Economy

Kevin Kirby operates a tractor to begin the sweet potato harvest process by plowing them up from the field on Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, Virginia, on Sep. 20, 2013. Kirby is a fourth-generation farmer. (USDA photo by Lance Cheung.)

Senators probe foreign ownership of ag land; Rounds measure would ban several countries

BY: - September 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators said during a Wednesday hearing that foreign ownership of U.S. farmland is a national security threat that should be further examined. The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry discussed foreign ownership of the nation’s agricultural lands, with testimony from experts and Senate colleagues who have been taking the lead […]

Mike Scully harvests soybeans at Scully Family Farms in Spencer, Indiana, on Sept. 29, 2022. (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service photo by Brandon O’Connor)

The farm bill is on the verge of expiring. Congress is months away from a new version.

BY: - September 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — As the deadline for Congress to pass a new farm bill looms this weekend, staff members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees say it will be months – if not longer – until they reach agreement on a new bill. Lawmakers must rewrite the sweeping farm bill every five years to set […]

Shelly Stutson of Sioux Falls, right, talks about her all-electric Subaru Soltera at an EV Expo on Sept. 19, 2023, in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota-led poll finds alignment of rural, urban opinions on electric vehicles

BY: - September 22, 2023

SIOUX FALLS — Around half of the rural Americans served by electric cooperatives expect less reliable service and higher bills because of electric vehicles. Even so, about half would consider buying an EV the next time they need a new vehicle. Those opinions came from Paulsen Marketing in Sioux Falls, which conducted a nationwide poll […]

Kyle Peters, with A1 Development Solutions, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the High Plains Processing plant on Sept. 9, 2023, near Mitchell. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Construction begins on state’s largest soybean processing facility

BY: - September 19, 2023

MITCHELL — Construction of the largest soybean processing facility in South Dakota began Tuesday with a groundbreaking ceremony. The High Plains Processing plant, 2 miles south of Mitchell, is a project of South Dakota Soybean Processors, which already operates two processing plants in Volga and Miller. The company also announced Tuesday that a subsidiary of […]

Supporters tour Panther Cubs Academy in Platte during a fundraiser weekend. (Courtesy photo)

Child care shortage drives construction contractor to create his own solution

BY: - September 17, 2023

Platte has been good to Tyler Samuelson and his family.  Over the past 15 years, the owner of Summit Contracting has seen his family’s business grow into the largest employer in the south-central South Dakota town.  Lately, Platte’s meager 1,300 population has become a problem for the growing business, which manufactures “anything on the farm […]

Lah Soe speaks before the start of a Miss Knaw pageant at Huron in July 2023. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Bridge generation: Children of southeast Asian refugees carve out niche in Huron

BY: - September 15, 2023

HURON — Until age 6, Kler Hae roamed the highlands of southern Thailand after school with his friends, hunting birds with slingshots and stones. If they got lucky, they’d bring home dinner. Now he’s a real estate agent in Huron, an eastern South Dakota town of about 14,000.  At age 12, Pywe Der moved to […]

The "World's Largest Pheasant" greets visitors to Huron. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Desperation and renewal: How Huron embraced new Americans and thrived

BY: - September 15, 2023

That Huron came to be a major hub of Karen culture in the Midwest was at least partially a side effect of desperation. What began as desperation for workers morphed into desperation for a school system struggling to manage its migrant population and the community’s response to it.  Today, about a decade after the dust settled […]

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, left, of Navigator CO2, participates in a debate about carbon dioxide pipelines Aug. 22, 2023, at Dacotah Bank Event Center in Brookings while moderator Sara Frankenstein looks on. (Courtesy of David Bordewyk)

Carbon pipeline company has not ‘taken any state off the map’ after SD permit rejection

BY: and - September 15, 2023

A recently failed permit application is not necessarily the end of a carbon capture pipeline company’s goal of building in South Dakota and four other states, according to a company spokesperson.  “We have not taken any state off the map,” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, of Navigator CO2, told South Dakota Searchlight in an interview Friday. The South […]

A farmer harvests corn near Slater, Iowa. on Oct. 17, 2020.

Big gains projected in South Dakota corn and soybean production

BY: - September 13, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting South Dakota’s 2023 corn harvest at 816 million bushels, up 23% from last year’s production, based on new field and survey data.  South Dakota farmers will harvest corn on 5.59 million acres. That’s 12% more than last year. The department estimates farmers will harvest an average of 146 […]

Dave Fendrich (walking) helps Bryant Hofer (in combine) harvest a field of corn on October 2, 2013, near Salem, South Dakota. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Farm profits reached new heights last year, but are expected to drop in 2023

BY: - September 12, 2023

As food prices rose around the country, so did farmers’ take-home pay. Net farm profits rose by 30% from 2021 to 2022, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the same time, food prices inflated by more than 10%. The USDA predicts farm incomes will drop by about 20% in 2023 […]

An apartment building under construction on June 13, 2023, in eastern Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Seven housing projects get boost from long-delayed infrastructure program

BY: - September 12, 2023

A state board signed off Monday on the first grant dollars from a $200 million housing infrastructure program that had been mired in controversy through two state legislative sessions. Box Elder was the big winner at the September meeting of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, at which seven applications for infrastructure grants were reviewed […]

Chamberlain City Administrator Clint Soulek, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Sept. 11, 2023, at the Chamberlain Municipal Airport. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Biden administration ‘making it happen’ on infrastructure, Buttigieg says in SD

BY: - September 11, 2023

CHAMBERLAIN — After the previous presidential administration talked about addressing the country’s infrastructure, “We’re actually making it happen,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Monday in South Dakota. Buttigieg is on a two-day tour of the state to spotlight federal investments in infrastructure. His first stop was the Chamberlain Municipal Airport, which recently […]