Kayla Konechne wakes to her 5:30 a.m. alarm clock ringing. She makes her way to the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee. Then she makes breakfast — biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and French toast —  just in time for hunters to make their way to the table. It’s a typical routine for the family-owned Konechne Red Barn Lodge during the hunting season.

“We’re a family-style lodge, so we try to keep things laid back — including our meals,” says Kayla, who works as a registered nurse in the off-season. “Everything is prepared fresh each day, but I serve buffet-style because they don’t need me to monitor their servings.”

Related: Diversification helps with farm transition

She manages the hunting lodge with her husband, Kelly. The couple took over management seven years ago, not long after they returned to Kelly’s family farm near Kimball, S.D. Kelly’s dad, James, along with his brother, Chris, own Konechne Red Barn Lodge.

Bring back tradition

James’ brother, David Konechne started the hunting lodge in the mid-1980s. Nearly a decade later, he relocated an old barn from 3 miles away and converted it into the lodge. When David was ready to retire, James was not in the position to purchase the business, so David sold it, along with some of the original family farmland, to an out-of-state interest. But when Kelly and Kayla expressed interest in managing the business, James saw it as a good time to regain the family land.

“My dad worked hard to get it all put together. I hated to see it go off to a total stranger like it did,” Kelly explains. “This allows us to keep it in the family so to speak.”

Kelly was ready for a change. He explains that the hunting lodge works well as a side business for the family farm because it complements the cow-calf, backgrounding, custom feeding and finishing operation.

For starters, their farm is already a family-run business. “We do things a bit different from some lodges,” Kelly says. “We provide family-style hunts.” The hunts operate around a loose schedule set by the hunters. “We’re not the place where you have to be on the bus by a strict time every morning,” he adds.

Farm for wildlife

The Konechne family farm includes row crops and cattle. However, the family plants food plots with a corn and sorghum blend after calving season, around mid-June, to facilitate wildlife habitat. These acres are prime habitat for pheasants needing winter cover.

Kelly says there is enough land on the farm that he can guide three-day hunts and take hunters to a new location each day.

The hunting lodge is just one way the Konechne family has diversified its farming portfolio to allow for the next generation to return home. Click through the photo gallery above to see more about the hunting lodge and farm. For more information on the lodge, visit redbarnhunting.com.

Roti writes from Sioux Falls, S.D.