Todd Hanten

This South Dakota farmer turned 132 years of family legacy into a resilient, diversified operation that's ready for the future.

- By Lisa Foust Prater Executive Editor, Family & Rural Issues [e-mail]

Fourth-generation farmer Todd Hanten exited the dairy industry after his kids left for college in 2012. He restructured the family farm in northeast South Dakota to create a more manageable and profitable future that would allow his children, Brittany and Brock, to come back full time, if they wished. Hanten still farms and lives on the original 160-acre homestead claimed by his great-grandfather, Albert, in 1893. The deed, signed by President Grover Cleveland, hangs above his fireplace.

SF: Did you always know you wanted to continue the family legacy and be a farmer?

TH: I knew I wanted to be a farmer my whole life. Getting to work with my grandpa [Mathew] and dad [Leo] was a great experience. There’s no better dad out there than my dad. We worked together side by side, did the hard jobs, but did some fun things too. I’m so happy to be doing what I am today.

SF: Why did you leave the dairy industry, and what does your operation look like now?