The Rural Lobbyist: SDFU Hard at Work During First Weeks of Session

January 19, 2017 – By #South Dakota Farmer UnionThe first two weeks of session are usually dominated by executive reappointments, departmental reports, and “clean up bills” but rest assured SDFU is hard at work preparing and advocating for upcoming legislative issues. This week the SDFU board joined Ellie and I in meetings with the offices of the Governor and Secretary of State. In these meetings we addressed a number of SDFU legislative concerns including fueling the state fleet with Premium E-30 and funding the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Lab. There is currently no legislation introduced to address funding for the ADRDL but we will make sure the best interests of farmers and ranchers remain at the forefront of that conversation. 

 With the office of Secretary Krebs, we discussed the repeal of the annual farm report requirement. While some in agriculture believe that the report is redundant when paired with the annual report all LLC’s file, some SDFU members have expressed concerns with the lack of transparency for corporate farming that would exist after the repeal in HB 1012. In short, we believe there is room for compromise and will seek that in the House Ag Committee meeting Thursday morning. However, by the time you will most likely read this, the committee meeting will have already taken place and I will give you a more updated explanation of the legislation. Stay tuned on Twitter for more and make sure you read the Rural Lobbyist each week for a weekly wrap-up and a look at the week ahead.

Last Modified: 01/19/2017 4:12:07 am MST