Eminent Farmer
County: Hughes
Roy Houck, rancher, statesman and national agricultural leader, was honored as 1978 Eminent Farmer by the South Dakota Board of Regents and South Dakota State University.
The Stanley County rancher is the owner of the world’s largest buffalo herd.
“We got our first buffalo in 1959 just to try them out,” he said. “It looked pretty promising, so we just expanded until we reached our present operation.”
The Houck Ranch is part of Triple U Enterprises, a family organization which includes Houck’s two sons and two daughters.
Houck has helped to build numerous agricultural organizations as a founder, an officer or as a hard-working member. He was not only the first east-river director on the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association’s executive committee, but he was also its first east-river president in 1946, serving two terms.
During his tenure, he launched the “South Dakota Stockgrower” magazine, a monthly publication which still stands in testimony of Houck’s belief in strong public relations programming for agriculture.
Houck has served on the executive boards of the South Dakota Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and the American National Livestock Association.
He is a past president of the South Dakota Hereford Association, the South Dakota Quarter Horse Association, the South Dakota Livestock Committee and the National Buffalo Producers Association.
He is a past president of the South Dakota Hereford Association, the South Dakota Quarter Horse Association, the South Dakota Livestock Committee and the National Buffalo Producers Association.
Houck also served three terms in the State Senate and served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Joe Foss for two terms.
One indication of Roy Houck’s role in South Dakota’s history can be found in Lee and William’s epic account of the South Dakota cattle industry, "Last Grass Frontier." There are no fewer than 58 references to Houck and his family spread over 48 pages of the book.
Houck and Nellie, his wife of more than 50 years, are the parents of two sons, Thomas and Jerry, and two daughters, Barbara and Kaye. Jerry and Kaye make their homes at Standing Butte Ranch, while son Tom operates a ranch in southwestern Walworth County and Barbara is a homemaker in Wyoming.