South Dakota
U.S. House panel debates nutrition benefit changes in GOP farm bill proposal • South Dakota Searchlight
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee clashed late into the evening Thursday over funding for food and nutrition programs as part of Republicans’ sweeping proposal for the new five-year farm bill.
The committee’s $1.5 trillion omnibus farm bill would set policy and funding levels for agriculture and conservation programs for the next five years, as well as for food and nutrition programs for families in need.
House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, introduced the long-awaited bill last week and his panel undertook a marathon markup Thursday. The committee is expected to vote on a series of amendments and the bill around midnight Eastern.
SD’s Rep. Johnson defends criticized provisions in farm bill draft
The bill is tied up over disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on a funding calculation that would place limits on the formula that calculates benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, the food aid program formerly referred to as food stamps.
Democrats said Thursday it would lead to cuts in SNAP and kill any future of bipartisan support for the farm bill, which it would need to pass the Senate.
“There is absolutely no way you are going to get a farm bill unless we take care of this business, which is the heart of the matter,” Rep. David Scott of Georgia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said of the SNAP funding mechanism.
As the House committee debated the bill, Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in an interview Thursday that the legislation has no chance in the Senate.
“It tears up the farm and food coalition and does not have the votes to pass on the House floor. And certainly not in the Senate,” Stabenow told States Newsroom.
Nutrition programs account for the majority of farm bill spending. There are more than 41 million people who use SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Dems pan changes to SNAP funding
Thompson’s bill would limit future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, the formula that calculates benefits for SNAP. This would result in a nearly $30 billion reduction in spending over ten years, based on the estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers say.
Democrats say that would significantly reduce food purchasing power for needy Americans.
“Any effort that takes the food off the table for hard-working families takes my vote off the table,” said Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat from New Mexico.
“If we want a farm bill that is able to pass into law with the bipartisan levels that it requires to pass beyond this committee, it is necessary that we go back to the negotiating table and remove this provision,” said Colorado Democrat Yadira Caraveo.
Connecticut Democrat Jahana Hayes offered an amendment that would have struck the changes to the program. But after more than two hours of impassioned debate on the issue Thursday night, the amendment failed on a party-line vote, 25-29.
“It is unfathomable that we are once again attacking the most vulnerable in this country, the hungry,” Hayes told the committee. “There are components of the bill that are promising, but that should not come at the expense of the most vulnerable.”
Republicans defend new formula
The underlying issue is cost projections for the farm bill over the next 10 years. The farm bill has to remain budget neutral, so lawmakers must fit their proposals into a baseline of how much the government would spend if the current farm bill was extended.
Republicans insist the SNAP changes are a cost calculation that would not actually reduce food support for needy families. The change would not kick in until 2027 and would not directly reduce current SNAP levels. Rather, it would freeze the list of products that families can buy with their benefits and the values allowed to purchase them, except for increases from inflation.
As such, the limits would make it more difficult for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to add new items to SNAP or offer more support for certain categories, like the Biden administration did in 2021 when it increased the benefit for fruits and vegetables.
New York Republican Mark Molinaro said it is “dishonest” to describe the changes as a cut to SNAP benefits and South Dakota Republican Dusty Johnson said the benefits on the electronic benefit cards for SNAP would not go down.
But Democrats pointed to the CBO cost estimates that project a reduction in federal spending for SNAP if the bill became law.
“Let’s not try to make believe that this is no big deal, it is a huge deal… we need to do better,” said Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Jim McGovern.
California Democrat Salud Carbajal said Republicans were trying to “have it both ways.”
“If the committee’s considering it a paid-for then that is funding you are taking away from hungry families,” said Carbaja.
The farm bill funds programs across 12 titles for five years. The massive bill stitches together support for agriculture producers, energy and conservation programs on farmland and food and nutrition programs for families in need.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack raised concerns this week that the Republican proposal’s adjustment to SNAP benefits threatened that coalition.
The Republican bill would increase farm “safety net” payments for some commodity crops, expand eligibility for disaster assistance and increase funding for speciality crops, organic farmers and dairy farmers.
It is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years. A title-by-title summary of the 942-page bill can be is available online.
Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
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South Dakota
South Dakota’s WIC Program implements new income guidelines July 1
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:
Family Size |
185% of Federal Poverty Level | Family Size |
185% of Federal Poverty Level |
1 | $27,861 | 6 | $77,626 |
2 | $37,814 | 7 | $87,579 |
3 | $47,767 | 8 | $97,532 |
4 | $57,720 | 9 | $107,485 |
5 | $67,673 | 10 | $117,438 |
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.
South Dakota
South Dakota high school grad receives full ride college livestock judging scholarship
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.”
Women in agriculture
Women always have played significant roles in agriculture. While the stereotypical farmer or rancher in recent centuries became male, women have continued to raise livestock, plant crops, feed crews, perform financial and bookkeeping tasks and more. The 2022 Census of Agriculture says 36% of producers are women, which may be an underrepresentation of women’s contributions to farms and ranches. In this series, we introduce some of the women in agriculture in our region.
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.”
South Dakota
Catastrophic flooding hits Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota
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