The Jorgensen story began in 1909 when Martin,
Sr., an immigrant from Denmark, and his wife, Gertrude,
homesteaded land near Ideal, South Dakota. From 1909 to the
1930s the young married couple withstood drought, bitter cold
and insects, and managed to raise crops, turkeys, hogs and a
family of eight children.
The 1930s were devastating to the Jorgensen
family. They lost their homestead and struggled to survive.
However, they persevered and eventually bought back land for the
back taxes. The '30s also added one more element to the
Jorgensen family's daily routine — a small herd of cattle.
Nobody was conscious of it at the time, but the hardships of the
cruel world were beginning to mold one of the livestock
industry's greatest innovators. The basic training of "survive
and adapt" would leave an everlasting impression on Martin, Jr.
By the 1940s, the Jorgensen family expanded
their operation and sons Martin Jr. and Don were playing a
dominant role. Martin took over the cattle breeding aspect of
the operation and Don specialized in crops and cattle feeding.
Martin's early exposure to tough realities was about to pay its
first dividend. Life had been demanding and unforgiving of him
and his family and he weren't asking or expecting things to
change. His philosophy on breeding cattle would be equally
demanding. Excuses weren't even a consideration. Cattle that
failed to perform could not be economically tolerated — it was
just that simple. Cattle would have to adapt to the daily,
present environment and available nutrition without notice, just
as the Jorgensen family had to do.
During this time, the cornerstone sires for
the Jorgensen program would be acquired through the American
Breeders Service (ABS). ABS had recently obtained 15 young
performance-tested bulls and Jorgensen was impressed with a bull
named Skylandmere because of his certified meat sire rating and
his appearance (a complete departure from other bulls of the
day). Jorgensen acquired Skylandmere 2058 and immediately the
entire cow herd was bred to him. Later interests in Rito N Bar
and Algoma Bardoliermere 48 were acquired and the Jorgensen
genetics were in place.
Jorgensen Land & Cattle now encompasses 1,000 cows, 1,200 sows and 16,000 acres. Martin, Jr.'s oldest son, Greg, now manages the cattle portion of the family farm and son, Bryan, manages the crop operation. The operation has even expanded into the fourth generation of the Jorgensens with Cody, son of Greg, managing cattle marketing and pheasant hunting. Jorgensen's culture today is much like that of a hundred years ago — a tradition built around family.
