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Understanding Specialty Agriculture in South Dakota: A Dakota Institute Survey

Ian Kelly - October 11, 2023
Understanding Specialty Agriculture in South Dakota: A Dakota Institute Survey

South Dakota’s agricultural landscape is not typically associated with vegetables or fruits — but rather corn and soybeans. Because of this close mental association between agriculture and these two products, South Dakota’s specialty agriculture industry has gone largely unnoticed.  

To increase awareness of the work that these farmers have been doing, the South Dakota Specialty Producers Association (SDSPA) reached out to the Dakota Institute to conduct an assessment on the business practices of specialty crop farmers in the state. This report is based on survey data collected from SDSPA members, offering a better look at what these types of farms do.

This chart lists the number of producers that have certain specialty (listed in blue) and traditional agricultural products (listed in green). The data contributing towards this chart comes from the 64 respondents to the specialty agriculture survey conducted by the Dakota Institute.

The survey revealed that most specialty farms in South Dakota are small, with the largest specialty farms in any given county cultivating up to 18 acres. These farms are mainly located in Eastern South Dakota, with Lawrence County being a notable exception. Nearly 60% of specialty farmers qualify as “beginning farmers,” according to USDA standards.

In terms of the crops grown, 39% of survey respondents grew solely specialty crops. Vegetables were the most commonly harvested crop, followed by herbs, fruits, honey, and flowers. For 70% of the businesses surveyed, specialty crops were their primary source of revenue. For the surveyed farms, they reported a median labor cost of $3,100 and median sales of about $8,500. In 2022, the total sales from surveyed specialty producers reached $1,190,578.

This report is based entirely on responses to the survey, which was sent to 370 people via email and 511 via postcard. In total, 64 people responded. While the initial goal was to conduct a full economic impact study of the specialty crop sector in South Dakota, there simply were not enough responses to make that possible. That being said, the project coordinators believe this survey still highlights an often-overlooked part of South Dakota’s agriculture. Moving forward, this report offers recommendations on how to collect more data and develop a more comprehensive economic impact study in the future.