America’s Land Auctioneer
Captivate and celebrate the dynamics of rural America, American Agriculture and inspire and teach others how to live a bold and abundant life in rural America. Background: The intrigue, endless opportunities, and romance of rural life in America have never been more on the minds of Americans. The recent pandemic and civil unrest have Americans of all ages earning for a more peaceful, less hectic life. Even billionaire Bill Gates is now the largest crop landowner in America. As many Americans look for peaceful refuge in the rolling hills and wheat fields they are faced with a richness of opportunities. But where do you begin to look? This show will highlight and feature endless opportunities in every state. What is it that is so unique about rural America, the land and what it produces? How can I live that life? The American Land Auctioneer will tell stories and weave into those stories a place for you to dream, live and enjoy the abundance of all that rural America has to offer.
America’s Land Auctioneer
How A Small-Town Bank Powers Big Ag Growth
A family ranch, a hometown bank, and a region built on grit—this conversation brings them together to explain how modern agriculture actually works when the numbers get big and the margins get thin. We sit down with banker and lifelong ranch kid Duane Bowman to unpack the shift from two-hundred-thousand-dollar operating notes to multi-million-dollar lines, the rise of precision ag and seed genetics, and the reality of running million-dollar machinery on dryland acres. It’s a clear-eyed look at risk, growth, and the decisions that matter.
We start with the Bowman ranch story—custom feeding, backgrounding, and a long commitment to genetics that grew into a registered Angus program neighbors trust with their bids. That same neighbor-first mindset shapes Dakota Western Bank’s approach across Bowman, Scranton, Hettinger, and Regent: hire local, understand agriculture, and build relationships that last longer than a cycle. From coffee on Fridays to lending strategy, small-town banking turns out to be a competitive advantage when markets lurch and weather toys with your plans.
Then we go deep on the playbook. On the crop side: inputs, precision seeding, camera-guided spraying, and storage that supports smarter marketing when basis and futures aren’t cooperating. On the ranch side: record calf checks, facility and genetics upgrades, and why Livestock Risk Protection makes sense when bred heifers push four figures per head. We talk land and pasture, too—rising rents, out-of-area demand, and how cautious expansion beats chasing the last dollar. Through it all, the theme is discipline: protect the downside, invest in productivity, and don’t let short-term highs cloud long-term math.
If you care about agriculture, rural finance, or the way communities lift each other, this is a grounded, data-aware conversation that cuts through the noise. Subscribe for more candid stories from the people who seed, feed, and finance America—and leave a review to tell us what you want to hear next.
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Contact the team at Pifer's
All right, how's that move? Okay. Well opinions will vary, but we'll be all right. You ready to win?
SPEAKER_00:I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01:Three, two, one. Welcome to America's Land Auction here. I'm your host for this Saturday morning, Jim Sabby out of the Bowman office down here in the southwest corner. As we call it, it's God's country out here. But I'd like to welcome everybody today. We got a great guest uh coming up. Um, I'll introduce him here in a little bit, but don't forget Piffers have got a lot of stuff going on uh the rest of this fall in November and December. You know, we've got a great big uh couple machinery sales coming up, a really nice one over in that streeter area, farm machinery, and then we've got steel coming up in November, early early November, and then Sioux Falls kind of round everything out. Plus, we have the Upper Midwest uh online only sale, which is uh getting a lot of movement today with a lot of items being added to that. So check out Piffers.com and click on the machinery division. Then on the land side, uh down here in uh Bowman, we have a beautiful sale of land over in that marmot area. It's uh the Hadley Ranch, and I'll tell you what, it's 2500 2600 acres, and that's gonna be in December, I believe December 10th. And then uh we just booked another sale over there that's about 6,800 acres. Uh, keep watching our website for that, but I believe that sale is going to be March 10th, um, over in that marmot baker, uh, Montana country. So a lot of things happening in the Piffers. Again, go to Pipers.com to check everything out, or you can call us here in the Bowman office and uh we'll get you set up uh what you want to do if you're selling land or machinery, and we'll help you out that way. But right now, my guest is Mr. Dwayne Bowman. Uh he's from Bowman, grew up in Rheim, North Dakota, and uh he is president of Dakota Western Bank and uh here in Bowman, and uh he's in head inner uh Scranton Bank uh Regent. Am I missing anything else? Bowman, Head Inner Scranton Regent. Um, I think that's where you're all at, Duane. Yep, little deposit branch over to Rheim. In Rheim, that's right. And uh so you grew up in Rheim, North Dakota. And I want to kind of just give everybody a background of of the history of the Bowman family, and I've known your dad and mom for many years, and I believe I even probably officiated you playing high school basketball and and uh now your brother's on the ranch. But give us kind of a synopsis of uh the Bowman Ranch right south of or right south of Rheim over there.
SPEAKER_00:You bet, yes. Grew up in in Rheim, which is 13 miles west of uh Bowman, and just a mile south of Rame is where our ranch is located. And yeah, my dad and brother are both still on the place. Um, Eric, my brother is raising his family out there and is kind of taking over the operations. Dad is slowly trying to step out of it. Seems like he uh he says he works pretty hard. We aren't sure exactly what he gets accomplished in a day, but somehow he manages to just keep busy, kind of like myself, I guess. We really don't accomplish a lot, but say that we do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that uh you know I remember going over there, and you guys uh have always been uh a cattle feeding place and had uh had cattle, and and uh you know your brother Eric is now selling uh registered bulls, and he's got some of the bull, uh, the finest looking bulls in the country. And and you can tell by how his sale's been going and what the producers think. But you know, you're you guys have always fed cattle, and I guess that's where I always went and looked at some bulls that you guys uh fed for some of these producers.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yeah, we had a small little place, you know. We only had a couple thousand acres, so it really wasn't big enough to you know to completely raise a family on without doing something a little bit different. So they got into the custom cattle feeding and background a little bit of our own cattle, but bringing in some other guys' cattle as well, and especially kind of specialized in uh a few registered bull producers that brought their bulls over there to background before their production sale, and eventually that turned into my brother, you know, getting into the registered Angus cattle business. And now he does his own production sale. But that's always something that they've had a lot of pride in. They've AI'd for years and really took pride in their genetics and have really uh you know turned the operation into um you know, into raising the best cattle that they possibly can. Like you said, the sale has been going on for probably a little over 10 years now and just seems like it gets better and better as he continues to improve his genetics and and gets a little more known in the area.
SPEAKER_01:You know, in in that industry of selling cattle, um, I was always told that you can see how good a person's cattle really are when they're selling them, is if the neighbors buy them. And I tell you what, the neighbors buy your bulls. I mean, we we were at that one sale, and I'm uh I think about everybody there was a neighbor, and they were buying bulls, so that tells me that it's good cattle and they've done a great job. And you know, now their son is going to college and he's uh I think in Wyoming, doesn't he? Uh judging cattle and and uh and uh livestock judging kid, and uh what a great young man. But you know, I can see him coming back and and uh kind of getting into that too. But you know, it kind of runs in your family, and uh talking about running, you kept running in the family because you you're into cross country and and you went to college in Augustana and and uh ran down there and and got your degree. And so let's talk a little bit about uh how running is in your family.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. I guess it's you know something I started. I ran uh cross country and track here in in Bowman, and and we had a tremendous coach and a tremendous team at the time, so it was kind of fun to be a part of that. And I was part of I think five state titles on the boys' side, and girls, I think, were the same during my six years of of running from seventh through twelfth grade, and then went on to run at Augustana, but my brother also ran, and my sister ran. And um, I think Eric and I were both second in state, was the best we ever did. We're not state champions. My sister actually won the state championship as a freshman in high school, and then she went on to run at Augustana as well. Um, I came back then after that and and uh wanted to get back into it, was had an opportunity to be the assistant cross-country coach under the guy that I ran under for six years, and then took over as the head coach. I had a, you know, we started having a family then, and it kind of came a time for me to step back a little bit, and I got out of the program. And then once my daughter wanted to start running, I got back in. And she ran for six years, and now I've got twin boys that are juniors, and we just finished our state meet, and now our boys' program has now won six state championships in a row, and one of my twins was also second in state this year, the other one was ninth, so had a just an absolutely fantastic year on our boys' site. Our girls were we ended up second. We actually tied for first and came down to the tiebreaker, and we ended up second by the sixth place runner, I guess, is the tiebreaker. So had a fantastic state meet.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, you're you're carrying the torch, and uh, and now your kids are, and and it's it's really nice to see. But when you're in a community like ours, you know, you do what you can to help out, and and you're helping out with the cross-country team, and and I don't know if you're involved with the track any, but the cross country, um, but that's what people do in small town America.
SPEAKER_00:You're exactly right. You know, and I was one when when I uh graduated high school, you know, and I wasn't sure if I was gonna come back. I was kind of one of those kids that wanted to get away, and not that Sioux Falls was a long ways away. We're talking, you know, seven, eight hours away, but it was far enough that I didn't get to come home very often. And the more I was gone, the more I realized, you know, this is where I want to be and where I want to come back to and where I eventually want to raise a family and came back. And and that's exactly you know the model that we have at the bank. We uh we try to have our employees be involved as much as possible. That is just that's the hats you wear when you're in a small town like this, and we give back any way we can because the community's given back to us in so many ways. So really I just appreciate having the opportunity to be able to be involved and to give back any way I can.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and and you look at that, everybody and all these branch banks that you have out are doing that, you know. Um, and I I'm from Scranton, so I kind of see what the Scranton people are doing, but in the bank over there and the Bowman ones, but everywhere you go, you're you're seeing that you know, there's a sponsorship from DWB or uh the the girls are helping out, uh doing whatever up at the school or or with the golf course. And and you know, there's a lot of things like that you you know you do give back to, but uh not everybody understands what what small town banks do is give back. And and you guys are. I mean, every and I grew up with everybody in Scranton there, it seems like so you we all know them very well, and and they're always the first ones to hey, how can we help? And they and that's what we appreciate about small tank small town banks.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yeah, we've got a tremendous staff over in our scrant branch, you know, the the ladies that we have over there, Diane's been there 29 years now, and Brenda Wedwick before that, and Carlo Tesky, you know, just fantastic people. But they absolutely, I mean, it is it's who they are, you know, it it comes so natural in the way they give back to their communities, which is why they've had such a such a successful branch over there as well, because people can see that they are so genuine, you know, about how they do things, but they just absolutely understand that these are the people we work with every day, and we want to give back to you and we want to be a part of the community any way we can. So, yeah, that's that's always kind of been our our motto and it's it's worked for us.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and when you came back from college, you know, you you started at the bank and and uh you know you've got a lot of ties to the bank um with you know at first being founded. So let's talk about the bank, you know, is founded in Rheim and kind of moved on and and progressed and grown since then.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, it was in the the bank of Rayme is where it started. Actually, our original charter goes back even to uh um to uh Buffalo Springs is where the original bank charter goes back to, I think in 1910 is when the bank actually officially started. So one of the few that survived during the Great Depression, and then eventually moved the charter over to Rheim. And then in 1976 is when uh Roger Berglund, my uncle Roger Berglin, and then my grandpa Albert were the two at the bank, and they moved it to Ballman, and that's been probably the best step they could have taken. You know, we still left our branch over in Rheim and have always had our roots in Rheim, but just moving into a little bigger market over in Bullman, and then since then it's been it's worked out really well where we've been able to kind of expand throughout southwest North Dakota, moving into Scranton, moving into uh Hedinger, and then to Regent over the years.
SPEAKER_01:It's it's really nice to see that you know, in like town of Scranton, 250, 70 people, whatever it is, but we've got a very nice bank in town, but it's also a big farming and ranching community, and you know, you're you're you're helping those guys out by being in the community. So, I mean, when you look at it, Scrant Equity is right across the street from you, and with the expansions they're making, but um, it's nice to have that small town bank. I mean, like I said, there's still a lot of people go in there everybody. I think a lot of people just go in to say hi, you know, uh to the girls. But uh, you know, they've always got something going on there, and and uh, but when you get into these farming and ranching communities, you are a service to help them out, and that's what everybody really appreciates.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. You know, that's what we really pride ourselves in taking relations, you know, in in creating relationships, uh building relationships throughout our community, and that's that's really what uh has worked for us as well. But yeah, being involved in the communities.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, let's move into uh the next segment with a lot of this, but I'm gonna uh we're gonna end it with this. Whether you're buying or selling land and equipment or real estate, trust a team that's built on experience and results, Piper Auction Realty, and land management. The farm and ranch auctioneers, land brokers, and land managers are the best in the business. We do nobody does it better than Piffers. Go to Piffers.com and uh check out everything we got, and we'll be right back in a minute. Two one, welcome back to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Jim Sabby, your host for today, and my guest is Dwayne Bowman, president of uh Dakota Western Bank. And um the DWB sign is very famous in this area. I mean, uh you look at that and you know instantly what it is, Dakota Western Bank. But uh getting back to that, you you've got into these small towns and and uh you know you do a great service, but uh you know, let's talk a little bit. You know, you said you started in 19 well they started in 1910, but you moved through, and you know, um there's a lot of differences in banking from when I was banking with you guys. Um, and uh, you know, Ron Plecheski was an integral part of of your bank for many years, grew up in Scranton, came back, and um, you know, he's a UND grad, so he kind of got to watch what we say, but you know, you feel bad for him once in a while. But um he's retired now, but uh you and uh and Ron, you know, um took care of my business and and you know worked in the bank, but um you've always had really good local, and everybody is local, it seems like that's in the banks. Um, and they know everybody and they know um what's going on at the ranches, but you know, when you get local local people like yourselves, you tend to care more, you know, as a bank and a loan officer. So, you know, let's talk about some of your loan officers and and which banks are in and and uh and who people need to visit with.
SPEAKER_00:You bet. Nope, I appreciate that. Yeah, you know, that's always been we've tried to bring local people in, you know, they seem like they they know the area, they have their roots here, they understand agriculture. You know, we can teach people to bank, but we can't uh teach them, you know, the the culture and you know what agriculture means in this area, you know. So we try to hire people with good personalities and then we can teach them the banking part. But we've definitely tried to hire people with uh local roots. And like you said, you know, Ron was a Scranton native, Ron was my mentor, and you know, really uh kind of helped show me, you know, how banking is going to be successful when you bring in those good people. And and Roger said that forever, you know, and really our it was never officially our um our model, but yet it was our tagline that we kind of live by, and you know, it's the people, and we meant that with our both our employees and with our customers, you know, and that's always been what's what we've taken pride in. But yeah, so over in uh in Bowman in our main branch, um, our loan officers are um Beth Hendricks or Beth Chriswell now, excuse me, or is her you know, you know, and Beth has been here now for about eight, nine years, but she's one I ran into the grocery store and she was working down in Lemon at the um elevator, and I just thought, you know, she's got local ties to the area, she understands agriculture very well, and thought I'll take a little chance and visit with her. And you know, we kept the conversation going a couple months later. We were able to bring her back to the bank, and she's done a great job.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, speaking of her, Dwayne, and it's kind of like what you do with cross-country, she's also the livestock judging coach for all these kids here, and they've done a tremendous job. And I mean, and again, that's part of your bank giving back, but you know, that's that's a huge part of her life as livestock judging. She grew up with that. Um, livestock judging 4H, FFA, and now she's actually uh they they go all over the country livestock judging.
SPEAKER_00:They're in Indianapolis right now at the well FFA Livestock Judging Convention. So, yes, she's she's been just awesome with the with the kids and the way she's given back, and yeah, the kids have done really well. She's built a tremendous program in the little town of Bowman. So fun to see.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, and so it's kind of fun to watch, you know, and and when she's she never changes either. I mean, she's still the same person she was when she was running around with my daughter Haley and and hanging out. You know, I always said she's one of my other daughters that I had, and and uh, but she's always had that great personality that comes from good parents, also, and and uh, but they've also been very close to the livestock industry, that family. And and I believe her grandpa was a boag instructor in Bowman for how many years, you know. Um it was many years that he was there.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, exactly. You know, and that's why she's done so well. She just has the right personality, she's got all of the all of the skills, and yeah, like you said, the family's been very vested, understands agriculture very well. So she's done a great job. And then a few years after that, we we brought in Tanner Fisher, and same thing, you know, a native of the uh Rame Canamadon area and grew up on a ranch and has um tied now married a lady from here in Bowman as well. They're uh kind of expanding their family and also trying to you know increase their operation out on the farm and ranch as well. So he's been a great fit. He's been here about seven years, and then we added um uh Aaron Buer, and Aaron's been here a little over three years, and he's a native of Bison, South Dakota. So, same thing, you know, his dad ranched and did a little uh welding and stuff on the side, you know, but definitely uh understands the roots and the native of this area, so he's been a great fit for us. So that's kind of our our Bowman lending. Oh, excuse me, at Brianne Baland. We also moved into lending as well about two, three years ago, and she's done a really good job as well. She just, you know, native um of the area, really good with people, you know, understands agriculture, um, just really done a great job as well. Just really a very analytical person. She was kind of a loan assistant for us, and then also kind of the executive assistant, but she stepped into the loan officer role and done a great job.
SPEAKER_01:You know, you got a great staff on you got two sites now in Bowman. One's where the loan officer are, and the other one's down where all the other transactions go. And you know, it's it's always nice you walk into either one of them and and everybody's friendly. And it's it's small town, we know everybody, and and then you move over in Headinger, you get the same thing when I walk into the Headinger branch, everybody sits and visits and wondering what you're doing over here today, and and uh want to know things like that. And and I haven't been to the Regent one, but I know it's it's like that probably there too. So you you get Scranton's always the same way, but you built it on family and uh the family tradition.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. No, that's uh that we can talk about that. We spend more time with uh the people we work with than we really do our family, so they become your second family, yes. I know you understand the same thing with your work, Jim. That's just how how it is, and we we hire people that we that we have a lot of respect for and that we know can really be good in the banking, but they're good in banking because they're good with people, you know, they understand that.
SPEAKER_01:So that's a skill is it's not taught, you know, and we're we're finding that out too, but it's not taught. But there's there's so many more transactions that go on in the bank besides people just signing their name on a note or opening up a checking account. Um, the only thing I ever really got offended on was when they asked me if I wanted that over 55 club, and I thought I'm not that old. But we all have a lot you're at that age, you know, you get those questions a lot, but you know, I never thought about it until they asked, Well, you want to be in the over 55? I don't remember what it's called, but it's just that funny, you know.
SPEAKER_00:You don't want to be in that, you just you worry, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I mean they've got a lot of a lot of different programs for everybody that doesn't matter what age um that you you can be in and and get information from, and and that's also nice that you guys are a big information center for the community.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, you know, and it's like you said, you know, banking has changed a lot over the years, and you know, the the older generation still wants to come into the bank. They they love that face-to-face interaction, they want to come in and make their deposits, and then you look at like my kids, and I think their goal is to never come into the bank. You know, they want to do everything on their phone, do it online, but we still find ways to build that relationship. We got to provide the services, the apps, you know, the internet banking that they want. So it's it's kind of trying to make a you know, find the happy medium for all the customers that are involved.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, the coffee's always on, the popcorn's always being made on Friday in these banks, and and uh which is kind of nice. So it it uh it really works well. Uh what you guys have done is is is blended into the community, and and everybody knows you're here and uh they appreciate it. But uh, you know, we've got uh uh not a lot of time here. We got about a minute to go, way it looks uh before we get to the end of this segment. But next segment, I want to talk about the industry and what you're seeing that's different from when you started in the banking business and what is going on now. And you know, farmers are different, um, ranchers are different. Uh, you know, they're handling a lot more money. I don't know if they're making any more money, but they're handling a lot more money. But it's a totally different thing for for what you're going through and what we're seeing um from what it was. And I'm gonna say how long you've been in the bank? Um, 20 years. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, it's totally different compared to what you were back then. So, um, so we just we'll get into that on the next segment. And you know, I got another commercial here I want to read to you a bit. You know what? Nobody does it better than Pipers. Yeah, you can get a hold of us at any time looking for the professional auction services or expert land management. Pipers auction realty and land management delivers proven success across the Midwest with the best farm and ranch auctioneers and brokers in the industry. They'll help you get top dollar. Visit Pipers.com, and I tell you what, us here in the Bowman office, we'd be glad to help you out. You can give us a call at 701-523-7366. Got Andy Murnaut, Jim Sabby, John Sarite, and Allie Pierce in our office, and uh they kind of handled everything. So we'll talk to you in the next segment uh coming up. Got it. Perfect. All right, you know, you don't have to be so complimentary, you can say, damn it. Damn it. Yeah, so I still had room for air. All right, we are good on my end, Jim. Hey, we'll be rolling. All right. Three, two, one. Welcome back to America's Land Auctioneer. I'm Jim Saby, your host for today. I'm out here in Bowman, North Dakota, in God's country, like Dwayne Bowman and I always say, we live in this country, and and we you really got to appreciate this area. You know, we're very fortunate to live here. Sometimes we cuss it because we don't get enough rain. Um, we love it when we don't get to the snow um in the wintertime. But uh, all in all, you know, I went to school 400 miles away. I came back, I knew I was, but you went to school Sioux Falls is what eight hours away anyway. But uh, you know, you did come back and we appreciate that. But you know, now I want to get into how banking was when you first started, you know, and uh I'll never forget walking in and and uh you know Ron Pachewski said, Well, we got Dwayne Bowman's back, you know, and like I said, I think I officiated you in high school in basketball, and and uh I know you're your brother for sure, but um, it is the things have changed. Um, you know, it's it back then it it was a slower pace, probably. Um, you could say, and now so let's talk about that first before we move into the way it is now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, nope, you bet. Yeah, you you probably called a foul or two of my over those years, Jim. I'm guessing you're officially never did tee up though. No, I don't think so. Yeah, you know, banking has definitely changed, like you said, you know, I used to feel like I probably spent 70, 75 percent of my day with the customer in front of me, and definitely less time with customers anymore, you know, not just myself with my role, but all of our lenders, they do so much more, you know, through text messages, through emails, through you know, different types of of uh technology that they don't spend as much time in the bank. And certainly even since COVID, that's changed. But yet the relationships are still just as important. Um, you know, the one area that's probably changed the most is yeah, just the size of the loans. You know, it used to be where uh a hundred, two hundred thousand dollar operating note was was big, and now that's now that's the small ones, you know. Now it takes a a couple million dollars for most of our operators, but they've expanded a lot. The guys that were farming, you know, 2,000 acres, you know, 25 years ago are probably farming close to 10,000 acres now. And uh, you know, the margins are the margins are tight, they have to do things right. You really gotta pay attention to detail. But the other area I think that's changed, you know, is so much on the on the management side. It used to be where, you know, if you just if you really worked hard, if you put the time in, you were probably gonna do okay. Now, you know, you can work your butt off, but you've got to still, you've gotta manage the the marketing and you've got to manage the production. You know, there's so many different areas that you've got to manage and really have the expertise in that. And and luckily, a lot of our farmers and ranchers have access to to the expertise from your agronomists to the chemical guys to the elevators that help with marketing to you know working with an actual marketing person. So it they definitely have access to some really good people, you know, and we we see that a lot.
SPEAKER_01:Um, you know, the the marketing is it it's hard, you know, especially with uh today's commodity prices, but even back then, when you're you know, and I'll use for example, I remember we had a lot of rain one fall, and my Durham was rained on so much that it sprouted in the head standing, and and I remember I was offered 85 cents a bushel. Yeah um, you know, and and wheat was well at the time during was probably three and a half, three and a quarter, something like that. And you know, wheat was cheap, but you look at the inputs for so much less back then. Um, it was still tough to make that work. You well, it didn't work at 85 cents a bushel, but it that's all you could do. Um, but the crop insurance is so much better today than it was back then. I mean, it was it wasn't very good, but you look at the input costs, these guys have got to be out looking for inputs all the time. You know, we've got some great people right here in our area that are have that can bring in the inputs a lot cheaper than they ever could, and you know, because of volume-wise of what people are doing. So the you got the marketing, you got the inputs, and then you got the technology that uh that these machines are running. And I mean, you you about need a college education to get in some of these tractors. I I was in a tractor the other day, and and uh I've never been in one before, and well, my neighbor's got one, but um, I looked and I thought, what it's just like sitting in a uh theater with the screens all over in that tractor. Um, so technology is really taking over, and everybody's embracing it very well.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, you have to, you know, and luckily it seems like you know, a lot of the these the farmers, the younger generations are coming back and they're really good at the technology, but you have to embrace it. Um, and it's saving you know, guys a ton of ton of money when they do, you know, you look at from the precision seeding that's going on to now the sprayers that you know can identify the plants and spray just that certain plant. I mean, that's it's incredible how far the the technology has come. You know, GPS was one thing that really changed it, but now there's even there's more and more, and it just continues to evolve. But that you have to, like you said, you know, the the input costs have gotten so much more, so it's really finding areas to just save that that dime here and there, and with the volume that they're going through, that's how it adds up to profit, you know.
SPEAKER_01:And and I remember going to these chemical meetings back in the 80s and 90s, and those guys that say, Well, you can do this for five bucks an acre, and and this it'll only cost you five bucks an acre, and and you do this, and it's another 375 an acre, and and pretty soon they tacked it on, and there wasn't enough left for anybody. Um, but now you know, technology has changed that because we're not wasting like we were back then. I mean, overlaps and and doing all that, but um, and also the amount of bulk that they're buying is getting them a cheaper price. But you know, if you can save, and I'm gonna use uh 50 cents an acre on this or or whatever, that adds up when you got 10, 15, 20,000 acres. Um, and that's what it what everybody's looking for is okay, how can I do this? Do it efficiently, but yet save. And it's kind of like that in the banking business, you know, with with what you guys do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. We work on the same thing. You know, we work with big numbers and you know, the margins are the margins are slim, but you you do it through the volume that you go through in a in a in the course of a year. And that's the same way these farmers and ranchers have. They've expanded a lot, but it's unbelievable the production they are getting now, you know, to see some of these years where where we get very little rain and yet you can still raise a 40 bushel wheat crop or uh 80 bushel corn crop on years where we barely get any rain. So that's the seed technology's changed a lot. And yeah, you know, it's uh they're they're in a the same type of business that we are where you just really revolve on on the margins and and volume.
SPEAKER_01:You got to look at the seed companies and and uh when they're dealing with corn and the genetics uh in the corn and the soybeans, um, the wheat, the sunflowers, and then canola has been huge out here for this area. And you know, I heard uh one guy was said that he did just on a on a full quarter, he was real close to 4,000 pounds the acre. That is huge, you know, and a lot of 33 to 3,500 pounds the acre, but that technology has changed so much um in the genetics of everything, and then they put that drought resistant gene in the Corn and and uh some other things out here we you know we're we're more than likely gonna have a drought at some point. Um, you know, we've been very fortunate this year after middle of May, we start getting rain. Um it didn't look very good up until then. And even for the cattle business, you know, guys were looking at uh, you know, I know your brother, and I don't know if he he sold off any, but I know people were in March, April, and May were worried, so they were gonna be getting rid of some cattle.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yeah. I mean, it's unbelievable how quick this changed. You know, the middle of May, we were as dry as we've ever been, and things were looking bleak, and guys are making you know, planning attentions based on crop insurance and expecting it's gonna be a total disaster. In the middle of May, it started raining and forgot to turn off, which is kind of nice. And we're going into now this winter in as good a shape as we've ever been.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, that's what's really nice is looking at we're still green out here, and it's the end of October. Um, and I had to mow my lawn last week again, and I'm you know it's unbelievable, but the country looks good, the the cattle look good, it's just a lot of things that uh you gotta have gotta have a little luck on your side in this thing, and uh, you know, and we get we'll talk a little bit later on the cattle market in the next segment, our last segment. But you know, you look at the difference uh in the prices, commodities versus what everything costs in today's world. I mean, you're looking at a tractor at just about a million, a combine a million, these new sprayers are about a million. Uh it just goes on and on. Um, it takes a lot of money to operate. Um, and you guys, you know, you you that's what you're here for is to help these guys through the season and get this operating taken care of, and so they can function. But boy, when you're dealing with every piece of equipment, it's about a million bucks. Um, that that would make me really nervous. I mean, when I was geez, we had 4020s and 4430s and 7520 tractor, 8630s. I mean, really, those weren't that expensive. I mean, they probably were for that time, it seemed like, but maybe it's all relative to what you're doing. But now you look at it, I mean, it's just nuts.
SPEAKER_00:It has, it's it's changed a lot. It takes, you know, it takes a lot to operate, but yeah, the cost of equipment has has gone up in you know incredibly. It's uh, you know, the you look at, like you said, you know, combines and sprayers and and tractors all cost a million bucks, and you look at you know the margins this year, you know, we're probably gonna lose 50 to 100 bucks an acre. So, how do guys make that work? But we've had an awfully good run, you know, on the farming side. The last 10 years have been have been very good. You know, you've seen guys that have that have raised a lot of really good crops and and been very profitable over the years. So, this is hopefully just kind of a little hiccup that's gonna take a year or two to get through. We've been here before, yeah. We know that's just the way your agriculture works, but we will survive this, and you know, we know these prices are gonna come back.
SPEAKER_01:I look at it, you know, and I I drive the country a lot, but there's a lot of bags sitting out in the field full of grain, uh, grain bins, the guys building more storage all summer long. You know, I know one family here that built another half million bushels of storage um this summer on their place, um, and we see that all over. So it they do have commodities on hand. It's just you know, no one thought we'd have this turn of four dollars some wheat or or five dollar wheat. It's not quite five, but it's right in that ballpark. And you see the corn and the soybean markets. Um, it it's it's just probably more mentally tough on people than anything to see what happened when we should be having seven, eight dollar wheat and and uh you know, ten dollar beans and and five, six dollar corn. That's what we should be having.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely, you know, and that's yeah, we will we'll get back there. We know that. That's just uh works.
SPEAKER_01:So again, I want to the next segment we'll just talk about the differences between here and there and and what's going on with everything. But uh folks, the last segment will be coming up when it comes to buying and selling land. Check out Pipers.com. We're here to we're your leading professionals uh throughout the industry. So go to Pipers.com. Nobody does it better than Pipers, and we'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Uh we'll skin into talking banking. Three, two, one. Welcome back to America's Land Auction here. I'm Jim Sabby, your host for today. This beautiful Saturday morning in Southwest North Dakota. And again, uh, my guest is Dwayne Bowman, president of Dakota Western Bank, talking about the history of the bank um throughout 1910 and all the way to now, and how they've got into other smaller towns. But we want to talk about banking and how it's changed from when he started, and we talked a little bit about that in the third segment, but now the fourth one, we want to talk of the difference between you know this high-end dollar stuff. Um, the loans are bigger. Um these guys are farming more, they got more cattle. And of course, look at the sale. You know, you when you're getting$2,500 a head for calf, um, that changed the dynamics when uh I remember getting$500 a head for calves, or then it went to a thousand. But you look at the dynamics, everything is what it's done for our industries. But then cash rents have gone higher, land values have gone higher. So let's talk a little bit and how your bank is actually dealing with a lot of this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, really for the ranchers over the last uh 10 years, you know, we talked a little bit on the farming side. The farming, you know, it's been a pretty good little run where the production's been pretty good and prices have been, for the most part, been above break-even. They've made pretty good money. But ranching, it's been kind of just uh limping along, you know, kind of a little slow, you know, either death or a little, you know, slow kind of climb. But right now, these prices are absolutely incredible. You know, we we've had some producers coming in selling calves for as high as 3,100 bucks a head right now, you know, most money they've ever had in their pocket, and they're coming in with uh with the biggest checks and money sitting in their checking count after making all their payments, you know, things that they've never seen before. So we will see, you know, I know that's the one area the the farmers, I don't think we're gonna see a lot of you know purchases on the equipment, the the upgrades are gonna be a little tougher this year, but I think we're gonna see the rancher, they're gonna be looking at the you know, front assist, you know, new loader tractors and probably upgrading the pickups and things like that. So these prices are are enabling them to do that.
SPEAKER_01:You know, when you look at that, and I'm gonna use, for example, let's say they were getting a thousand twelve hundred bucks uh for a calf three, four years ago or whatever. Now all of a sudden you're paying that much more down, three calves down in one shot, um, versus what you did in the past. I mean, look what that does for their portfolio and and even your bank. I mean, what that does when they can pay off things quicker, they don't have that. You know, we've had I higher interest year lately. Um, they can pay a lot of that down. And I tell you what, those guys are smiling. It's kind of nice that they finally get a chance to have their spotlight.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. You know, even last year, we're just starting to see the checks come in, just starting to see our producers come in after after moving the calves this year. But last year they were coming in and they were smiling, you know, having a little extra money in their pocket and able to upgrade a few things. Well, that's you know, now they're getting a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars more than they did last year. Yeah, so it's it's gonna be really a nice thing to see. These guys deserve it. You know, there's nobody that works harder, you know, physically and you know, calving season, and you know, making a making a living on a ranch is a is a tough way. They love what they do, there's no doubt about it, but it's a tough way to make a living.
SPEAKER_01:So it's it's nice to see them coming in with with a little extra money in their pockets this year, you know, and I see that in you know, and of course, uh my daughter and son-in-law bank with you, but they we see that on the the commercial side, but then now we're seeing it on the registered side, and now that gives them some more money to maybe go out and buy that other cow they want to use for a donor or um some bull they want to partner with um to improve their genetics, like we talked about in the grains markets. Um, and that that really helps out when you can kind of jump your game a little bit um with uh a couple of extra, I shouldn't say that a thousand fifteen hundred bucks a head different on your commercial cows, and then all of a sudden you get to selling the registered stuff. Things are really good. You know, the other day the kids sold some heifers, I think, for six thousand some dollars registered stuff, maybe even a little bit more. So you look at that, um, it's a different ball game, but it's it's making everybody think a little smarter, I believe, you know, because we all know this won't last this long.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, you're exactly right, you know. And it's just like uh, you know, just like our business. Every year, you know, we have to be planning ahead and you make strategic decisions, you know, and you can make some capital improvements and and do things on the good years. And the ranchers are able to do that this year as well. Upgrade some equipment, you know, maybe upgrade their facilities, upgrade some genetics, and all that just creates a better product in the long run. So it's really nice to see that they're that they're able to do that.
SPEAKER_01:You know, and we're getting more calls for um on the auction side and even on the rent side, but more calls for people looking for pasture ground. And you know, in this fall, Andy and I, um, well, between December is 2,600 acres, and next spring will be about 6,800 acres in one chunk. Um, people are calling, they're they're looking to expand their herds, and uh it's it's made a little different market than what the locals are used to because you get over in that east of Bismarck, they're tearing up all the pasture over there and farming it because the very good farm ground, and now those guys are calling out here looking for pasture to rent. So you're you're raising the rates on on the rental rates, you're raising the rates on the the land values, um, whether it's farm ground or pasture. But you know, we're selling a lot of this pasture now, used to be two three hundred bucks, then it was five, six hundred, and then maybe if you'd hit 800 now, we're we're talking 14 to 1700 out in western North Dakota for pasture, um, which is unheard of. And so it's really changed the dynamics of a lot of things for for all these guys, and they got to be a little bit smarter with their pencil uh when they're doing things and they're or on their computer now. I guess we we don't use the pencil much, but um, they got to be a little bit smarter in how they're doing things.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. You can still see there's there's definitely caution, you know, with the decisions people are making. We know this isn't gonna last forever and it and it could uh it could burst and it could be you know kind of devastating how quick it can come down. So we know that there's still um caution it, they're making you know, definitely decisions that that are hopefully gonna be good for down the road. But you know, the one thing, you know, I think everybody thought, you know, this could they're nobody's gonna buy back or nobody's gonna expand their herds with this numbers, but you got to realize that they made a lot of money this last year, so they also don't want to pay big income taxes, so they're gonna reinvested into you know buying cattle back or or expanding their operations a little bit.
SPEAKER_01:And you know, is I shouldn't say it's funny, but you see the transition. Um, the guys that are 55, 60, 62, 63 are saying, you know what? I think it's time to get out. Um, and you you don't blame them. I mean, they've gone through every hardship there was in the in the in uh that we've had growing up out here, but now it's time they get paid off and they can go relax. Uh, they don't have to worry about that water fountain freezing up in January, February, March. Um, but we're seeing a lot of that. Some of these guys are just, you know, you know, I've had enough. Um, somebody else can start playing this game, but things are high, and we'll probably never see this again. Let's get rid of them now. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:That's a big reason why the numbers are down. Yeah. Well, yeah, guys, it's it's a lot of work. They're taking advantage of the high prices the way they are. Like you said, a lot of the land that was, you know, pasture land or CRP that came out of production, you know, went back into farm grounds. So the numbers had to go down a little bit just because land was being turned more into farm ground. So, but the older producers, the guys that you know that did this for a number of years without a lot of profit said, Hey, this is the this is the right time for me to get out. So we've definitely seen that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So kind of end this up, we got about two minutes left here, but what are you guys telling your your clients? Um, and how are you guiding them through, you know, whether we stay the same or whether we go down, um, how are you guys guiding them?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, so this upcoming year, you know, we've really talked to a lot of guys about you know LRP insurance on their calves as soon as possible. You know, we know this can change, but if they can lock in, you know, even if you are buying a$4,000,$4,500 bread heifer right now, or that's what you're retaining, you know, if you can get half that back by just LRP in the calf right now, that's not a bad, you know, it it should work then still going forward on that on that cow. So we're definitely uh encouraging our producers to look at doing that on the ranching side. On the farming side, you know, we know this is just kind of a time we're gonna have to get through, and there's gonna be some losses. There's gonna be inventory notes, like you said, the bins are full, there's bags out in the country, so it's gonna take some time to get through that inventory. Hopefully, these prices come back a little bit, and there might be a little carryover that these guys have to have to pay off over the next couple of years. But we've been here before, we're gonna get back to the profitable side on the ranching side. We know we just have to have to be a little bit cautious, but make uh good strategic decisions, you know, and and that's very good advice.
SPEAKER_01:And and you know, farmers and ranchers, most of them are very cautious anyway, um, but they they're not afraid to expand when they can and to do things, and and uh again, kind of the way of agriculture is different than when you and I grew up. And and uh so anyway, we're gonna end this segment here. And and I appreciate you being on. I appreciate Dakota Western Bank being a big part of all of our communities in southwest North Dakota. And again, Dwayne, thank you for today. And and uh we'll visit with you a little later. And again, this is uh Jim Sabwe of the American Land Auctioneer. Remember, nobody does it better than Piper. So give us a call out here at the Bowman office or corporate headquarters in Moorhead, and we'd be glad to help you out. Have a great week, folks, and uh thanks again, Dwayne.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks, Jim.