Ag group celebrates Corson County ranch family

Ask McIntosh ranchers Shari and Dennis Evenson about their off-ranch careers, and Dennis describes what they do as working in “national food security.”

“In a nutshell, keeping our working ag land healthy is food security for our nation,” said the second-generation rancher and civil engineering technician for Natural Resources Conservation Service. “Not only do we want to conserve it, we want to improve it so we can produce more food, grains, cattle — whatever.”

Dennis began working for NRCS in 1987. He had returned home to ranch with his parents, Ray and Eleanor, and needed an off-ranch income. “With only three or four places in town where you could work, NRCS was the one that made sense to me. Here I am 32 years later, and I still enjoy the work that I do.”

In his role, Dennis works with ranchers and other private landowners in Corson, Dewey, Ziebach and other western South Dakota counties. He designs, stakes and reviews NRCS projects.

“It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of miles around McIntosh, Dennis knows everyone,” said Shari, a third-generation rancher. She also has a fulltime off-ranch career. Shari is a certified public accountant and works as the county executive director for Farm Service Agency. In her role, she manages the administration of FSA programs to area farmers and ranchers.

“Because we also ranch full time, we can relate to the individuals we work with,” Shari explains. “We are living it, so we understand and can empathize.”