This week, we continue recognizing local family farms that were celebrated at this year’s South Dakota State Fair for their longevity. 44 farms and ranches that have been in the same family for 100 years or more were honored by the South Dakota Farm Bureau and the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Two Journal Country farms have stood the test of time for over 125 years.
Behnke Farm Quasquicentennial Award
The Behnke family was honored with an award for their 125-year-old farm at the State Fair. The origins of the Behnke farm located just a few miles east of Britton date back to Germany in the 19th century. After serving in the Prussian War, the oldest of four Behnke brothers vowed that his younger brothers would never have to go to that ugly war, so they all made plans to come to America.
In the late 1800s, they purchased tickets. According to family legend, the German military were checking as all the passengers were boarding. The three older brothers were allowed to go through, but they had to sneak the youngest, August, on and hide him under potato sacks and sit on him until the ship was well out to sea.
The four young men went as far as Wisconsin where each of them homesteaded. August married Wilhemina Krueger, also from Germany. August didn’t care for clearing all the trees there, so he decided to sell his land to his brothers and came to South Dakota to homestead a half mile east of the current Behnke farmstead.
They then moved their small house to where the homestead is today as the water was more suitable. There were 6 children born to this union. Henry, Albert, Lewis (Louie), Carl (Charlie), Elsie (Friebel), Frank and Martha. After Wilhemina passed away, the Behnke farm was divided up between the children.
Charlie’s son Laurel and his wife Jill farm the ground now and even live in the same eye-catching house that August and Wilhelmina built in 1906.
Hendrickson Farm- Quasquicentennial Award
The descendants of Ludvig and Petrine Hendrickson were also presented with the prestigious Quasquicentennial Award for their family farm in Day County. The farm, located three miles west and two miles south of Roslyn, was purchased by the Hendricksons in the late 1890s and spans approximately 1,000 acres.
Ludvig and Petrine raised eight children on the farm, with their second youngest, Raymond, taking over in the 1950s. Raymond, along with his wife Marion, continued the farming tradition, raising three daughters—Rachelle, Lois, and Laura—who eventually inherited the land.
Over the years, the farm has operated as both a cattle and crop enterprise. In the early 2000s, Rachelle and her husband Gary Knebel managed the farm before passing it on to their son, Greg Knebel, and his wife, Cindy. Greg now oversees the land, specializing in American British White Park cattle, while living in the house built on the very spot where his grandfather grew up.
As the farm transitions into an LLC called Hendrickson Heritage Farm, it prepares for future generations to continue the family legacy. The family also maintains their cherished tradition of gathering every Christmas Eve to celebrate and share a meal, drawing relatives from across the region back to the historic farm.
