When South Dakota farmer Julie Burgod dared to question an incoming 25,000-head dairy, she was criminally investigated.
On July 30, 2026, an unannounced black Chevrolet Suburban parked outside Burgod’s office building in Aberdeen. A Division of Criminal Investigations agent, presumably armed, exited the vehicle and entered her office. Sent by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office, he flashed his badge and announced an investigation of Burgod.
Enemy of the state? A lawbreaker?
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” she says. “All I’ve done is ask reasonable questions about a mega-dairy facility they’re trying to ram into our rural community, while ignoring ordinances on the books that are meant to govern and protect our county, farms, and lakes. This is happening all over our state in one degree or another, and I won’t be silenced.”
Math Ain’t Mathing
Across four generations, Burgod’s family has worked the land in Edmunds County, outside Ipswich, in northcentral South Dakota. At present, alongside her husband, Keith, and two sons, Burgod actively grows corn, soybeans, and maintains a cow-calf cattle operation. Additionally, Burgod owner-agent at a crop insurance agency in nearby Aberdeen, across the line in Brown County.
“It’s the life I love,” she says. “If I’m in a combine or tractor, I am living the dream. I’m passionate about agriculture and the wonderful place where I was born and raised.”
In August 2025, based on a conditional-use-permit application, Burgod caught wind of an incoming dairy to Edmunds County owned by Minnesota-based Riverview LLP. Edmunds County has dairies, but nothing to compare with the inbound proposal: Belle Dairy, a 25,000-head operation spanning 640 acres.
The Edmunds County zoning board approved Belle Dairy despite area opposition: Local citizens submitted hundreds of comments, a binder containing detailed concerns, a 346-signature petition requesting permit denial, and 61,000 acres in designated denial of manure agreements.
“I believe the approval has a lot to do with GOED (Governor’s Office of Economic Development) money,” Burgod says. “It was stated that the county expects to receive $4.3 million.”
Once over the county zoning hurdle, the project moved to state approval via South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). However, Burgod refused to spit the bit: She stuck her neck out and began asking questions.
“A giant dairy could have a major impact on our landscape,” she says. “I wanted answers. I wanted the facts. I wanted to know if they were following county ordinances—the laws for the good of our community that are supposed to be followed regardless of who the applicant is.”
Burgod dove into the paperwork, including Belle Dairy’s 200-plus page county application and its DANR application—an almost 1,300-page tome supplemented by almost 200 more pages of additions.
What did she find? The math, she says, wasn’t mathing.
Numbers Don’t Lie
From acres to cow weight to manure output, Belle Dairy’s proposed numbers are highly suspect, Burgod contends.
“They list 25,000 cows at 1,000 lb. for 365 days. The 1,000 lb. weight seemed unreasonable and it challenged me to do more research. Reality is 900 lb. on a Jersey to 1,700 on a Holstein. The nutrient management plan tied to the available acres for manure application compared to lagoon size were showing a major discrepancy. I made a chart to show a comparison of the numbers.
“The manure volume tied to the available acres was significantly lower than the manure volume calculated for the lagoon sizing,” she continues. “They claim each cow will produce 80 lb. of manure a day, when it’ll likely be 120-150 lb. That means their total of 2 million lb. of manure a day may very possibly be over 3.3 million lb. So, from storage to phosphorus to any other aspect of production and management, I have presented questions about the findings. I’m pointing out the obvious.”
(When asked by Agweb if any county official could address Burgod’s contentions and ordinance questions, Edmunds County Zoning Officer Brittney Duvall declined, and directed all inquiries to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.)
At a minimum, Burgod projects, Belle Dairy may need up to 25,000 acres annually to operate.
“The rock I’ll stand on is acreage,” Burgod explains. “The county ordinance requires that they have sufficient land to have their permit. Sure, 16,571 acres is adequate for 2 million lb. of manure a day, but it’s wildly low for 3.3 million lb. of manure a day. Sorry, but numbers don’t lie.”
Open Door
On July 14, Burgod reported potential ordinance violations to Edmunds County officials. Following up, she documented her position in writing and delivered a formal complaint to the Zoning Board on July 20. Next, at a July 29 County Commissioner meeting, she outlined her concerns.
Twenty-four hours later, on July 30, the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) came calling.
At approximately 2:40 p.m., a DCI supervisory special agent pulled up in a black Suburban to Burgod’s crop insurance office in Aberdeen, entered the building, and walked directly into her office. Presumably armed, the agent flashed a badge, asked to speak with Burgod, and handed her a business card.
“I’d say he was about 6’3”, dressed in casual clothes, and standing in my doorway. I couldn’t tell if he was carrying a gun or not. He asked to close the door and I flatly refused. There was one other employee in the building in a separate office, and I had no idea what was going on. The DCI guy had driven two hours from Watertown to find me.”
“I said, ‘You’re not closing the door,’ and he answered, ‘This is private.’”
“I repeated, ‘No. I want the door open.’”
The DCI agent sat across from Burgod’s desk and announced he was working with the Attorney General of the State of South Dakota.
(When Agweb asked for an interview regarding DCI’s investigation of Burgod, or for a statement about the DCI visit to Burgod’s office, the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office declined. Also, the Edmunds County Zoning Board was asked by Agweb for comment on the DCI visit to Burgod’s office. The Zoning Board directed all questions to the Attorney General.)
“Nothing sank in for about two to three minutes,” Burgod recalls. “Then he said there’d been a complaint that I’d committed fraud. He told me that I was not being charged with anything right then and that he wasn’t going to arrest me, but he proceeded to ask me questions. That’s when I said I wanted my attorney before I kept going.”
What “fraud” was Burgod accused of committing?
Resources, Time, and Tax Dollars
The DCI agent provided Burgod with her voter registration form and then showed her a copy of her complaint filed against Belle Dairy.
According to DCI, Burgod used her farm mailing address, rather than her actual residency address in Mina Lake, when submitting her formal complaint regarding Belle Dairy.
Both locations are in Edmunds County and Burgod owns both properties. “It’s ridiculous. I get all my mail at the farm address.I or my husband are at the farm almost every day. My voting address is basically a mile-and-a-half from my voting location. The idea that I was hiding something is crazy.”
From Burgod’s perspective, speaking on the blind to a DCI agent was surreal. “I felt like, ‘Is this really happening?’ but when he kept going, I told him I wanted to consult with my attorney. At that point, he seemed to get a little nervous, and then he left.”
Yet, a state criminal investigator, directly from the Attorney General’s office, had driven two hours to eyeball Burgod. And there was more. Significantly more. DCI’s investigation went far beyond Burgod’s office walls.
Four months prior, on March 30, Burgod had filed a petition to run for county commissioner. She only needed three signatures from local citizenry to file the paperwork, but in just-in-case mode, Burgod obtained nine signatures.
On August 6, one week after visiting Burgod, DCI located her nine signatories and questioned them all. “That’s right,” she emphasizes. “DCI went and found all the people that signed for me to check them out, or check me out.”
Intimidation? Verification? “All I can do is speculate, but I suspect they’re trying to have me removed as commissioner,” she says, “and they targeted my petition and voter registration.”
Bottom line, was her real crime to publicly poke an incoming dairy business? Were state law enforcement resources, time, and tax dollars used to investigate a farmer for asking questions? Has the county been involved and spent taxpayer money on pursuit of Burgod?
Bell the Cow
What happens next with DCI’s investigation into Burgod? She is resolute and willing to bell the cow.
“I haven’t done anything illegal or criminal. All I’ve asked for is a review of the ordinance. If there’s a review of the ordinance and a dairy violation is found, the permit can be revoked, and they can reapply.”
“I believe in transparency. I believe in honesty. I believe in doing things procedurally. There should be a process and procedure, and those should apply to everybody equally—regardless of big money or corporate structure,” Burgod adds. “Ultimately, this is about accountability and protecting the future of South Dakota agriculture for the generations that come next.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case
