We are a pretty tough breed here in eastern South Dakota. With record heat in the summer and blizzards in the winter, we have to be. Life doesn’t stop during harsh weather. Particularly when you are part of the agriculture community like we are. 

But, as general manager of Dakota Layers, a family-owned egg farm in Flandreau, I couldn’t be more “prairie proud” to be a member of this community! Even during our frigid winters and blistering-hot summers, we check each of the hens in our care daily, making sure the water lines are delivering the right amount of water and the feed troughs are filled. I love this work and I can’t imagine doing anything else. 

I’m a second-generation egg farmer, and sixth-generation farmer. But this way of life was new to my wife Tracy when I joined Dakota Layers full-time in 2012. Tracy, a journalist by training (and a foodie by birth), is our marketing director and learned this business from the ground up. To say she’s passionate about this work would be putting it lightly. I’m also starting to see the agriculture spark in the eyes of my children, too. Jett, age 6, and Nora, who is 4, love being around the birds. The fact that Tracy and I can involve our children in our work makes us feel blessed beyond belief. 

As egg farmers, Easter means a lot to us. It’s not only because, for so many families, Easter equals eggs (and in fact, nearly 3 billion eggs are eaten during the Easter season), but it’s also due to the sense of community during the Easter season. And we see this come to life during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. A tradition now over 140 years old, the event on the South Lawn of the White House brings hundreds of families together to roll, decorate and eat the 74,000 eggs donated by America’s egg farmers. 

We love the idea of Americans coming together to celebrate family, a new season and the new life that comes with spring. This sense of community is so important for us at Dakota Layers. We make sure to carry this on every day. In addition to providing over 70 jobs to our community, we give back five percent of local sales in each county to food pantries or charities. In 2018 alone, we donated more than 17,000 eggs to Feeding South Dakota. 

Knowing families are enjoying our eggs means so much to us. It makes us “prairie proud” not only at Easter but every day to be South Dakotans, members of the agriculture community and Americans.