South Dakota Farmers Union: 2025 Life on Farms & Ranches Photo Contest Winners Announced

When storm clouds gathered and the wind picked up, many headed to their basements in fear of the July derecho – not Breyten Johnson.

Johnson dashed to the machine shed to watch and wait. The fifth-generation De Smet farmer wanted to capture photos of lightening.

“I really like taking photos of lightning,” explained a winner of the 2025 Life on The Family Farm & Ranch photo contest. “Whenever you take a photo of lightning, you have to take it a just the right moment. The lightning lights up the clouds around it. It’s almost like a sunset – you get that red, then orange, then it fades off into white. It’s always so pretty how it lights up the sky.”

Johnson won the Farm & Ranch Scenery division of the South Dakota Farmers Union annual photo contest.

Other contest winners are Bosten Morehart of Winner placed first in the Farmer-Rancher at Work Division and Samantha Swanson of Redfield placed first in the Livestock Division.