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On Aug. 20, the Anderson family of Darling Creek Ranch in Meadow was honored with the 2026 South Dakota Leopold Conservation Award. The annual award, named for renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, is presented annually to honor farmers and ranchers who go above and beyond in their dedication to environmental improvement.

Farming practices are often passed along from generation to generation. How to manage the operation in the prosperous times and the difficult ones. When Dan and Sharon Anderson returned to his family ranch in the 1980s, it was a particularly challenging time. Thankfully for the Anderson family, Dan Anderson’s parents, Jim and Nora Anderson, had spent decades taking care of the land and giving it the best chance to thrive. Previously, cattle and sheep were allowed to graze in the same area multiple times each season without adequate recovery periods, which had allowed undesirable grasses to spread and bare spots to form. Jim and Nora Anderson began cross-fencing, breaking large pastures up into smaller paddocks and rotational grazing and ensuring the land and grasses weren’t overgrazed and permanently damaged.

Jim and Nora Anderson’s dedication to the land went beyond their own ranch. Jim Anderson served for nearly 50 years on his county’s soil conservation board, and Nora Anderson developed the Sammy Soil Saver program, where she went into schools and taught them about the importance of soil conservation using hand puppets and skits. This reverence for the land and willingness to try new things was engrained in Dan Anderson, and he and his wife shared the same passions with their four daughters, Danci Baker, Danika Schmidt, Dantae Anderson and Danessa Anderson, and their grandchildren, the fourth generation to work on the ranch.

Through collaboration with the Grand River Grazing Cooperative Association, the family’s management strategy stretches beyond the borders of Darling Creek to include two allotments on national grasslands in their area. The partnership allows the association, through their partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, to provide opportunities for local families and keep them on the land and allows the Andersons to have more flexibility in their grazing rotations.

The benefits of the family’s grazing plans don’t stay on the land. As their grasslands grew more resilient thanks to their adaptive grazing management, they have been able to harvest less hay. Their herd’s winter feed needs dropped 60%, from 800 to 300 tons of hay annually. Taking advantage of the longer grazing season and less hay needs have resulted in significant labor, time and cost savings while improving overall rangeland health. Their animals, Gelbvieh cattle and Rambouillet sheep, also benefit from continuously moving amongst pastures. Both herds have seen a decrease in disease pressure, particularly pneumonia and navel illness.

Doing the best thing for their land, their livestock and their family is a legacy more than 60 years in the making. Each generation of the Anderson family is committed to improving for the generations to come.