South Dakota

Economist tells SD farmers that success means adapting to changing world, regulatory climate • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

6 months ago

December 12, 2024

Economist tells SD farmers that success means adapting to changing world, regulatory climate • South Dakota Searchlight

HURON – An agricultural economist told a group of farmers Thursday they’ll be well served to adapt to the cultural and policy changes that affect their industry – even the changes they don’t like.

Matthew Roberts is a former Ohio State University professor who’s now a research analyst with a company called Terrain who speaks to farm groups across the U.S. on global trends in the business.

Roberts told attendees of the South Dakota Farmers Union annual convention that plummeting global poverty over the past 40 years has meant better access to food for a wider swath of the world population.

Expansion of antitrust enforcement in agriculture is a hopeful sign for farmers and ranchers

Roberts flashed slides showing that the number of people worldwide living on the equivalent of $1.90 a day or less has dropped by two-thirds since 1980. That’s meant more people are able to afford healthier food, and more people around the world are eating meat.

“It is simple, fundamental human nature that the wealthier people are, the better they eat,” Roberts said.

Farmers play a huge role in addressing that demand, he said, by exporting the grain needed to feed livestock and humans. Since 2000, he said, China’s soybean imports have grown enough to require 73 million more acres from U.S. producers.

People in the U.S., China and a host of other countries that import agricultural goods from the U.S. are having fewer children, Roberts said, but he’s not concerned about a drop in demand for agricultural goods, because those children have more money and buy more expensive food.

That could mean changes in what’s grown or raised, but he expects demand to continue.

There again he pointed to China, which now consumes 90 million metric tons of meat each year. In 1990, that figure was 25 million metric tons.

Labor force worries

What does worry him is a smaller labor force. Fewer births mean fewer workers across every industry, and that will force every industry to adapt with technology, automation and outsourcing for certain positions.

Ruling that dilutes regulatory power could ripple through farm and ranch country for years

“The labor force decline is not a temporary thing, and there’s not any good evidence that there’s anything a government can do that really changes it,” Roberts said.

For farmers, he said, dealing with that will force them to pay even closer attention to profits and losses and yields, but also to learn the soft skills necessary to manage employees and keep them happy enough to stick around. Complaining about younger generations being too soft or unwilling to work might feel good, he said, but won’t change younger workers’ expectations from their employers.

“Hard skills” like agronomy and accounting can be outsourced, but managing workers on site means learning kindness, positive intent and understanding.

“That’s soft, that’s squishy, but that’s the world we live in,” Roberts said. “Otherwise, you’re going to have to learn how to run your operations.”

He also encouraged attendees with family operations to lean on their children to handle the books and technology side of operations.

Embrace consumer demands, regulatory frameworks

Farmers might also scoff at changing consumer tastes. Some consumers in the U.S. want to know where their food comes from, and many are willing to pay a premium for that knowledge.

Roberts recalled picking up farm-to-table deliveries for a vacationing neighbor and noticing that they’d paid $12 for a dozen eggs. Some of the eggs still had manure on them.

Trump immigration overhaul could threaten states’ agricultural economies

The eggs in the carton were nutritionally identical to the eggs his neighbors could’ve purchased in the store, he said, but they wanted to know where the eggs had come from.

More importantly for Farmers Union members, he said, was the fact that the farmer who sold them kept all the money. A farmer who thinks consumers make silly choices can nonetheless benefit by serving those customers.

“How much of that $12 goes to the producer? Twelve dollars of it. Because I can guarantee you no processor is selling a poo-covered egg,” Roberts said.

He also urged farmers to adapt as quickly as possible to regulatory changes. Farmers in California who adjusted their operations decades ago to comply with that state’s farm management mandates are in better financial shape than those who thumbed their nose at them.

“Too many people say ‘I think that’s stupid, I’m not doing it,’ instead of ‘that’s stupid, but I’m going to comply better and sooner than everyone else and take advantage of it,’” Roberts said.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Source link

Click to comment

South Dakota

SD Supreme Court Justice announces retirement

Published

19 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Press Room

SD Supreme Court Justice announces retirement

PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Janine M. Kern made an announcement on Wednesday that she will be retiring from the bench on Dec. 8, 2025.

Justice Kern was appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2014 by Governor Dennis Daugaard to represent the First Supreme Court District, which includes Custer, Lawrence, Meade, and Pennington counties.

“It is with a heart brimming with gratitude for the trust and confidence placed in me, which gave me the opportunity to serve the people of this great state, that I notify you of my retirement on December 8, 2025, nearly twenty-nine years to the day of my investiture as a circuit court judge,” said Justice Kern.

“Justice Kern has always had an unwavering commitment to justice, the integrity of the courts, and a deep compassion for the people we serve. Her passion for law and for people has impacted all of us and made the court system better,” said Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen.

Justice Kern was appointed a circuit court judge in 1996 in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, comprised of Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota, and Pennington counties.

Before serving as a judge, Justice Kern received a Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University in 1982 and her juris doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1985.

She later worked in a variety of roles with the Attorney General’s office, such as the appellate division, drug prosecution unit, and as director of the litigation division.

Justice Kern is a member of the American Law Institute, the State Bar Association, the Pennington County Bar Association, the American Bar Association Fellows, and past president of the South Dakota Judges Association.

“She has been an incredible lawyer, prosecutor, and judge for 28 years. I work with several young attorneys who look up to her as a role model, so her steady hand on the court will be missed. As I review potential appointments to replace her on the bench, I will be hopeful that we can find a future Supreme Court judge of her caliber,” said Governor Rhoden.

Source link

South Dakota

Mitchell town hall to be held at Dakota Wesleyan Wednesday night

Published

2 days ago

June 10, 2025

Press Room

Mitchell town hall to be held at Dakota Wesleyan Wednesday night

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Throughout April, South Dakota community leaders Nikki Gronli and Julian Beaudion hosted town halls across the state allowing people to raise the concerns they have with the Trump administration.

Now they are back by popular demand with the next one coming up Wednesday evening.

Gronli and Beaudion have previously held town halls in Rapid City, Aberdeen, Vermillion and Sioux Falls, and every one saw a massive crowd.

Now the tour heads to Mitchell.

The popularity of the town halls resulted in changes in venues and people having to stand at meetings as attendees.

Panelists Nikki Gronli and Julian Beaudion delivered the 40-page report to South Dakota’s congressional delegation but only received feedback from Representative Dusty Johnson.

But both Gronli and Beaudion share optimism in the participation in political discourse throughout the state.

“What we saw from the citizens who attended these town halls is that there is still a lot of fight left in them, a lot of fight left in us, folks had no problem talking through some of the concerns,” Beaudion, a US Senate candidate said.

In previous meetings, attendees addressed concerns they had regarding cuts to Medicaid, the Department of Education, and from DOGE, as well as the effects of tariffs.

Now they are prioritizing town halls being more focused on one issue, this starts Wednesday in Mitchell at Dakota Wesleyan University.

“There’s a great farm community, so we decided we would do this one focused as opposed to the last town halls which we allowed people to cover whatever topic they wanted to, we thought we would switch it up and see what the response is like,” Gronli said.

Gronli expects a lot of questions as to what the next farm bill will look like and when it will be passed, the current one has been extended twice and passed in 2018.

She will have the help of another former USDA staffer to answer questions throughout the night.

“I also expect having Marcia Bunger there on stage as the former risk management lead that there will be conversations about crop insurance, the importance to our ag producers and what policies are being made around crop insurance,” Gronli said.

Dates haven’t been announced but town halls are planned for Brookings and Rapid City so far.

Dakota News Now reached out for comment to Senators Thune and Rounds and Representative Johnson, but we did not get a response in time for publication.

Source link

South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lucky For Life winning numbers for June 9, 2025

Published

3 days ago

June 10, 2025

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at June 9, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from June 9 drawing

30-33-40-43-52, Powerball: 25, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from June 9 drawing

03-07-17-29-46, Lucky Ball: 15

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from June 9 drawing

06-14-35-44-49, Star Ball: 05, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

Source link