BELLE FOURCHE—Agriculture is more than an industry in the Belle Fourche area—it is made up of the people, families and businesses who keep it going year after year. Those contributions were celebrated during the 41st Annual Agri-Business Appreciation Banquet held September 24 at the Belle Fourche Community Hall.
Belle Fourche’s own Scott Reder served as the master of ceremonies. He informed the crowd of what was happening throughout the evening and kept the event moving along. He shared stories and introduced speakers. One of the stories he shared was about collecting Hot Wheels as a kid. Reder collected a full gallon bucket of the little cars. Later, without thinking much of it, he’d give a car away to any kid that came to visit. Only years later did he realize that something small and ordinary to him would mean something much bigger to the child who received it. He shared how those at the banquet did the same in one way or another—they spent their lives doing the ordinary things that make a community work without necessarily realizing what they were building or who would benefit from it later. “You might be helping the person get their first job, you might sponsor a kids’ team, you might buy something from a local store that you could have went and bought at a store in a different town or a box store somewhere, you might even hire somebody who’s just getting their first job, or you might build a ranch and pass it down to your grandkids someday,” he said.
Reder explained that you’re just doing what you do. But years later, somebody else may be better off because you did it. “We don’t always know what we’re building while we’re building it, but sometimes we’re just putting another Hot Wheels car in a bucket,” explained Reder. “Tonight … we’re celebrating some people that have been putting Hot Wheels cars in their buckets for a long time.”
Belle Fourche Mayor Randy Schmidt welcomed everyone gathered for the event. “This evening gives us an opportunity to do something important, to take this opportunity to recognize the people who make our agriculture possible. Here at Belle Fourche, agriculture isn’t simply part of our economy. It is part of our sanity, our history, and our way of life,” he said. “Our farmers and ranchers know what it means to put [in] a long day. They understand that work doesn’t stop because it’s a weekend, a holiday, too hot, too cold, or somewhere in between.”
Black Hills Roundup Chairman Bill Eastman recognized the hardworking Ag Committee, the members of the Black Hills Roundup Board, their spouses, those who help out in a variety of ways, the rodeo queens, the city of Belle Fourche, the volunteers and all of the sponsors. “The 2026 year [is] our 106th Roundup—we are very proud of that, but the success that we have this year and every year doesn’t come easily… It comes from the community—all of you, coming together to support such a huge thing—this is way bigger than all of us. The Black Hills Roundup has been going on forever—it’s a part of history, it’s a culture here and we definitely couldn’t do it without all of you,” he said. “So thank all of you for that, so many volunteers that stepped up to the plate and helped a bunch of us rookies out when we really needed you the most… So thank you very much for all the volunteers… Thank you very much, sponsors, for sure.”
Leading the room in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the invocation prior to the meal was Phil Kissack.
The meal was delicious; the first course was a side salad served tableside with the help of the Black Hills Roundup Royalty. Branding Iron Steakhouse grilled the main course on site and served a buffet-style meal of steak, mashed potatoes, corn and a dinner roll. Cupcakes, provided by Lynn’s Dakotamart, were brought around to each table by the Rodeo Royalty once again.
Broke Loco played live music during the dinner hour. Clint Hahn and Daron Lacina made up the duo. Music was sponsored by CATL’ Resources, Tim and Dr. Chandy Olson.
The winners who show up to the banquet have no idea they are about to be honored, making for an exciting night. The announcement of this year’s award recipients is a much-anticipated part of the evening.
The first award of the night was the 2026 Ag Leadership Award. This is the seventh year the award has been given. This year’s recipient was Holly Main. She spent decades serving area youth and the agricultural community, particularly through her involvement with 4-H, FFA, shooting sports, youth leadership programs and numerous other community organizations. “I get emotional at the littlest things—this is a really big thing! I didn’t think I was old enough to get this award,” joked Main. “Thank you. Thank you to an amazing, amazing community to have supported me all through my growing up, and now to support my kids and all of our community, I’m just grateful. Thank you!”
The next award of the evening, established in 1998, was the Dick Reder Memorial Ag Young Rancher Family Award. This year’s winners were Ty and Jamie Thybo.
Both grew up in ranching families and graduated from Harding County High School. Jamie later went to Black Hills State University with a rodeo scholarship and earned an accounting and business degree. She went on to purchase Northern Hills Business and Tax, the same business she interned at after college. She is an EMT.
Ty attended Central Wyoming College, where he competed on the rodeo team. He returned to Reva to work alongside his father at the Bar H Ranch.
Ty and Jamie had been friends for years before they began dating. “Thursdays were team roping days at her home. He was always there. Her dad thought he really liked how he handled the steers, but he found out later that wasn’t the real reason he was coming around,” Reder joked.
They married in 2016 and have two children. The couple took over management of the Bar H Ranch, the same one Ty’s father ran. “Guess I’ll just say, thank you. Guess I wasn’t sure what we were coming to this deal for—this must be it,” said Ty.
E&M Steel Products was honored as this year’s Ag Business. E&M Steel Products is a family-owned business located west of Belle Fourche that offers a variety of steel and fabricated products for the agricultural community. The business is owned by Brad and Alix Manke, who support the community through local events and organizations, including a partnership with the Black Hills Roundup this past summer to purchase a new set of chutes for the rodeo.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that. Thank you to everyone. We couldn’t do what we do without my wife, our health, my family. Yeah, pretty big honor to have this. Our family succeeds because of everybody in this room, so we appreciate that,” said Brad.
Mike and Melanie Pittman were honored with this year’s Ag Persons of the Year Award. The Pittmans have worked side by side for 45 years on their farm west of Belle Fourche. Their farm was established in 1925 by Melanie’s great-grandfather. For 36 years, they operated a Grade A dairy before transitioning to raising cattle and sheep when the dairy market changed in South Dakota. Today, another generation is growing up on the farm—their grandson is the sixth generation to help care for the animals.
The Pittman farm hosted Kindergarten Farm Day for over 20 years. Tours of the farm were given, and activities the kids enjoyed included feeding bottle calves and meeting goats, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, peacocks and Evelyn the pot-belly pig. The farm provided sack lunches and ice cream to the visitors. The Belle Fourche School District honored the Pittmans as partners in education for the tours.
When the Pittmans accepted the award, Mike held his young grandson up and pointed to him as the next generation.
The room looked fancy with rows of tables draped in solid black tablecloths and topped with individual centerpieces created just for the banquet. Winning top honors for the best centerpiece was Highmark Federal Credit Union.
Joan Manke, Ag Banquet Committee member, awarded Friends of the Ag Committee recognitions to Melissa Kraft and jointly to Roxi Dobesh and Toni Moncur. They were honored with flower bouquets.
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