Bryan Jorgensen was recently appointed to the SD Wheat Commission by SD Governor Kristi Noem. Bryan is the Chief Agronomy Operations Officer and an owner of Jorgensen Land & Cattle in Ideal, SD. Growing up on the family operation in Northern Tripp County, SD, Bryan has lived in the heart of SD wheat country his entire life. He manages all agronomy operations for Jorgensen Land & Cattle, which currently operates 13,000 acres of farm land. Around 3,000 of those acres are planted to wheat on an annual basis.
A Focus on Soil Health
Bryan has been a long-time advocate for soil health and sustainable farming practices. In 1991, he transitioned JLC to 100% no-till and has maintained that practice ever since. He has always viewed Winter Wheat as the cornerstone of a good crop rotation. It’s acres determine available acres for other crops, not only in the current year, but for many years to come. Currently, he organizes a crop rotation for JLC that incorporates over 13 different crops, when including different cover crop varieties. Crop diversity is viewed as an absolute necessity to ensure economic and agronomic success on the land he manages.
Dakota Farm Talk Interview
"Right now it's not fun to raise Winter Wheat.....So we've got a bit of work to do. I look at that as an opportunity."
Recently, Bryan was featured on Dakota Farm talk with Pam Geppert, where he discussed his recent appointment to the SD Wheat Commission, as well his thoughts on the importance of wheat in a well managed crop rotation.
As a seed grower, Bryan has had a firm pulse on the health of the wheat industry in South Dakota and the world for many years. With South Dakota reporting some of the lowest planted wheat acres on record in 2019, at right around 700,000. Bryan has concerns about what that means for crop rotations in South Dakota as well as the diminishing share of the world market US wheat has.
South Dakota wheat checkoff investments in market development and research play a vital role in promoting SD wheat domestically and internationally. They are also important for developing new and improved varieties of wheat.
More about SD Wheat
The SD Wheat Commission directs the investment of wheat checkoff dollars on behalf of wheat farmers in South Dakota. With over $1.8 million checkoff dollars invested in 2019, the SD Wheat Commission has a large and positive impact for producers across South Dakota.