Joe Roybal

Ideal Pioneers Joe Roybal

Jorgensen Land & Cattle (JLC) is located on the rolling short-grass prairie of south-central South Dakota. Headquartered in Ideal, SD, JLC is a unique synergy in which 20,000 acres of cropland and pasture underpin a world-class beef cattle program that annually markets around 3500 commercial Angus bulls. It's estimated that 100,000 calves bearing Jorgensen genetics are born each year. The patriarch is 93-year-old Martin F. Jorgensen Jr., the son of homesteading parents who first broke this prairie sod in 1909. Growing up in the destitution and hardship of the Great Depression and Dirty '30s, Martin stands at the center of a remarkable story that spans four generations of achievement and service. This book is a combination of his memoirs, as well as a history of JLC and the Jorgensen family. It's the story of a remarkable man and family, and their growth, challenges and successes as their agricultural operation evolved from a simple homestead at the turn of the 20th Century to one of the world's top farming and livestock operations.