(ALCESTER, SD) Brandon Peterson is a 4th generation farmer who's taking his business into the 21st century. He grew up in Alcester, South Dakota, and is raising his family just a few miles away from his great–grandfather's operation. And the cattle producer is putting a century of experience to good use.
"I guess I've been a farmer, to some extent, my whole life," says Brandon Peterson.
Brandon Peterson grew up around livestock, helping his father on the farm. Now his boys – 10-year-old Blake and 8-year-old Brady – are doing the same.
"I always tells people if I would have known how much help they were going to be, I would have had more of them because they're good help and they seem to enjoy it," says Peterson.
Three generations working together at Peterson Angus.
"Basically the goal anyway is to raise breeding stock," says Peterson.
As a nutritional consultant and farmer, Brandon combines his expertise in both to benefit the customer.
"Genetics and nutrition, bring it together and hopefully maintain the goal of having a profitable product for the cow–calf producer," says Peterson.
Brandon is hands–on with his herd and understands the value of hard work, learned from the men who came before him.
"We find ourselves coming back to what our fathers and grandfathers did and we just tweak them a little bit with information and some new data that we've got today," says Peterson.
Technology makes Brandon's life a whole lot easier here on the farm. When he's out pen–checking the animals, he uses his Smartphone to instantaneously look up markets or take notes in an app that syncs directly to his home computer.
"Data is real time, information is real time. We communicate with lots of people in lots of different states almost daily," says Peterson.
With clients in a dozen states as far away as Montana and Maryland, technology is the tool of the 21st century farmer. But even so -
"You can do it all on paper and it can look right but you still have to go out and know your animals," says Peterson.
And that is what Brandon loves about farming.
"There's just something about working with livestock, working with cattle, at least for me that really – it's natural," says Peterson.
Brandon wants his customers to know their animals as well. That's why his annual production sale features Angus bulls, heifers and cows for clients to see in person and purchase on site.
You can learn more about Peterson Angus online at www.petersonangus.com.
Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com to nominate someone who's Proud to be a Hometown Farmer. The Iowa Broadcast News Association awarded this series 1st place Farm & Agribusiness in 2010.
