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Just my 2 cents. I get what you are wanting to do and it would be awesome. Here are some of the problems. WAY too short of growing season unless you are putting up a serious greenhouse with heat and maybe even some lights. Very short tourist season. You have the same 4 months as most places June through September. Maybe a little something in May and October. The rest of the year there are almost zero tourists and a LOT of work to be done with no income coming in.
As far as costs and sustainability there are a LOT of government grant/programs available for anything farming related. You can not succeed without them unless you can be happy breaking even at best.
I agree with you about the short seasons. I'm hoping OP, you are looking at this as a hobby business, and that you and/or your SO have a fulltime career that supports/funds this seasonal business during the long off-season. Maybe you can get contracts with local school districts, FFA, 4H, and other organizations, to arrange field trips to your petting zoo, greenhouse and horse/livestock operations. That could get you some business outside of the tourist season.
I'm guessing you already own horses and other livestock in Washington, so you know how expensive horses especially are to maintain year-round. We had just six horses in NE Oregon in the 80's and 90's on 40 acres of 60% pasture, 40% trees, and two ponds for watering. We still bought 5 tons of hay and about a ton of oats every year, plus one of those horses found something to cut their legs on it seemed every other month. In S.D. you'll likely need to feed your horses hay 8-9 months a year, plus supplement with oats 4-6 months a year. More in the core winter months, less in early spring and late fall. I hope you find success in S.D. It should be some fun work getting everything going.
I'm not really sure I asked for opinions about my goals for South Dakota but rather how to help others to adapt when they follow me. Who knows if I even find that right property.
I'm not looking to jump head first into the unknown, this has been an ongoing aspiration. I know what landscape I'd like, what communities I'd like, and what the areas can offer me. I know I am not the first to have this idea which is why I haven't given up my "normie" job skills and have stuck to the trades.
What I am not sure about, and never will be, is just how successful or how long it will take, or if my children even decide to continue to carry out my dreams. I wouldn't force them to to begin with.
I don't believe my exact details are necessary for you to sway my doings. I have contacted others in the profession of hospitality.
There are reasons as to why there are multiples of businesses in every location and I plan to be one that caters and appeals correctly.
I appreciate those who have placed answers with information instead of interviewing.
I also do want to say, after my many paragraph defense position, that I understand where those who are interviewing are coming from when you deal with posts on this forum all the time of people looking to move into your beautiful state without looking at the bigger picture of their needs and what the state can provide.
That is totally fine. No one is tied to my post.
You can read past what you would like but my intentions are positive.
My experience with South Dakota has been homey, friendly, filled with strong people and beauty. History, values, and the vast wilderness that poses struggle to outsiders. Just wows me and I will never get enough of South Dakota.
Not to mention the occasional nasty blizzards. I don't live in SD yet, but have read about the bad ones on here that have killed many head of livestock. And the very large damaging hail as well. Last night I found a site listing the historically horrible floods in the area that some may find interesting so will include it for edification. I'm interested in Hot Springs, and found the link while researching flooding, and wildfires. It's good to know both the good, and the bad.
I also do want to say, after my many paragraph defense position, that I understand where those who are interviewing are coming from when you deal with posts on this forum all the time of people looking to move into your beautiful state without looking at the bigger picture of their needs and what the state can provide.
I read every one of the posts, and saw NO interviewing. Maybe because you are new to this forum you aren't used to how folks who try to help the various OPs ask questions so as to ascertain how best to answer their individual questions. If you haven't been given a heads up about all the ramifications of such a move to SD you could possibly lose everything.
The climate in SD is world's apart from Washington state where I have lived also, presently in NE Oregon for last 4 yrs. I ran across a good number of dude ranches from just looking at google maps of southern SD yesterday. You will be competing against all of them. You got a quite a few great posts giving very important information that is unique to this area, and your aspirations. Being thankful would be a good start. But taking offense over the help offered is not helpful especially if you want to be in the hospitality business where you can't afford to be offended. Best regards.
Oh lordy, lol. I'm very confident in myself, thank you.
Again, I am super appreciative of those who have answered the question I have asked and did not deviate.
I guess your family will adapt. There will be a lot more sun in SD vs. Western Washington. It is also very quiet. Not much traffic noise, no real major rail lines. Just make sure you are not under the flight path from Ellsworth AFB, lol. Your kids and spouse should do fine as long as they are happy working the farm/dude ranch-type business. Then they will stay busy through the summer. School can keep them busy the rest of the year. Rapid City is the only town of any size in Western SD, maybe Spearfish will add some fall, winter, spring activities too, outside of school.
The main complaint will be: "there's nothing to do!" Which is pretty much true unless you are wanting to take the kids and spouse into Rapid on a regular basis. There is minor league hockey, indoor football and a minor league basketball team. They have a traveling Broadway Show series at the Convention Center, plus Bull Riding, Rodeo and some concerts in the same events center. https://www.themonument.live/ There are also small colleges in Rapid and Spearfish that will have some sporting and cultural events. Nothing will be as big or exciting as a Vancouver or Seattle-area event, so you just need to adjust everyone's expectations and that it will still be fun, but different than it was back in Washington. There is hunting and fishing, hiking, rock hounding, rodeos, fairs, and other outdoor activities to do too. But most of those will take place during your peak business months. It will be the fall (after hunting), winter, and spring months that will be hard to adapt to.
You're looking for ~40 acres, which means you're looking outside of towns and probably also means your won't be too close to neighbors, and your kids' friends they make at school. Plan on driving a lot: to school events, friends houses, shopping, etc. The distances might be longer than in Western Washington (like to the kids away basketball game or debate tournament... sometimes overnight). Internet might be an issue too outside of town. The in-laws in Piedmont had the SLOWEST internet I've experienced since the dial-up days. They were only 15 miles or so out of Rapid. They had DSL, but were far enough away from the main switch box it was so slow it was hard to stream a TV show or movie. NO chance an XBox or Play Station would have worked. Some standalone Nintendo Switch games worked, nothing interactive though. Starlink might be your internet solution. They are looking to expand into the area in 2023.
I guess my adaption advice would be to keep everyone as busy as possible so they are too tired to complain. Once school gets going encourage every extra curricular activity you can to keep them busy and social. I would not recommend home schooling unless you really want the kids isolated. Working out home school group activities is more difficult in rural environments.
Thank you, ejisme!!
My partner and I are very outdoorsy (not weekend warriors) and love to drive as long as it's not replicating LA traffic, lol. We're holding out for the right property and heavily watching the market, this could be all the way into 4-5 years.
Currently in Washington, we stay far from the big city areas besides Tacoma when an event is happening at the Dome but even that's rare. We mostly take trips out to national parks or just go on long drives on the backroads. You really can't be trying to drive around between 1PM till 6:30 PM due to heavy influx of stop and go traffic. It really only slows down during harsh weather. We hunt, fish, hike, deal with the horses, ride motors, shed hunting, take care of dogs and livestock, or even just enjoy eachothers company at home. Less people the better types and not really into sports unless its got cars or livestock. My current house is over the flight path of our AFB, off of a packed highway, and a little local airport. Used to be quiet but areas grow.
I'm more worried about his mother and my mother because they both get bored very easily. Thankfully we'll be in seperate houses, just on the same property so we can slip away while they figure it out, aha. Both are also considered disabled and wouldn't really be happy anywhere, grass is always greener on the otherside. But they do love the grandkids and I'm hoping that will help keep their minds full. One will be going to Kentucky in the cold seasons to my Sister's.
We want to allow our kids interactions with locals and even extending sleepovers on school breaks. Sports are a plus. I know I was over at my friends farm growing up alllll summer and those were the best summers of my childhood. We have thought about homeschooling for their older years but I don't like the high isolation that they could experience in their younger years.
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