South Dakota

Maier Meats provides local meat products to central South Dakota

Published

2 years ago

January 1, 2024

Maier Meats provides local meat products to central South Dakota

FT. PIERRE and HAYES, S.D. — A family-owned butcher shop, restaurant and slaughterhouse is helping to fill the demand for local meats in central South Dakota.

Karla Maier helps a customer at the shop.

Ariana Schumacher /Agweek

Karla and Dennis Maier both come from ranching backgrounds and have both spent time working at various ranches in Montana and South Dakota.

“We just kind of got to the point where we were processing wild game for family and friends and it grew and people would call and ‘the cow broke a leg’ or ‘I’ve got a bull down, do you guys want to cut it up?’” Karla said. “It got to the point where we were doing 15 to 20 a year doing that, and we were like, we need to do something different.”

Dennis Maier butchers meat at the slaughterhouse in Hayes, South Dakota.

They opened Maier Meats in February 2021 as a slaughterhouse near Hayes, South Dakota, alongside their son, daughter and daughter-in-law.

“We have a demand for our specialty products as we started making them for local producers they were like ‘oh, I want to buy some of this for my family,’” Karla said. “So, we decided to add a retail outlet and plus we wanted to offer South Dakota ranch raised beef to family consumers.”

They have since opened a retail store in downtown

Ft. Pierre,

in the same building that was once Andy’s Meat Market, a long-time butcher shop built in 1907. That shop had closed in 1969 and had served as the building for several other businesses including the newspaper, a bar, taxidermy shop, electrician’s offices and preschool.

“We wanted to purchase beef from local ranchers, or from ourselves, and process it and have an avenue for the local families to purchase local raised beef,” Karla said.

At their retail location they sell all the cuts of meat from beef and pork, as well as have a restaurant and coffee shop, serving both breakfast and lunch along with drinks throughout the day.

Meat cuts at the slaughterhouse in Hayes, South Dakota.

The meat comes from ranches within a 100-mile radius of Ft. Pierre.

“Some of them are life-long friends we’ve known forever and some of them are people who we are just getting to know, but if they have an extra beef ready to get butchered and they are not sure what to do with it, they will call us,” Karla said.

Around 70% of their business is customer butchering. They are a custom-exempt, state-inspected slaughter facility, processing roughly 400 beef a year.

Colton Maier packages meat at the slaughterhouse.

Their son Colton works in their slaughterhouse facility.

“Everybody is able to know where it’s coming from and we are out there seeing where the beef is being raised, I mean, we know most of these people that we are buying it from and can guarantee that we are providing good product for our customers,” Colton said.

Knowing where the meat comes from is a key component to the Maier Meats business.

“With the open borders, with our meat coming across Mexico and Canada, you don’t really know where your meat is coming from,” Karla said. “People can come in here and know that it is local ranch-raised beef. It came just 20 miles down the road or 50 miles down the road from a local rancher. Might even be friend of theirs and I think that just adds some comfort to what they are consuming on a daily basis.”

The central South Dakota community has shown the business their continued support.

“The community has been really good. I mean we are booked out through March right now. Tons of support, they are buying our local products that we source from them and just an overwhelming community support,” Colton said.

“COVID kind of changed the dynamics of our product’s availability and more and more people are looking for opportunities to find local, ranch-raised beef. And we are providing that outlet,” Karla said.

Maier Meats in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota.

Karla said they do expect to grow and hopefully bring on some other employees.

“Eventually we would like to get some partners that would help work the business and grow it with us,” Karla said.

Ariana is a reporter for Agweek based out of South Dakota. She graduated from South Dakota State University in 2022 with a double major in Agricultural Communications and Journalism, with a minor in Animal Science. She is currently a graduate student at SDSU, working towards her Masters of Mass Communications degree. She enjoys reporting on all things agriculture and sharing the stories that matter to both the producers and the consumers.

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South Dakota

DOE selects nine school districts for 2026 South Dakota Perkins Reserve grant

Published

17 seconds ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

DOE selects nine school districts for 2026 South Dakota Perkins Reserve grant

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Nine school districts have been selected as recipients of the 2026 Perkins Reserve Grant by the South Dakota Department of Education.

The grant provides major equipment upgrades for Career and Technical Education programs, helping to equip students with the skills and experiences needed for post-secondary education and the workforce.

“CTE programs are constantly evolving to match the pace of workforce needs,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Joseph Graves.

“The South Dakota Perkins Reserve Grant aids schools in equipping students with current technologies, resources, and tools, offering students a realistic, hands-on learning experience that will strengthen their marketability to colleges or employers once they leave the K-12 education system.”

The following school districts have been named as the 2026 recipients:

Aberdeen School District:
- Awarded $30,233 for new precision machine equipment for the manufacturing program.
De Smet School District:
- Awarded $15,898 for modernizing metal fabrication within agriculture programs.
Lake Preston School District:
- Awarded $43,160 for expansion of program offers in multiple career clusters to strengthen industrial alignment.
McLaughlin School District:
- Awarded $11,997 to purchase equipment to offer a new culinary arts program.
Menno School District:
- Awarded $32,844 to purchase small engines and attend professional development opportunities to enhance the agricultural mechanics program.
Mitchell School District:
- Awarded $38,663 for the modernization of the automotive technology lab.
Timber Lake School District:
- Awarded $42,400 for the expansion of agriculture course offerings to strengthen industry alignment.
Wakpala School District:
- Awarded $40,145 to purchase a skid steer simulator to enhance the agriculture and construction program.
Wolsey-Wessington School District:
- Awarded $26,201 to purchase industry-aligned equipment to enhance the agriculture and construction program.

You can learn more about the South Dakota Perkins Reserve Grant at doe.sd.gov.

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for March 4, 2026

Published

12 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing

07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 4 drawing

33-38-39-47-51, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Dakota Cash numbers from March 4 drawing

02-18-22-30-32

Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing

12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03

Check Millionaire for Life 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.
Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

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.

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South Dakota

South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk

John Hult
| South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — A bill from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley to criminalize the creation or sharing of deepfakes was amended this week to more clearly define what constitutes nudity before it reaches Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk.

The amendment, added on the floor of the House of Representatives, came in response to concerns about unintended consequences.

Senate Bill 41 creates a class of felony crime for the creation or distribution of images digitally altered to depict a person in a state of nudity or involved in a sexually explicit act, commonly referred to as deepfakes.

In testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday in Pierre, Jackley pointed to the case of Mark Rathbun, a former Division of Motor Vehicles employee who is accused of taking images of women and girls from state databases and creating sexual images.“This is real, and it’s something that we unfortunately are seeing happen in our state,” Jackley said.

The judiciary committee voted 8-3 to send the bill to the House floor but not before a discussion on its potential to criminalize political memes.

The bill’s definition of nudity originally encompassed a partial state of nudity. Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson asked Jackley if that would include a fabricated topless photo. Jackley said yes. Then Mortenson asked if a fabricated image of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker without a shirt, if shared by President Donald Trump on social media, would put the president in line for felony charges.

Jackley said a Pritzker image wouldn’t qualify because Pritzker is male, but Mortenson pushed back.

He noted that partially nude fabrications would be a felony if done with the intent to “self-gratify or alarm, annoy, embarrass, harass, invade the privacy of, threaten, or cause emotional, financial, physical, psychological, or reputational harm to that individual.”

Nothing in the bill specified that a person in a digitally fabricated topless image must be female.

“We just said that half-nude is a state of nudity, and so now he’s shirtless, and the point of this is to embarrass this guy,” Mortenson said of his topless Pritzker meme scenario.

Mortenson voted against the bill in committee but brought an amendment Tuesday to define nudity as inclusive of male or female genitalia, buttocks or the female nipple.

The amendment passed, but it did not address every concern about the bill.

Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls asked Jackley during the bill’s committee hearing why he didn’t use it to enhance penalties for people who film others in states of undress or participating in sexual activity against their will.

That behavior is a felony if it involves the recording of a minor, or if it happens repeatedly. The new penalties for deepfakes would be added to the same chapter of South Dakota law.

“Why is the first time hidden recording a misdemeanor generally, but a digitally fabricated image would automatically be a classified felony,” said Wittman.

Jackley said he feels that the creation of digitally manipulated sexual images, even if they aren’t shared, signals “significant criminal intent.” He told South Dakota Searchlight after the committee meeting that he’s open to addressing that issue, but that SB 41’s primary purpose was to target deepfakes.

On the House floor, Wittman was one of two representatives to say the bill’s felony penalties could be unnecessarily harsh in instances where young people make “a stupid decision” and create a deepfake.

“I feel like, in a lot of situations, this bill covers behavior that could be covered by a lower level of offense,” Wittman said.

Supporters countered that the creation of fake nudes can do real psychological damage to real people, and that the state needs to clearly signal that doing so is a serious crime.

“It’s only fun and games until it happens to you,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-St. Onge.

The bill passed the House 60-6. It now moves to the state Senate, which passed the bill 32-0 on Jan. 16. The Senate would need to approve the amended version of the bill before it could be delivered to Gov. Larry Rhoden to sign or veto.

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