Scott & Sara Schlisner and family named Ag Bowl Captains

August 23, 2024

Scott Schlisner’s family has been farming in the Madison area since they settled in the area in the late 1800s.

“Our farm is five generations,” Scott added. “My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my dad, me, and now my oldest son is doing a bit of farming.”

“You get a lot of time and money invested in farming,” said Scott’s father, Graydon.

While their connection to Dakota State University does not go back quite that far, it has been an important part of their family.

Scott earned his degree from Dakota State University (’04) while attending school part-time and working on the family farm, managing Wenk Foods, and raising a family. After graduating with a business administration degree, he became a financial advisor, while continuing to farm. His wife Sara was a student athlete, who played softball at DSU (’06). They have four kids, Ryan (who attended DSU), Ella, Grady, and Leah.

Graydon graduated from General Beadle State College in 1971, after returning from the service, and began farming with his father around the same time.

Graydon’s wife, Cheryl, attended the Beadle Campus School that served as a teacher-in-training school. The campus school, known as Beadle High School at the time, was destroyed by a fire in January of 1963, while Cheryl was attending. Her father, Robert Frager, was also a graduate of General Beadle State College.

Graydon and his dad, Lyle, saw many changes in the agriculture industry throughout their farming career. Lyle went from farming with horses to farming with larger tractors and plows, GPS, artificial intelligence, and other major advances.

“You have to be a pretty good business owner to operate a farm today,” Scott said. “Because it comes down to dollars and cents.”

The Schlisners farm about 1600 acres of corn and soybeans, and have also had cattle over the years, as many as 80-90 at a time.

In addition to his full-time job as a financial advisor and work with farming, Scott has also found time to serve on the DSU Foundation Board of Trustees for the past 17 years. He’s enjoyed watching the growth and development at Dakota State over the past several decades.

“I’m a big believer in education,” Scott said. “We live in a technology world, and we have one of the best technology schools in the world.”

When Scott learned they would be this year’s Ag Bowl Captains he was surprised, but honored.

“There are a lot of farmers in our community who have supported Dakota State,” Scott said. “For us to be selected for this, with the excitement at DSU with the new athletics facility, it’s humbling.”

This year, Ag Bowl will be the first game played on the new Blankley Field at Brian Kern Family Stadium in the Beacom PREMIER Center on Thursday, Aug. 29. Kick-off will be at 7:05 p.m.