Steven Rommereim of Alcester is 2024 Eminent Leader in Agriculture, Family and Community

By Lura Roti

Leadership in agriculture begins at slat level, explained fifth-generation hog producer Steven Rommereim. 

“Because I’m a hog producer, I refer to it as ‘slat-level leadership.’ Our pigs are raised on slats that the manure drops through. If you have not been at slat level, you don’t understand what those of us who have been there are going through,” explained the former president of the National Pork Board. “It’s important that the individuals leading agriculture organizations have skin in the game. As producers, we take risks every day because so much depends on elements outside our control — the weather or the markets. Unless you are a farmer, it is difficult to grasp what farmers are going through.” 

Understanding the need for farmer leaders, in addition to serving as president of the National Pork Board, Rommereim served as president of the United States Animal Health Association board, the South Dakota Pork Producers Council and Agriculture United for South Dakota. And for more than a decade, he has served as a governor-appointed member of the South Dakota Animal Industry Board. 

Over the years he’s invested a lot of time and thought into how he serves the members and organizations who elect him. 

“To be a good leader, you need to be a servant, someone people can trust and someone who makes time to listen and understand what the issues are that are challenging your members so you can work with the leadership team to come up with solutions,” Rommereim said. “I also make a point to ask all board members’ opinions before sharing mine.” 

But as a kid growing up on a traditional, diversified South Dakota farm in the 1960s, Rommereim didn’t think too much about leadership — slat level or otherwise. 

What was on his mind? Farming and livestock. 

“I was a typical farm boy of the 1960s. I was in 4-H and FFA. I didn’t do a lot of sports because they were always during harvest, calving or planting,” Rommereim said. “On my family’s farm, I grew a love for the land and a love for taking care of livestock.” 

His childhood interests and high school sweetheart, Charlotte Leafstedt, led him to South Dakota State University. However, as a college freshman, he applied himself more to networking than studies. At the end of his first year, he saw his grade-point average, and 18-year-old Rommereim decided it may be a good idea to take a year off. 

“I worked for various farms and really enjoyed it, but then Charlotte’s dad said that if I wanted to get serious with his daughter, I needed to return to college,” Rommereim said. “It’s amazing what spending time in the library studying with your girlfriend can do for a GPA.” 

This was not the last time that James Leafstedt would say something that had a positive impact on Rommereim’s future. A few years after he graduated with a degree in animal science, Leafstedt asked Rommereim if he would return to South Dakota to farm with him on his Alcester farm. 

“Charlotte and I were married, and I was working in Texas for a Cargill packing plant because my family’s farm was not large enough to support another family,” Rommereim said. “James provided an opportunity of a lifetime to me. Not only an opportunity, but he shared a wealth of knowledge, especially in the hog industry.” 

A progressive pork producer, Charlotte’s dad was known throughout the pork industry for raising premier swine genetics. He was called upon to judge large 4-H and FFA swine shows, and because of an unfortunate 1970s pseudorabies outbreak on his farm, he also became known for helping to eradicate the disease in the U.S. 

“James led the charge from a producer standpoint,” Rommereim explained. 

Working to eradicate pseudorabies, James Leafstedt invested time serving on several national boards. He collaborated with state veterinarians across the nation as well as U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and helped secure the funds and implement protocols necessary to combat pseudorabies. 

“I learned a lot from James,” Rommereim said. “To me, he is one of the best examples of a producer making a huge difference because of advocacy.” 

Rommereim began working for his father-in-law in 1985. In 1995, he took over daily management and was made a partner in the family operation. 

A lot of changes occurred in the pork industry during that decade. “It was getting difficult to hire enough employees to keep up. We needed quite a few employees because we were a farrow-to-finish operation, and we housed our pigs in these little sheds. In the winter it was especially tough. We needed to carry bedding to keep them warm,” Rommereim explained. “And with artificial insemination, sales of our breeding stock were getting harder.” 

In 2005, Rommereim made the decision to build modern confinement facilities, quit farrowing and focus on finishing. The changes made the workload manageable, increased farm profits and came with an additional benefit — easy access to manure for the family’s farm acres. 

“Manure is a value-added by-product. It’s a lot cheaper than commercial fertilizer, and it gives the soil all the macro-nutrients,” Rommereim said. 

Improving the farm’s soil health has long been a focus on the farm. “It’s quite hilly here, so we have been farming no-till for a long time. Keeping the soil on the hill prevents soil erosion and nutrient runoff. Erosion is a serious concern.” 

Rommereim became actively involved in South Dakota Pork Producers in the early 1990s after he and Charlotte were asked to serve alongside other young producers on a National Pork Producers Demand Enhancement Committee. 

Through involvement in state and national pork industry organizations, Rommereim said the couple made lifelong friends, and he quickly recognized that the challenges and opportunities their family farm experienced were not unique. 

Working to equip the next generation of pork producers with the resources and education necessary to move the industry forward, Rommereim was part of the team instrumental to building and funding the SDSU Swine Education and Research Facility. 

When it comes to the next generation of pork producers, Rommereim also considers the legacy of his family’s farm. Like their mom, daughters Lara and Leah both married farmers. In 2020, Leah called to ask if Rommereim was ready to welcome the next generation to join the farm. 

Although Rommereim was not ready to retire, he also did not want to pass up the opportunity, so in addition to raising hogs and farming, he began working off the farm as a truck driver. 

“When you think about it, this is the opportunity for generation six and seven to continue this farm’s legacy,” Rommereim said. “This is the same dirt that Charlotte’s great-great-grandfather got from the U.S. government in 1874. It’s the same land that we built our life on. It is rewarding to know our history will continue here for hopefully another 100 years.” 

Celebrate Rommereim during Eminent Leaders banquet  

Rommereim will be honored for his contributions to South Dakota during the 2024 Eminent Leaders in Agriculture, Family and Community recognition banquet held at the McCrory Gardens Education and Visitor Center on the SDSU campus Sept. 20. Rommereim is continuing a Leafstedt farm tradition. In 1985, his wife’s Grandpa Wendell received the honor. 

Rommereim will be honored alongside Floyd Hansmeier, Bristol; Brad Greenway, Mitchell, and Pam Geppert, Kimball. During the banquet, portraits of the award recipients will be unveiled. These portraits will be displayed in a virtual gallery on the Eminent Leaders webpage.

Honorees are selected by the SDSU colleges of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and Education and Human Sciences. 

To attend the Sept. 20 recognition banquet and program, visit the Eventbrite event page or go to the Eventbrite homepage and search for Eminent Leaders events in Brookings to purchase tickets. Tickets need to be purchased on or before Sept. 7. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by a recognition program and banquet at 6:30 p.m. 

To learn more about the award or to nominate an individual for the award, go to the Eminent Leaders webpage or contact Angela Loftesness, Eminent Leaders in Agriculture, Family, and Community chair, via email or call 605-688-6732.