Back row (l to r): Bonnie Nickelson, CED; Trish Harrell, IT; Program Technicians Jean Johnson, Laurie Pfeifle and Kris Stevens, Susi Odden, COT and JoDee Bryant, Faulk County farm loan manager. Front row (l to r): Program Technicians Shelley Moncur and Kim Joy-Nelson, and Nancy Harrell, farm loan officer.
Located at the intersection of Highways 14 and 45 in east central South Dakota, the city of Miller is home to the Hand County FSA Office. Established in 1933 under the name of AAA, the office has occupied several locations before moving to the present location at 118 East 2nd Street, one block east of Main Street, in the mid 1970’s. This was the creation of the Agricultural Service Center for Hand County, and the first time Farmers Home Administration, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service were housed in the same building. The present building has undergone three remodeling projects to accommodate the needs of CFSA, FSA and IT requirements.
Hand County is 30 miles wide and 48 miles long. Of this area, nearly 855,000 acres, about 94 percent, are certified each year. We are a diversified county, with a wide range of crops planted (spring and winter wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, barley, oats, forage sorghum, millet, alfalfa hay and mixed hay) as well as native grass, cattle and sheep. Pheasant and deer are abundant in the county, making it a hunting paradise. This is due, at least in part, to the previously large participation in the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP acres have dropped from 34.6 thousand acres in 2006 to 18.8 thousand acres today. Economic conditions have resulted in a shift in the county’s agricultural profile. More than 150,000 acres have been converted to annual cropping since 1990 and livestock numbers continue to decrease. Crops with the most increase in acres are soybeans, with an estimated 85,000 more acres than in 1990, and corn with approximately 80,000 more.
Hand County producers face unpredictable weather patterns and have dealt with numerous disasters. In the last 35 years they have experienced at least six severe droughts, four tornadoes, five years of flooding, numerous blizzards, high straight line winds, extremely cold and extremely hot weather. Needless to say, Hand County FSA employees have become well versed in ad hoc disaster programs as well as the current NAP, LIP, ELAP and SURE disaster programs. During the most recent drought of 2006, Hand County FSA was fortunate to host South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin by providing a tour of drought-stricken land in the county.
During the period of 1955 through 2011, there have been five county executive directors and about a dozen farm loan managers. Hand County has served as a training county for 39 COT’s and has had four Farm Loan Program employees promoted to positions at the state office. Five additional employees have served on an FSA task force and held leadership roles in various training programs. Hand County is a charter member of South Dakota’s NASCOE affiliate, SDASCOE. Employees actively participate in SDASCOE and SDASE activities, with nine employees holding positions in the organizations over the years. The employee’s sense of service also is displayed outside of the office by the numerous community organizations and activities that they promote and participate. In May of 2011, there were a total of eight FSA employees in the building. The office is also home to one ITS employee.
There is extraordinary teamwork and true friendship among Hand County employees, which is recognized by the producers they serve. All employees are cross trained so that an employee’s absence does not result in lack of service available in those program areas. During heavy periods, such as certification, every employee assists with that activity while their own program needs are put on hold, whenever possible. The cheerful attitude and friendly service are so prevalent that producers say they actually look forward to their visits and often stop in just to say hello when they are in town.
In 2006, Hand County became the lead office in a shared management arrangement with Hyde County. The Hyde County office is located 25 miles west, in Highmore, S.D., It is a full time office with two program technicians and a shared CED. This arrangement has worked out well and resulted in a spirit of teamwork that is carried across county lines.
Hand and Hyde County employees have actively recruited email addresses and have been providing 
producers with county-generated eNews since early 2010. They are two of the leading counties in the nation with their email database.
Current Hand County employees and their length of service are: Bonnie L. Nickelson, CED (33); Kris Stevens, CPT (27); Nancy Harrell, FLO (11); Laurie Pfeifle, PT (19); Shelley Moncur, PT (21); and Jean Johnson, PT (22). County Committee members include Carol Grey,cChairperson, Mike Clements and Matt Rogers.
If you are ever driving east or west across the state of South Dakota on Highway 14, and decide you need a break, be sure to stop in Miller at the Hand County FSA. It’s a stop you won’t regret …. or forget!
