Colburn v. Hartshorn, Nos. 26697, 26704, 2013 S.D. LEXIS 151 (S.D. Sup. Ct. Dec. 11, 2013)

(plaintiffs entered into an oral lease agreement with defendant  under which plaintiffs used defendant’s property to operate a cow-calf operation; the parties also entered into an oral agreement under which plaintiffs cared for defendant’s cattle, in exchange for one-half of the net calf sale proceeds ; when a dispute arose between the parties and defendant refused to allow the October sale of his cattle, plaintiffs served upon defendant an agister’s lien for continuing to care for the cattle; plaintiffs obtained a court order to sell the cattle in February, and the district court ruled that although plaintiffs entitled to ½ of the sales amount, the agister’s lien was “invalid as under the terms of [an] implied contract”; in reversing, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiffs acquired a valid agister’s lien when defendant refused to sell his cattle in October, as he had always done; under SDCL 40-27-1, plaintiffs were entitled to impose a lien, retain possession of the cattle, and continue caring for them until the February sale; prejudgment interest was also mandatory,  not discretionary).