Wirt Family Named 2026 Farm Family of the Year
Getting involved and promoting agriculture are important to Adam and Melissa Wirt. Through 4-H, FFA and the Stockyards Ag Experience, the Wirts enjoy giving back to the community and spreading a positive message of agriculture. Adam volunteers his time teaching youth about livestock judging and raising sheep, while Melissa works part time at the Stockyards Ag Experience, reaching people from all over the region. The Wirts have been selected as the 2026 Farm Family of the Year by the Agribusiness Division of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce.
Adam and Melissa live on a farm south of Lennox, S.D., with their two daughters, Jovie, 18, and Emerson, 15. The Wirts’ commitment to the agriculture industry started at a young age for both of them. Growing up on a dairy farm in the Big Stone City, S.D., area, Melissa was active in 4-H and FFA before attending South Dakota State University, where she earned degrees in animal science and wildlife and fisheries.
After they were married, she continued her education and earned an associate’s degree in veterinary technology from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb. She spent 15 years working as a vet tech in Sioux Falls at All City Vet Care East while also providing support on the farm. In the past couple of years, she earned her teaching certificate from SDSU and began teaching biology at the Harrisburg freshman academy this fall.
“I liked the job I was at, but as you get a little bit older, you kind of want to advance, and there wasn’t much room for advancement at the vet clinic,” Melissa said. “I tell everybody I could not have taught as a 24-year-old straight out of college, but with age comes some patience and wisdom. I definitely now have the ability to work with kids and enjoy it.”
She is looking forward to lambing time and the opportunity to share the miracle of birth on the farm with her students.
Adam grew up on a farm near Parker, S.D., and after graduating from Parker High School, he attended SDSU, where he and Melissa met. After earning his degree in agricultural systems technology, he thought he would return to the farm, but there wasn’t an opening with his grandpa, dad and uncle already actively involved in the operation.
At the time, a new POET ethanol plant had opened in Chancellor, S.D. Adam decided to seek a job there and bide some time until there was an opening on the farm. After spending 14 months at POET Chancellor, he took another job within POET in Hanlontown, Iowa. After eight months, he was transferred to the Hudson, S.D., plant as a manager. For a time, he worked in research for POET. That opportunity allowed him to work with producers, equipment manufacturers and new technologies.
“For me, it hit really close to where my degree was and what I hoped to do. When I left college, I was hoping that I could find a job with a John Deere or Case testing equipment, and it never worked out,” Adam said.
He later managed the Scotland, S.D., plant. Today, he works as the general manager at POET Hudson. The Wirts moved to their current farm in 2005. In 2018, they built the barn where they house their sheep. Adam’s family has been farming in the area for generations.
His grandparents bought a farm south of Parker in the 1950s. His grandpa built the operation as a seedstock farm where he produced gilts and boars. He started with Duroc pigs, then Adam’s dad started Hampshire pigs and his uncle raised Yorkshire pigs. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the operation shifted to producing pigs geared toward 4-H and FFA projects.
Adam and his sister, Sarah Baloun, continue the swine and sheep production sale, with the sale this March marking 48 years. Adam’s dad, Randy, started raising Suffolk sheep. After Adam graduated from college, he went to some dispersal sales and bought some Southdown sheep to add to the operation.
Adam and Sarah’s mom, Chris, continues to be heavily involved in the farming operation, with Sarah serving as the main driver of the farm. They farm about 750 acres of corn, soybeans and a little alfalfa.
During the spring and fall, Adam takes some days off to help with fieldwork. He also takes time off to help with lambing. They market about 60–70 lambs in the spring, retain about 10–20 ewe lambs and take feeder lambs to Sioux Falls Regional Livestock. Growing up, both Adam and Melissa were involved in 4-H and FFA. Today, daughters Jovie and Emerson work hard to care for their animal projects and take on leadership roles.
“Where Melissa was involved in the more outgoing activities in 4-H, that’s not Jovie and definitely not Emerson, but if you get them into small group settings, I think they really thrive in those kinds of things. You can see the club activities that they do, Jovie steps in. They gravitate toward helping younger kids,” Adam said.
Melissa has served as a 4-H club leader and works part time at the Stockyards Ag Experience in Sioux Falls. She enjoys talking to kids about where their food comes from and getting them to think about agriculture.
“We get to talk to them about breakfast and pizza and read a story, and that gets them thinking about their food,” Melissa said.
Adam serves on the church council at Bethany Lutheran Church in Hurley, S.D., the Stockyards Ag Experience board, the South Dakota Born and Bred Association, the South Dakota Show Lamb Boosters board and as vice president of the South Dakota Ethanol Producers Association. Adam says it’s important to get involved and to educate others about agriculture.
“We love to support our local 4-H and FFA groups,” Adam said. “We enjoy giving back to those things where the kids are and try to keep them interested and excited. If they’re not coming back to the farm or to ag, we’re in trouble.”