Dakota Blanks

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About Dakota

Born and raised in central Virginia, my agricultural background started early in raising tobacco on the family farm without a cow in sight. When tobacco wasn’t viable any longer, I moved into horticulture at a local wholesale tree nursery where my interest in plant life began to grow. Later, I worked as a professional firefighter for over 10 years while growing produce for retail customers as well as restaurants and convenience stores.

After being introduced to cattle by a neighbor I decided to buy a group of eight sim-angus heifers. A few months after, I decided to expand a bit and bought another 160 head of cow-calf pairs and leased several farms in the area. I left the fire service shortly thereafter to raise cattle full time.

I began to realize quickly these high input cattle wouldn’t cut it. I started intensively grazing our farms, taking away a lot of inputs and the cattle started falling to pieces. That led me on the search for cattle that could handle my environment and management. I landed on South Polls and have never looked back. From the cattle to the people, this breed is the best we’ve found.

My wife Ruth and I live in Appomattox VA with our two sons and daughter.