South Dakota Ranch is Way of Life for the Dagley Family

Although We Don’t Own a Ranch…

…We have been working on the ranch we manage since 2007.

It is the next best thing to owning a ranch. Because, we get to live in the country and experience ranch life every day.

Hi, I am Susanna Dagley. And, when I say we, I am talking about myself, my husband David, and our three children.

Together, we take care of our boss’ cattle, training our Hangin Tree Cowdogs to help us move the different cattle groups through the pastures. That way, the cattle not only eat their fill, but they also trample the grass creating a mat to protect and feed the soil.

This rotation grazing approach improves the soil and encourages the growth of native grasses.

The cattle are in an area for a week or two, then we use our Hangin Tree Cowdogs to move the cattle to fresh pasture, allowing the land to rest most of the year.

This means we spend a bit of time fencing. Because, we use a combination of permanent fences that need mending, and temporary fences that we are always moving.

Since we have winter in South Dakota, we put up hay for the winter. Then, when the grass is covered with snow, we feed the cattle.

So, What Part is Ours?

We own the Hangin Tree Cowdogs, training them as we go about on the ranch. So, our cowdogs have a lot of experience moving different groups of cattle to different pastures.

Dagley’s Annie was our very first Hangin Tree Cowdog. And, we were very happy to Supreme Qualify her in the fall of 2018.

(See the 2018 Supreme Qualifying list here: https://www.hangintreecowdog.net/2018-supreme-qualified)

We have our own cattle, which are ran on shares with our boss’s cattle. And, our children own their own cows too!

David loves horses, and has also trained several, including some of our own personal horses.

You can see videos of the dogs and horses David has trained on our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/dagleycowdogs/posts

We have gardens for fresh produce, goats for milk, and laying hens to provide us with farm fresh eggs. Our children are all a part of our ranch life. They enjoy helping us milk the goats, collect the eggs, feed the bottle calves, care for the gardens, and take care of our cowdogs. Our children often come along with us as we manage the ranch.

This South Dakota ranch is an ideal place to homeschool our three children. And, we are raising them to enjoy nature, honor God, and learn the art of ranching.

In summary, no, we don’t own our own ranch. But, we are living the ranch life. And someday we hope to have a ranch that is ours.

-Susanna Dagley

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