Name: Matt Smith
Email: matsmith01986@gmail.com
Location : South Dakota
Phone number : 605-222-4355
I live in the very small village of Vivian, South Dakota, population less than 100 people. It is in the south central part of the state 30 miles south of the capitol Pierre. Vivian is the home of the largest hailstone in the United States. On July 23 2010 we a bad hail storm. Holes were punched into the roof. My house had a hole in the kitchen that came through the ceiling.
I live in the house I grew up in. I have been in the ranching business for 32 years. I used to farm also. But when my dad passed away in 2019 I didn’t want to work as hard and the farming made too much work for me.
This is the first page I have written since I started rrr 247. It was hard to come up a title. I try to follow along the best I can in the meetings. I try not say much and follow along since I am busy outside most of the time. I wish I had more time to work on things and finish training. However, my JOB takes most my time. A rancher’s work is never done. It is definitely not a 9:00 to 5:00 pm job.
2 of my older sisters an I are in a limited partnership. We are the general partners and my daughters and nephews are the limited partners. We rent out all the farm land.
I was married to my first wife for 20 years. I have been married to my second wife Tara for 3 years. I have two daughters: Brianna 23 and Bailey 15: and my wife has 22 year old daughter Alissa.
I am not in my occupation for the income. I do it because I enjoy it and it is very rewarding. The greatest site is to see a calf born and get up to suck right away. Also when you save a cold calf by putting in a warming box or in the pickup. It is a great sight.
If I was going to write a blog on rrr 247 it would be about selling my beef directly to consumers or grocery store chains. When you go to the grocery store and see usda labeled beef, that does not mean it was born and raised in this country. You see, any beef that is processed in the United States can be called American beef.
Our country is flooded with foreign beef. the United States imports way more beef than it exports. We used to have COOL (county of origin labeling) and MCool (Mandatory Country of origin labeling). With this practice, beef sold in the grocery stores has to be labeled where it was born and raised.
These practices have to be put back in lot effect so our consumers know where their beef comes from. There are 4 or 5 major meat packers that control the cattle markets. They buy foreign beef and It has driven a lot of ranchers out of business.
I want my 3 sisters and 2 daughters to still have a home to come back to in their hometown.
I try to take the best care of cattle that I can. I love them and all animals. Sometimes mother nature can throw curve balls at you and tries to break your back. I cry when newborn calves pass away or adult livestock passes away.
Cattle have feelings. When one dies, the rest of the herd comes over and stands by it. It is like they are having a service and mourning the dead.
I joined RR247 because I was looking for an online job to supplement my ranch. I live in any area where cattle outnumber humans. I don’t want to travel to and from an off the farm job. It is too far and expensive. I was looking for something to do while being able to still be at home. Hopefully I can make this rrr 247 work for me in the coming winter months. I am going to take some days off to finish with session 1 and 2 so I can get onto v marketing. Yes livestock prices are high now but input costs are really hard on the pocket book. I would like to meet my team someday. It is fun to get away and travel. However right now I just don’t have the money.
Hopefully people will find this story interesting. This is a story from a South Dakota rancher.
I know rrr 247 is based on what you put into it. Lord knows I am way behind my team. Thank you for bearing with me. As the days get shorter and nights get longer I can put more time into modifying pages. I know the picture was supposed to be smaller but I don’t know how to edit the picture
Written by Matt Smith
Date 10-02-25
