Hometown of Laura Ingalls Wilder set for a growth spurt

DE SMET, S.D. (AP) — A rural South Dakota county known mainly as the former home of beloved author Laura Ingalls Wilder is on the precipice of rapid growth as two record-setting agricultural processing plants are proposed for the area.

If the planned projects — the state’s largest individual dairy farm with up to 25,000 cows and a nearly $1 billion biofuels plant — both come to fruition, Kingsbury County in east-central South Dakota could see a sudden surge in its population, economy and tax base.

So far, local officials and the state of South Dakota are rolling out the welcome mat for the two projects. They see an opportunity to create hundreds of jobs that would attract new residents, new spin-off businesses and new amenities to the rural county of fewer than 6,000 people over 832 square miles.

Joe Jensen, zoning director for Kingsbury County, said the two agriculture plants and a large hog farrowing facility that recently began operation in the area could bring economic opportunity to Kingsbury County and the cities of Lake Preston, Arlington and De Smet, the county seat.