Secretary Walt Bones •
Agriculture
Walt Bones serves as Secretary of Agriculture in Governor Daugaard’s Cabinet. Walt was born and raised on a farm homesteaded by his great grandfather John Bones in 1879. He is currently farming in a partnership with two brothers, a brother in law, and three nephews. Walt, along with his family, runs a diversified farm, growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. They also have a beef cow/calf herd and custom feed cattle in a 2,000 head feed yard. In 1999, Walt helped to organize a number of neighbors and investors and founded the Turner County Dairy which milks 2,200 head of cows 3 times per day in two locations.
Walt is married to Jan who is an interior decorator and substitute teacher. They have three children, Christi (Wilking), a resource development director for the Greater Mankato (MN) United Way, Lisa (Stark) a dietitian for the SD Urban Indian Health system, and Ryan, a pre-med student at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.