South Dakota

A new law in South Dakota makes it harder to file nuisance complaints or lawsuits against an agricultural operation.  South Dakota Searchlight said it will also limit the amount of monetary awards.  After legislators approved the bill earlier this winter, Governor Kristi Noem signed it at a Mitchell, South Dakota, implement dealership last week.  She said agricult...

Representatives Chellie Pingree of Maine and Jim Baird of Indiana, along with Senators John Thune of South Dakota and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, plan to reintroduce legislation to support small meat and poultry processors.  Supporters of the Strengthening Local Processing Act say the legislation will diversify and make U.S. m...

A bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced legislation to merge USDA broadband programs.  New Mexico Democrat Ben Ray Luján and South Dakota Republican John Thune reintroduced the Rural Internet Improvement Act.  The legislation would streamline and bolster USDA Rural Development broadband programs and ensure their funding is targeted to rural areas that need it the most.     "Our bip

According to NASS, winter wheat seedings across the Northwest are up slightly from last year.  Oregon farmers planted 790,000 acres of winter wheat for the 2023, an 8% increase from this time last year.  Idaho growers seeded 770,000 acres, unchanged from 2022, but 8% above the 2021 crop.  Washington’s wint...

Senators John Thune and Ben Ray Luján recently introduced the Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act.  The bipartisan legislation by the South Dakota Republican and New Mexico Democrat would improve the effectiveness and timeliness of multiple Department of Agriculture programs that assist farmers and ranchers in the aftermath of adverse weather events.  The legislatio...

Staggering farm input costs are driving Ag profits into the ground.  South Dakota Senator John Thune said it’s a tale of two economies: one, the economy of scale, and two, the cost of farming.   “This year will be the record year in terms of gross farm receipts.  In other words, top-line...

Legislation introduced last week would remove burdensome government regulations from the trucking industry, according to Senator Mike Rounds.  The South Dakota Republican introduced the Trucking Regulations Unduly Constricting Known Service-providers, or TRUCKS Act.  ...

Issues and obstacles facing the cattle industry were just a few of the highlights from last month’s “Code of the West” convention hosted by R-CALF USA in Deadwood, South Dakota.  The 23rd Annual National Convention saw consumers and industry representatives come together to address a host of issues.  R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard s...

South Dakota Senator John Thune is taking aim at an SEC proposal that could force farmers to keep an inventory of climate emissions.  Thune argues the White House is trying to discourage firms through SEC and other agency rulemaking from investing in fossil fuels by forcing downstream reporting of climate emissions. “...

U.S. imports of honey continue to rise as American production declines.  New data from Economic Research Service shows imports have exceeded domestic honey production since 2005 and accounted for 74% of total U.S. honey supplies in 2021.  Over th...