YANKTON, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – On Tuesday afternoon, Governor Kristi Noem held a press conference in Yankton to give the latest update on flooding in Southeastern South Dakota.

During that press conference, Noem said that late last week state officials were informed of different cresting times for rivers. Luckily the James, Vermillion, and Big Sioux Rivers crested earlier than anticipated and at different times from one another. The James River was the final river of the three to crest, reaching its peak early Tuesday morning.

As the rivers have started to recede, cleanup is underway. Noem said the state is currently working with 30 counties in assessing to total damage done and submitting their reports to FEMA.

“We have to have a loss in order to qualify for FEMA of $1.6 million worth of property damage in order to qualify,” Noem explained. It’ll take up to 30 days until the state has notice of the funds they received.

However, when it comes to those damages, the governor has her eyes set on McCook Lake as her highest priority. She described how they underestimated the damage it would undergo. She said that they are currently working on a time for residents to obtain their belongings from within their homes and encourages individuals to stay away from the damage.

Noem did make it a point to thank law enforcement and emergency personnel who have traveled from all over that state to Southeast South Dakota to help with the flood waters. She also wants to remind individuals that are traveling on flooded roads or ones with barricades to turn around. For the latest on road conditions, click here.

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The South Dakota Department of Health has released new income guidelines for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program effective July 1, 2024.

WIC is a special supplemental nutrition program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided at no cost to eligible moms, infants, and children. It aims to empower families through support with healthy eating, nutrition, and breastfeeding, as well as offering referrals to other essential services. WIC strives to help improve the overall health and well-being of families.

“WIC makes a profound difference in the lives of families, offering essential nutrition, heartfelt discussions, and unwavering support,” said Department of Health Secretary, Melissa Magstadt. “The mission is to empower moms, infants, and children with the knowledge and resources they need to thrive and live healthier, happier lives.”

If your family’s annual income does not exceed the following amounts for the size of your family, you could qualify for WIC:

To find out if you or children in your household are eligible for the WIC Program and to apply online go to https://www.sd.gov/wic. Or you can call for an appointment at your local WIC office. Offices can be found under the county listings in your phone book or on the web at https://www.sd.gov/wic.

WIC is an equal opportunity provider. More information about the program is available at https://www.sd.gov/wic.

REE HEIGHTS, S.D. — Agriculture has been a way of life for Payton Beare. She was raised on a farm near Ree Heights, started showing livestock at age 4, started 4-H when she was 8, started livestock judging when she was 10 and started FFA when she was in seventh grade.

It was her interest in animals that ultimately got her interested in livestock judging. Through that, she has gained a community.

“The whole FFA and 4-H community, whether it’s cattle, or goats, or sheep or pigs, we are all kind of a family,” she said. “It’s kind of a whole group thing that just kind of gets you involved in everything.”

Beare has been very successful in her ag activities, especially livestock judging. During her sophomore year of high school, she won the state FFA livestock judging contest. Her success in judging has earned her a full ride scholarship to Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas.

“It was a big weight lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “The scholarship will cover classes and books and everything else, and other scholarships will cover the food and the room and that kind of stuff. Then I got an additional scholarship that is for traveling and that additional stuff. So, it’s honestly amazing.”

Through livestock judging, she will be traveling a lot. Beare said the judging team last year traveled over 46,000 miles.

“I am most excited to travel,” she said. “We will come back to South Dakota, and we will judge at a few contests here. We will go all the way to Texas. We will go to all the big shows, Louisville, Kansas City, Denver, all the big ones. It’s honestly somebody’s dream to get to go to all of those and judge.”

Through livestock judging, Beare has been able to learn things that she can bring back and apply to her own operation.

“You kind of just learn to find functional animals,” she said. “If you are judging livestock, you are not going to look for animals that can’t walk or aren’t structurally sound or able to function, so when you are picking animals for your herd, you are going to look for the animals that are able to meet your standards like you would be when you are judging.”

One skill she has gained through judging is public speaking.

“I think it is really important so we have more people to stand up and speak out about the beef industry or even the livestock industry itself, so that we have leaders and we have people that will stand out for our problems and make a difference,” Beare said.

She will be doing this all while working towards a degree in bovine embryology. Livestock genetics is something that has always interested her.

“We’ve been putting embryos in here for five to 10 years, and I always looked forward to staying home from school, helping with it,” Beare said of their cattle breeding procedure. “Last year, I was loading AI guns for the guy that AIs our cattle and I actually learned how to AI this year, so I will be AIing a bunch of our cattle and that stuff this year.”

She will also be working while in school, both for Reprologix and Competitive Edge Genetics. After her time at Fort Scott, she hopes to transfer to either Oklahoma State University or Kansas State University.

“I hope to then take that experience and hopefully someday own or operate my own genetic company,” she said.

Beare encourages other young people who want to someday judge livestock in college to start learning now.

“The best thing I think that I have done is start going to livestock judging camps,” she said. “Livestock judging is a lot of confidence because you have to give reasons, which is everybody’s enemy. You have to be able to get out of your comfort zone … You have to be able to listen to everybody else’s opinion because not everybody else is going to think the same.”