South Dakota
Conservation, policy discussed at the annual South Dakota Farmers Union convention
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Ranchers and farmers across South Dakota met in Huron Wednesday and Thursday for the 109th annual South Dakota Farmer Union Convention.
Members of the state’s largest agricultural organization voted on policy, elected delegates and heard from national agricultural leaders.
“These conventions – like we’re having here with Farmers Union right now – people get to network, as we call it today, and talk to each other and find out what other individuals are doing, what other operations are doing that you may be able to take home and implement in your farm or ranch operation, or vice versa,” Oren Lesmeister, board member with SDFU, said.
An important topic discussed throughout the convention was conservation.
“Conservation is extremely important. I mean, we are the stewards of the land, we need to keep it going for the generations to come. If we don’t have land to produce our crops and our livestock, we can’t continue, we can’t feed the world,” Kaeloni Latham, an SDFU member, said.
Latham added farmers and ranchers need to take precautions to make sure everything they are doing will protect the land going forward. She said making changes doesn’t just benefit the livestock.
“Looking at getting water to most of our pastures benefits not only our livestock but the wildlife around us. It keeps the deer and the antelope and things of that sort with an available water source and making sure the grass is available and continuing to come back and not being overgrazed and just things of that sort. I mean, it’s important to keep all of that going so that our future generations, my kids, my future grandkids can enjoy the wonderful landscape that we get to enjoy every day,” Latham explained.
Conversations on tax reform, property rights and more were had as well. Many said it was important to have policy conversations each year.
“It’s not always like-minded individuals. There is a very diverse group of people here. We don’t just get one side of it, or even two sides of it, we might get five or six or seven sides to a policy, and I think that’s a great way to make policy,” Lesmeister said.
One thing everyone could agree on was the importance of family farms and ranches across the nation.
“Without family farms, where would your local communities be? I mean, our communities have been dying off. Not because people are just leaving, but because we are losing our family farms. They are the heartbeat, they are the soul of this country, especially of our state. Agriculture is number one, without family farming we all become serfs, and as consumers you’re depending on others to bring your food to you, and they don’t care. Corporations don’t care whether the food is good or whether it’s affordable to you. All they care about is the bottom line,” President of SDFU Doug Sombke said.
Sombke added if South Dakota wants to keep rural communities alive and thriving, they need to find ways to make family farming sustainable.
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South Dakota
Governor, new Pro Tempore seek to build trust in institutions
With the opening of session comes the naming of new leaders and the voices of present leaders. For some South Dakotans, much of that is rebuilding faith in key state institutions after a few long years.
The opening of the 100th South Dakota legislative session Tuesday also meant the delivery of what appears to be Gov. Kristi Noem’s final State of the State address.
Noem appears to be on the fast track to a Washington DC role in the looming Trump administration, as the likely upcoming Secretary of Homeland Security.
For her final address to South Dakota, though, Noem evoked the life of Gladys Pyle, the state’s first female Secretary of State and one-time candidate for governor.
“88 years later, I became the first female Governor of the state of South Dakota, but Gladys’ story reminds me sometimes that obstacles that people face sometimes prepare them for greatness,” Noem said. “America has been through a very difficult time, and now we stand on the cusp of a great American comeback.”
In the Senate Chris Karr was named as the new Pro Tempore of the chamber, a role reserved for senior members of the body. He said now is the time to reestablish trust in state institutions.
“What is paramount to me as I approach this position is the integrity of this institution,” Karr said. “I have sometimes called this institution an idea machine, because it takes ideas, and it puts them through a process – an adversarial process – of proponents and opponents. If we respect that process, I can assure you of a few things. That we can vet any idea no matter how controversial.”
Tuesday marked legislative day 1. Session runs through mid-March.
Read Noem’s full address here
South Dakota
Watertown, Sisseton Teens Crowned At South Dakota Snow Queen Festival | Aberdeen Insider
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South Dakota
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