The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum was created in 1967 by South Dakota State University [SDSU] and from 1975-1995 was a program of the South Dakota State Historical Society. In April 1995, the museum again became affiliated with SDSU and now reports directly to the Vice President for Administration.

The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum is a museum that provides South Dakota residents and visitors with increased opportunities to know and appreciate the important role of agriculture and rural life in the state's past. The Agricultural Heritage Museum is dedicated to the preservation, study, and interpretation of objects relating to South Dakota agriculture and rural life between 1860 and the present. It is concerned not only with related technologies, crops and livestock, but also with the human experiences, institutions, and cultures that have shaped and been shaped by the state's rural landscape and environment. / The permanent staff and part-time workers of the museum are involved in the five functions essential to any museum operation: collecting, restoring and preserving, researching, exhibiting, and interpreting objects of significance to the museum's scope and purpose.