Stockyards Ag Experience Celebrated for Excellent Acts

Celebrating Acts of Excellence, One Act at a Time

The Acts of Excellence program connects us with individuals and organizations who are building a culture of excellence in South Dakota, one act at a time.Please join us and area inductees to celebrate this Act of Excellence on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 from 4:30 to 6 pm at Sanford Health's Imagentics Building in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. See all of the event details here:

Stockyards Ag Experience Tells Farming’s Story

With the growth of medicine, banking, and technology services in the Sioux Falls area, it may be easy for newcomers to forget about the importance of agriculture and the Sioux Falls Stockyards to the city and state. The Stockyards Ag Experience is an initiative aimed not only at educating new residents about agriculture and livestock markets but also at reminding longtime South Dakotans of the essential role farming in general and the Stockyards, in particular, played in the development of both Sioux Falls and South Dakota. Using the old horse barn at Falls Park near downtown Sioux Falls, advocates of the Stockyards Ag Experience developed a museum that tells the history of the stockyards and offers pasture-to-plate exhibits that remind people most items in the grocery store came from farms and ranches through sale barns and processing plants. Jim Woster, who worked more than 40 years at the stockyards, is president of the board for the Stockyards Ag Experience. In an article on the organization’s website, Woster says he hopes the Barn and surrounding Plaza will serve “as a reminder that the Sioux Falls Stockyards, our customers and all of the related industries were indeed very special.’’ Plans for the plaza include replicas of stockyards pens, a history wall, picnic, and activities areas and native grasses, flowers and trees. The barn, first phase in the project, opened to the public in March of 2017. In its first season, the museum hosted visitors from nearly every state and at least eight foreign countries. It’s a great way to tell new residents to Sioux Falls and South Dakota what agriculture is all about and the perfect way to remind longtime residents why farming matters. For more information, visit www.stockyardsagexperience.org.

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