Corn

An oil pumpjack casts a shadow on a wall as it pulls oil from the Permian Basin oil field on March 14, 2022, in Odessa, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Critics allege CO2 pipelines ‘farm the government’ for climate money while helping oil industry

BY: - November 10, 2023

Plans to capture carbon dioxide emitted by ethanol plants, ship it via pipelines and store it underground are viewed by some as a way to fight climate change. The process is one way to keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, where it acts as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas. But critics say the process known […]

An ethanol plant near Aberdeen. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

New bills raise debate over ethanol’s environmental impact, with implications for the climate

BY: - November 10, 2023

South Dakota’s congressional delegation wants the federal government to measure the environmental impact of biofuels in a way that some researchers say is unlikely to help mitigate climate change. Sen. John Thune and Rep. Dusty Johnson, both Republicans, recently reintroduced similar bipartisan bills in the Senate and House, with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, cosponsoring […]

COMMENTARY
Wind turbines in a Wisconsin field. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A bright spot at the intersection of farming, electric vehicles and solar energy

BY: - September 30, 2023

The energy transition is in full swing across the U.S. and the world, but the changes now underway are not simple or linear. In an economy as complex and connected as ours, progress in one area will often affect other parts of the economy, creating winners and losers. And then there are the changes that […]

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 […]

Affected landowner Jared Bossly (in vest) and others attend a hearing Sept. 11, 2023, in Fort Pierre where the Public Utilities Commission rejected a permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

State denies Summit permit; both carbon pipelines proposed in SD now rejected

BY: - September 11, 2023

FORT PIERRE — Some landowners who’ve been fighting against a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline shed tears of joy Monday as South Dakota utility regulators denied a permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions. The decision means both carbon pipelines currently proposed in eastern South Dakota have been rejected in their first attempts to gain permits in […]

A map of Summit Carbon Solutions' originally proposed carbon-capture pipeline route. (Courtesy of Summit Carbon Solutions)

Commission staff files motion to deny Summit’s carbon pipeline permit

BY: - September 8, 2023

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission’s staff has filed a motion to deny Summit Carbon Solutions’ application to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline, citing non-compliance with ordinances in Brown, McPherson, Minnehaha and Spink counties.  The news comes after Summit withdrew its request to have the commission overrule county ordinances. Another company trying to build a […]

A sign displays the names of the state's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar)

South Dakota’s Navigator pipeline decision might jeopardize Summit proposal

BY: - September 7, 2023

Utility regulators in South Dakota declined this week to overrule county ordinances that restrict carbon dioxide pipelines when they denied Navigator CO2 a permit for its project. Summit Carbon Solutions has also asked that state’s Public Utilities Commission to give it a permit despite local restrictions, including in Minnehaha County, where the restrictions were upheld. […]

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, vice president of government and public affairs for Navigator CO2, debates state Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, on Aug. 22, 2023, at the Dacotah Bank Event Center in Brookings as moderator Sara Frankenstein looks on. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

During debate with lawmaker, carbon pipeline executive calls eminent domain a ‘last resort’

BY: - August 22, 2023

BROOKINGS — An executive for a carbon dioxide pipeline company said during a debate Tuesday evening that eminent domain is “a tool of absolute last resort.” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, vice president of government and public affairs for Navigator CO2, debated state Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, at the Dacotah Bank Event Center. Hansen is a critic […]

An aerial view of a cornfield. (Getty Images)

Harvest projection includes 21% more corn, 14% more soybeans in SD

BY: - August 14, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast predicts South Dakota farmers will harvest 21% more corn and 14% more soybeans this year. The corn harvest projection is 798 million bushels. The increase is attributed to farmers harvesting 10% more corn acres, reaching 5.5 million, and an expected yield of 145 bushels per acre, up 13 […]

A sign displays the names of the state's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar)

Commissioners express concerns as carbon pipeline hearing ends

BY: - August 8, 2023

Two of the state’s publicly elected utility regulators expressed concerns about a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline Tuesday during the 10th and final day of a permit hearing in Pierre.  The Public Utilities Commission is required to make a decision within 12 months of receiving a permit application, which means a decision is due by Sept. […]

Harvest Ridge Organics harvests wheat on a field near Reservoir A in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2018. (Kirsten Strough/USDA)

Drought drives big drop in wheat and oat forecast amid long-term shift to corn and soybeans

BY: - August 6, 2023

The federal government is projecting big declines in South Dakota’s production of wheat and oats, due in part to drought conditions but also because of a decades-long transition to corn and soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that South Dakota farmers this year will produce 17% less winter wheat, 29% less spring wheat […]

Ed Fischbach, a Democrat and farmer from Spink County, speaks to a crowd of hundreds opposed to eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines on July 6, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Unusual alliances emerge amid opposition to eminent domain for carbon pipelines

BY: - July 7, 2023

Opponents of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipeline projects in South Dakota have forged a unique coalition. It includes Republicans, Democrats, climate change deniers who see the pipelines as a boondoggle, and environmentalists skeptical of the pipelines’ benefits. Many of them agree on one contention: that unlike water and natural gas pipelines, electrical transmission lines […]