Brand bills

District 28A representative introduced HB 1267, which would have expanded the brand inspection program to cover the entire state. Currently brand inspection is only required on the western half of the state, although registered brands are considered legal proof of ownership anywhere in the state.

1267 was deferred to the 41^st day in a vote of 8-4 in the House Ag Committee, which effectively killed the bill.  Yeas (in favor of killing the bill) were: Ladner, Wittman, Overweg, Drew Peterson, Shubeck, Nolz, Van Diepen and Gosch. Nays (opposed to killing the bill) were: Hunt, May, Rice and Ismay.

The Chairman of the House Agricultural committee, at the behest of the Department of Agriculture, brought HB , to increase the brand inspection fee cap to $1.65, up from the current maximum of $1. This give the South Dakota Brand Board the leeway to increase the inspection fee to any amount up to $1.65.

The bill passed the House of Representatives, the Senate Ag Committee, and will be discussed in the Senate probably Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.

The vote in the House was as follows:

Yeas: Arlint, Auch, Bahmuller, DeGroot, Derby, Duffy, Emery, Fitzgerald, Fosness, Goodwin, Greenfield, Halverson, Healy, Heermann, Heinemann, Hughes, Jamison, Jorgenson, Kassin,22 Kolbeck (Jack), Kull, Ladner, Lems, Massie, Mortenson, Muckey, Mulder, Nolz, Novstrup, Odenbach, Overweg, Peterson (Drew), Pourier, Rehfeldt, Reimer, Reisch, Rice, Roby, Roe, Shorma, Shubeck, Stevens, Uhre‑Balk, Van Diepen, Walburg, Weems, Weisgram, Wittman, and Speaker Hansen.

Nays: Andera, Aylward, Baxter, Garcia, Gosch, Hunt, Ismay, Jensen (Phil), Jordan, Kayser, Manhart, Moore, Mulally, Randolph, Schaefbauer, Schwans, Sjaarda, and Soye.

Lab-Grown Protein

Representative Julie Auch’s “fake meat” bill, HB 1077, passed the House and Senate but was promptly vetoed by Governor Rhoden. The bill would have changed the status of lab grown protein to “adulterated” which in part deems it “unfit for food” and would effectively ban the sale of lab-grown protein in the state of South Dakota.

The Governor introduced his own bill as a compromise, SB 124, which places a moratorium on the sale of lab grown meat for five years. The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, South Dakota Retailers Association, South Dakota Farm Bureau and South Dakota Stockgrowers all voiced support for the governor’s compromise, which is not scheduled for a committee discussion at this time.

Property Rights

The South Dakota Senate approved SB 88 sponsored by Senator Lapka, dubbed the “Bossly bill,” it would prevent private entities from conducting surveys without permission. However, “examinations” without permission would continue to be legal under certain circumstances, including when a citing permit has been granted. House Commerce and Energy will take up the bill soon.

The South Dakota House passed a bill to amend the South Dakota constitution to prevent the use of eminent domain for economic purposes. This bill came as the result of the many attempts of Summit Carbon Solutions to gain legal standing to take property for its pipeline. The constitutional amendment would protect landowners from other private entities using eminent domain to take property for private enterprises. Spencer Gosch, who sponsored HJR 5001, said this subject has been on his mind for a few years. “We’ve got to defend property rights and put a stop to private companies and government taking advantage of private property owners,” he told TSLN. HJR 5001, if approved by both houses, would not go to the governor for a signature, but would go a vote of South Dakota citizens.