JIM WOSTER, AGRICULTURE ADVOCATE EXTRAORDINAIRE

Little did Jim Woster know when he graduated from South Dakota State University 63 years ago with a degree in animal science that his career would evolve into decades of serving agricultural causes in numerous ways.

A day after graduating, he began a job at the Sioux Falls Stockyards Co.

“That’s a place I always enjoyed going to when my dad and uncle took cattle there,” the Reliance native said. “The opportunity came along. I got lucky. I fell into something I could do. I didn’t like riding on a tractor; I always enjoyed working cattle.”

From there, he went on to work for Farmers Union Livestock and then as a cattle buyer for the Greenlee Packing Co. His career took a fortuitous turn in March 1971 when KELO owner Joe Floyd offered him the opportunity to succeed Les Harding as the market reporter on TV and radio. Woster would start his day at 5 a.m. at KELO radio, and then he would drive to the TV station.

“Joe Floyd was visionary. He knew the importance of agriculture,” Woster said. “Under Les Harding, KELO was the first television station in the nation to do markets.”

Woster’s market reports were so successful that Floyd asked him to do a half-hour Saturday noon show that included guests, news, markets and weather. Over his many years of broadcasts that reached into households throughout a large region, he grew into a familiar and popular personality.

Gary Duffy of Oldham, a former president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association (SDCGA) and Corn Utilization Council (SDCUC), was one of the dedicated viewers.

“The one meal everyone got together for was the noon meal. After lunch, we would watch news and then watch Woster give the markets,” Duffy said. “That was the main source where we got market reports, especially for cattle.”

Duffy recalls that Woster would add some folksy touches to his reports. “If something hit a certain price, he would bring out his guitar and sing.”

That personal touch made the market report fun and interesting, said David Fremark, a farmer and cattle producer from Miller.

“He always had a little commentary, a little twist, instead of just reading numbers from the Chicago Mercantile,” recalled Fremark, a former SDCUC president. “He might have talked about the county fair, or calving season. He blossomed into a media personality and became a household name.”

Both Duffy and Fremark got to know Woster personally during his time as a fat-cattle buyer, first with Greenlee Packing and later as a partner with Olsen-Frankman Livestock.

“I was probably in my early teens. He and my dad did business together,” Fremark said. “Most cattle buyers would drive big pickups. Woster would show up in an old car.”

Woster said he has a great appreciation for people who serve on boards of any type because of their willingness to serve, their dedication and their time commitment.

He knows all about committing time, talents and resources through his own decades of service. His well-earned reputation from his experiences in the cattle business and as a market reporter, led to countless speaking engagements over the decades, to FFA clubs, ag organizations, civic groups and at national conventions for pork producers and cattlemen. He was also a master of ceremonies during a Commodity Classic gala.

Woster was the voice of the Corn Comments radio segment for SD Corn for 19 years. He also served as master of ceremonies for the Corn Growers annual conference for most of those years. He’s a columnist for the Tri-State Neighbor and hasn’t missed a column in 40 years.

He volunteers to help the South Dakota State University Foundation with fundraisers. He’s also working with the rodeo team to raise money. He and his wife Penny have two endowed scholarships at SDSU for agriculture and English.

The father of three and grandfather of five is a man of many hats, an unofficial ambassador of agriculture.

A current venture is the Stockyards Ag Experience at Falls Park in Sioux Falls. He was the driving force in establishing that center in a historic horse barn to preserve the history of the Sioux Falls Stockyards and also tell the story of agriculture in our region. The next phase of the project will be creation of an agricultural plaza south of the Falls’ Park farmers market. A new, large building will be home to all of the displays now in the horse barn and will include farm-to-table components, interactive crops, games, educational displays and historical aspects of the stockyards and John Morrell & Co.

Although a great deal of his decades of service have been dedicated to agriculture, it doesn’t stop there. For years, he would make regular stops at Avera Hospital in Sioux Falls to visit with patients, many of whom lived on farms and ranches and were familiar with Woster.

One patient he’ll never forget was a man from Geddes who was dying from cancer. Woster walked into the room, visited with the patient who was hooked up to oxygen, and learned that he likes to play the harmonica.

“He said, ‘Jim, my wish always was to play with you. I have my harmonica. Do you think there’s any chance?’ How do you say no? So I went home, got my guitar and came back,” Woster recalled. “One of his daughters is holding his oxygen tube and he’s playing the harmonica and he’s pretty good. We played ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ I’ll never forget that. He was gone a couple of days later.”

On a return visit, Woster met the man’s wife as she was on her way out of the hospital. “She said, ‘I don’t know if you know what that meant to him. He always talked about playing a song with Jim Woster.’"