What is the Dakotafest Woman Farmer/Rancher of the Year Award?
This award honors the hard-working female farmers/ranchers from across South Dakota who selflessly give their time to growing the crops and raising the livestock needed to feed the world. So many times, women on the farm/ranch wear multiple hats, tirelessly contributing to the farm/ranch but also participating in community, raising children or working outside the home. And for that commitment, we want to say thank you.
Woman Farmer/Rancher of the Year Selection
The nomination window closed on June 6, 2025. A committee of representatives will review the qualifying applications and select 5 finalists. Finalists will be notified on or about June 18, 2025 and the winner will be announced at a recognition ceremony on August 21, 2025 taking place on stage at Dakotafest.
Each of the finalists will be recognized in honor of their efforts in farming at the Women in Ag event and in news and social media.
Thanks to our sponsors, the Woman Farmer/Rancher of the Year will receive a $1,000 cash prize along with recognition of all her hard work and accomplishments.
Meet the 2024 Finalists
Read on for more details about the five finalists for the award in 2024.
Stacy Watembach
Stacy grew up on a farm near Alexandria, SD. She attended MTI and received a degree in Book Keeping. On the family farm Stacy does all the book work and all the grain marketing for our operation. She takes care of all the small day to day tasks that need to be done and manages the operations across the farm.
There is very little on the farm she can’t do. Stacy is always supportive of new ideas and dreams no matter how big. She does most of the tillage work, as well as being the silage truck driver, grain cart driver, hay cutter, raker, and bale stacker.
Stacy is viewed as a grandma figure to a lot of the young kids in our area, always willing to take time from her busy schedule to watch others kids so their parents can get their farm work done. She is a pillar of the community that always makes sure to contribute to local FFA fundraisers and supports her community whenever she can.
Kendra Olson
Kendra was raised on her families farm in White Lake, SD. She attended South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD where she earned her Bachelors in Early Childhood Education. After graduating she moved back to the Olson Ranch in Kimball, SD and began working on the family operation with her husband. Kendra teaches Kindergarten at Kimball School. Kendra and her husband keep their four children are all very involved in the farm operations. The children encompass the 7th generation on the family ranch.
On a daily basis, you will find Kendra loading and delivering feed at the feedlot. Her biggest forte is running the hydraulic chute when cattle are processed for the feedlot or our cow/calf breeding program. In her time at the ranch she has processed over 60,000 head of cattle, whether it is vaccinating, implanting, pouring, or breeding cattle. She has also used her talent to manage the many bottle calves that arrive through the feeding operation. Kendra is also highly involved in the summer haying projects. In the wintertime after school and on weekends/holidays, she can be found chopping out frozen water tanks and making sure all the cattle have water. No matter the task she is always doing it with a positive attitude. In addition, in support of her own family's farm, when her father retired, she and her husband took over his pastureland and purchased their own cattle to run there as well.
Kendra keeps herself and her family involved in the community through multiple areas. She has their children involved in our local 4-H Club. She supports Kimball School’s FFA program by participating in school sponsored events and activities as well as contributing to the club’s fundraisers regularly. She runs a program where she invites the South Dakota Beef Industry Council into her Kindergarten classroom in March for National Ag Month. As beef producers, Kendra and her family, are highly supportive of the local community sale barn, Kimball Livestock Exchange. Kendra especially, does what she can to market our cattle in preparation for any sale that we participate in there.
Kendra's family expressed that, "She is extremely intelligent, hard-working, diligent, tenacious and loyal to her family and our farming/ranching operation. She is always willing to work and help in any way no matter how challenging the work is."
Sarah Easton
Sarah grew up on her family farm near Parkston, South Dakota. She graduated college with her Nursing degree. She is a devoted mother of four children, and her and her husband, Cory, have raised them on the family farm. They call Fulton, South Dakota home.
Sarah is highly involved in every aspect of the farming operation. She uses her knowledge of agriculture to contribute to the marketing, livestock, crops, fertilizer and spraying programs. She does all the planting on the farm, and operates all the equipment year round. Each season brings unique roles she manages on the farm. In the spring, she juggles calving and planting responsibilities, while the summer hay season quickly rolls into fall harvest where she is found combining, operating the grain cart, and driving the semi's.
She serves as treasurer on the Fairview township board, as well as, serving on the FSA county committee. Sarah is viewed by her community has a hard working and knowledgeable agriculturalist. Her nominee said, "she is a positive role model to many and always willing to lend a helping hand."
Erin Yost
Erin grew up in Wessington Springs, SD. She has two daughters and enjoys spending time attending family activities on both sides of their family. Erin and her husband own and operate Rodney Yost Horsemanship. They put on horse clinics all around South Dakota. as well as nationally. Their horse training operation has folks bringing their horses to the family farm for training. She is very involved in the cattle ranch activities after work and on weekends.
Erin is an active member of her community, taking on several roles. She sits on the South Dakota State Fair Board as a commissioner. She is a member of South Dakota Cattlewomen and has served as their treasure for a number of years. She also sits on the South Dakota Beef Industry Council for South Dakota Cattlewomen. Erin served two years as South Dakota Beef Industry Council Treasure. She served as the treasurer of the Hand County Youth Livestock Show for a number of years. She helps friends/neighbors with lamb/goat/pig/calf sales where she is needed. Her nominee said, "Erin is always ready, willing and able to help with any event, especially if it involves youth."
Barbara Powell
Barbara was raised in Platte, South Dakota. Her family owned and operated a trucking company that hauled cattle, pigs, hay and grain. Barbara's family raised horses and cattle. She received her Secretarial Accounting degree from Mitchell Vo-Tech. She then met and married her husband, who was from Chamberlain. They moved to Nebraska where she worked at the local sale barn and had their first child. After some time and another child Barbara and her family moved back to South Dakota. They had three more children as they began farming on their own and later began running a cow and calf operation of their own. They have since expanded both their cattle herd and acres they farm and graze.
Due to Barbara's husband's extensive travels with his Ag sales position, she is a constant presence on the ranch. During the winter/spring she handles most of the cattle operation with most of the feeding of cattle, as well as calving them out in the spring. She pays close attention to detail, this helps and shows during calving season and when cattle come off of summer pasture, with her detailed records of cows, calves, and bulls. She works hard to graft calves if needed, and doctoring anything that may be sick. Throughout the years she has taken on a larger role by helping in the field with planting, running for parts and helping fix equipment, or putting up hay. She helps move equipment, runs the combine and the grain cart in the fall.
She has always been supportive of local youth ag programs. Barbara has been involved with 4-H throughout her life in her youth and in their local 4-H club when her children were in 4-H, and she still volunteers in the youth programs today. She encouraged her children to be active in FFA and other agricultural related activities and careers growing up which has helped establish them in their careers today. Barbara's nominee highlighted that, "she is hard working and dedicated to succeeding. She takes on a huge role to help wherever needed and figures out how to get the job done."
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