By Laura London
Originally Published in Lake Region Electric Cooperative Connections
Reprinted with Permission
Matt Feldhaus and his wife Kari are living their dream in northeast South Dakota at Feldhaus Oak Creek Ranch. This little piece of heaven on earth is where they made their home, raised three children, a multitude of dogs and so many cattle that Matt sometimes loses track of a couple. It is a peaceful place where the occasional baby eagle feels comfortable taking a rest on the senescent trampoline in the back yard. With their dreams coming true through hard work and perseverance, one thing they didn’t plan for was becoming famous.
Famous In A Small Town
“Fifteen minutes of fame,” is a phrase most often attributed to the artist Andy Warhol with a multitude of interpretations. However you choose to interpret the saying, Matt Feldhaus has definitely had his fifteen minutes a million times over since his son Dane convinced him to start a YouTube channel showcasing all of the adventures and misadventures of ranching. “He definitely has the personality for it!” boasts Kari, affectionately known as “Mrs. Sassy Pants” by more than 16 thousand followers of their YouTube channel Ranching Sodak.
Dane started a YouTube channel, Hunting Sodak, when he was in high school; just a kid out with friends videoing what they love, sharing it with the world. Dane soon realized what set his videos apart from others was that they were not staged or professional; they were real. The Feldhaus family follows this same motif when filming and producing content for Ranching Sodak. Very little equipment is involved in recording; typically, a GoPro camera, cell phone, and occasionally, a drone are used to capture footage of everyday activities of ranching life. Dane, who has moved away from home to focus on his own business DF Cattle Mats, downloads video that Matt sends to the cloud from an SD card. According to Dane, it now typically takes him about an hour to produce ten minutes of video content.
Ranching Sodak has been wildly successful with 16.2 thousand subscribers and millions of views.
One of the most popular videos, “Restoring 100 Year Old Spring Fed Water Tank,” is 24 minutes long and has over 114,000 views in just over a month. While that is an impressive number, it doesn’t compare to one of their “shorts.” “Prairie Shrimp” has 1.6 million views; with 32 thousand people taking the time to give it a thumbs up. It’s well worth the 15 seconds it takes to watch the video and get a good laugh.
Matt gets a gleam in his eye and a chuckle from everyone in the room when he explains his inspiration, or lack thereof, for this video, “Oh, that was just one of those things I did spur of the moment when I was in the pasture looking at a piece of equipment. I saw the cow patties around and thought, ‘This would be fun.’” Kari and Dane attest that Matt’s personality on video is genuine and the things he says and does on video are truly how life is on the ranch.
There is unanimous agreement that there isn’t a favorite video but the best are those where the whole family is involved. Matt explains that not only are they creating content that is informative and entertaining for others, but they are making and recording memories that they can reflect on in the future, like a modern family photo album. Kari says that recording their activities, especially the drone footage, also helps them become more efficient in their daily activities, particularly when sorting cattle.
There is a lot of content out there today on varying platforms, so what is it that draws viewers and subscribers to Ranching Sodak? According to the Feldhaus’s, this is real life; they invite you in and make you feel like a part of the family. For many of their viewers, it’s the combination of the personalities and the nostalgia of ranch life.
Positve Feedback
People have written letters making comparisons to their own ranching experiences. Yes, people still write letters. In fact, the Feldhaus’s get fan mail, texts, and occasionally phone calls. Matt has his address and phone number right on their YouTube channel. Some people say he’s crazy for putting that all out there for the world to see. His response to this is, “Well, we used to have phone books, this isn’t much different.” Matt admits there is a little bit of gaslighting that occurs and some negativity from people who don’t understand ranching. For the most part though, it’s positive feedback.
The Feldhaus’s have made a lot of new-old friends through Ranching Sodak. In one episode, Matt was “fixing” something and jokingly made a comment, “I guess I could use a new sawzall, so if anyone has an extra one they’d like to send me, my address is below.” In true cowboy fashion, one fan sent a brand new sawzall. One particularly touching piece of mail was a box of hats sent from a retired truck driver who had collected hats throughout his trucking years, and he wanted to share that legacy with the Feldhaus family. To Matt, Kari and the kids, it’s not about getting stuff or generating income, the joy and satisfaction comes from the connections that you make with real people.
The future is looking bright for Ranching Sodak. They plan to continue to release episodes twice weekly because consistency works. Matt and Kari will continue to work hard and live their dream on the ranch, documenting some of their daily activities and adventures to share with the rest of us.
There are some plans in the works for Kari to put together a little bit of marketing and some care packages for their fans that just might include some delectable beef jerky.
Dane, aka: “Manual Labor Dane,” is pursuing some of his own dreams a little further west where he has invested his heart and soul into his cattle mat business. Ellie will be heading back to school at Lake Area Technical College to further her education, but we are sure to see her working cattle and other ranching family duties in the future, and eldest son Kordell is loving life as an engineer in the Sioux Falls area. “And that’s what’s happening on Ranching Sodak!”
Check them out at: https://www.youtube.com/@ Ranchingsodak/videos.
