Cattlemen Supporting State's Beef Industry

In 2013, a group of like-minded cattlemen and cattlewomen came together with a shared vision: secure the long-term viability of South Dakota's beef industry by harnessing the generosity of the state's beef producers.   

A year later, the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Foundation was born. Now a decade into its existence, the foundation has not only supported the state's beef industry, but it has also helped feed food-insecure families across the state.   

Each year, the foundation hosts its annual Prime Time Gala, with all proceeds from the concert, gala auction and truck raffle going to the foundation's partner, Feeding South Dakota.   

Since 2014, the nonprofit organization has raised over $3 million for Feeding South Dakota, which has allowed for the purchase and distribution of 1,663,390 pounds of beef for individuals and families in all 66 of South Dakota's counties.   

Ryan Eichler is the president of the foundation and operates a small cowherd and cattle-feeding enterprise outside of Lake Preston. A 2001 graduate of South Dakota State University, Eichler sees the partnership with Feeding South Dakota as a great opportunity to help improve the quality of diets for South Dakotans.   

“When we started this project in 2014, Feeding South Dakota delivered roughly 12.5 million pounds of food throughout the state, and only about 4% of that was protein,” Eichler said. “As protein producers, we saw it as our opportunity to help improve the quality of diet that Feeding South Dakota delivered to these communities, and they’ve done such a tremendous job of delivering that value to people who really need it.”   

Eichler isn't the only SDSU grad on the foundation's board of directors. In fact, 11 of the board's 14 members are SDSU's grads, including Matt Bode '00, Ty Eschenbaum '11, Cory Eich '81, Brian Gilbert '02, Jared Knock '07, Roxanne Knock '03, Josh Larson '02, Donnie Leddy '91, Tyler Melroe '03/M.S. '08 and Troy Swanson '97. To boot, a handful of the founding board members first met while at SDSU.   

"It's really a testament to the university and what kind of people it produces," Eichler noted.   

While raising money was to remain a focus for the foundation, members also wanted to make investments for the future of South Dakota’s beef industry. In 2016, the foundation established its scholarship program to identify and reward students who are interested in improving beef production and promotion. Each year, the foundation provides around $15,000 in scholarships to five South Dakota students. In total, the foundation has awarded over $140,000 in scholarships to future beef industry professionals.   

Melroe is a founding board member who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SDSU’s Department of Animal Science. He leads the foundation’s education committee and has overseen the foundation’s investments into the beef industry’s future leaders, including the Fed Cattle Challenge program.   

“The Fed Cattle Challenge gives high school students the opportunity to experience a feedlot operation by participating in a calf-finishing program,” Melroe said. “Our goal is to develop the next generation of feedlot owners and operators.”  

Participants receive a true education in the economics of finishing cattle as each group owns a percentage of a pen of cattle. The foundation provides a curriculum from industry experts of videos and quizzes, which chronologically detail the process of finishing cattle. Following harvest, proceeds are divided amongst the group. The program closes with participants presenting to a panel. Awards are given to the top three groups and participants.   

In more recent years, the foundation has made investments for the betterment of the beef industry as a whole. Working closely with Joe Cassady, then head of SDSU’s Department of Animal Science and now the South Dakota Corn Endowed Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, the foundation partnered with SDSU to provide funding for undergraduate beef-related research.   

“We felt like this was a good fit to invest in more innovation for our industry,” Melroe said.   

The foundation has sponsored four completed projects over the last two years and will begin its third year of funding this upcoming winter.   

One of the projects from last year saw SDSU undergrad Haley Mouser improve meat color stability with MagnaWave technology. Another project examined the impacts of phytogenic supplements on immunity transfer from cows to their calves.   

As Eichler notes, this is a blossoming partnership that is expected to expand in the coming years.   

"We want to expand our partnerships to continue shaping the future of our state's beef industry," Eichler added.   

The 2026 Prime Time Gala is set for June 20, 2026, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. More information on the event can be found here. 

Written by Addison DeHaven, University of Marketing & Communications