertilizer applicators, tender trucks and other equipment. Every driver has to be DOT qualified because they will cross into Minnesota. It is estimated that five or six additional drivers will be required. Kelly anticipates that two interns from colleges will be working. The people who are hired will have to be knowledgeable in the operation of sprayers and fertilizer applicators. The equipment is rather complex, and mistakes in application of chemicals and fertilizers cannot be tolerated.
There are 20 CHS operating locations in three states (SD, MN, IA) with the headquarters in Brandon. There are eleven members on the Board of Directors from six districts. The Board members from this District are Jordan Quam and Jerry Ellefson. The locations are as much as165 miles apart and the service area is even larger than that. The locations vary a lot in the number of workers at each location. The fewest employees at a location is one person, and the largest has thirty-two employees. Not all elevator companies have joined CHS. One that has not is located at Valley Springs.
Over the many years of operation of the Farmers’ Co-op Elevator Company, now the CHS Elevator, there have been many people who have worked for the company. Following is a list of those people, not by the dates they worked, by what my memory can recall and by the names furnished by Location Manager Kelly Bunde.
A.B. Doolittle, Oscar Schmidt, Willard Moe, Earl (Fritz) DeBates, Martin Halvorson, LaVonne Willems, Keith Danielson, John Topp, Chuck Miller, Kelly Bunde, Bert Danielson, Don Debates, Paul Engebretson, Paul Warkenthein, Todd Kringen, Keith Eithreim, Barb Barger Edmundson, Lee Hanson, Bill Mckenna, Dale Schmiesing, Randy Kringen, and Bonnie Quissel. All those people have (and many still do) contributed to the Garretson community. Thanks to all.
The present workforce is: Brad Farrell, Tanner Bowman, Ryan Riley, Brendan Fiegan, Mike Swenson, and Bob Goodroad. Good luck to all of you.
