Ranching

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack testifies during a U.S. Senate Ag Committee oversight hearing March 16, 2023. (Committee video screenshot)

USDA secretary battles with U.S. House Republicans over costs of federal nutrition programs

BY: - March 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans tussled with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic committee members over work requirements in federal nutrition programs as well as spending levels for those programs at a Tuesday hearing.  Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee charged Vilsack with evading bipartisan oversight in the USDA’s 2021 redesign of the Thrifty […]

Dustin Schmidt, a South Dakota rancher and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, speaks to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee on March 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Screenshot from committee video)

Native American agricultural leaders detail farm bill priorities at U.S. Senate hearing

BY: - March 24, 2023

WASHINGTON — A roundtable of Native American agricultural leaders at a recent U.S. Senate hearing lobbied for increased sovereignty and social justice in the coming farm bill by expanding tribes’ jurisdiction over U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.  It’s called “638” authority and refers to Public Law 93-638, which gives tribes the power to manage certain […]

An aerial view of Verratti Farms LLC, a dairy and grain operation in Newfane and Gasport, New York, on May 26, 2022. (Courtesy of USDA)

Limits on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland gain support in Congress, despite skepticism

BY: - March 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan momentum is building in Congress to restrict China and other foreign adversaries from purchasing U.S. farmland, a reflection of a similar push by some states as well as apprehension over Chinese spy balloons, rising land prices and growing international competition.  “Foreign ownership of agricultural land threatens small family farms and the overall […]

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack testifies during a U.S. Senate Ag Committee oversight hearing March 16, 2023. (Committee video screenshot)

Members of U.S. Senate agriculture panel spar with Vilsack over USDA spending, response

BY: - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack bristled at complaints from both Democrats and Republicans of unchecked departmental spending and delayed support for farmers during a Thursday U.S. Senate oversight hearing. He also lobbied Congress to provide a farm bill that will balance large-scale productivity with the needs of small and mid-sized producers, a theme the […]

From left, Gov. Kristi Noem talks with South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal, farmer Travis Mockler and Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden after a bill signing ceremony on March 15, 2023, at C&B Operations in Mitchell. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

New state law makes it harder to file a complaint or lawsuit against ag operations

BY: - March 15, 2023

MITCHELL — A new South Dakota law makes it harder to file a nuisance complaint or lawsuit against an agricultural operation and limits the amount of money that can be awarded. Governor Kristi Noem signed the bill on Wednesday at a farm implement dealership in Mitchell, after legislators approved it earlier this winter. The law […]

Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, as seen on Nov. 21, 2022.

China owns little US farmland, but many lawmakers are worried

BY: - March 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Nearly a third of states have laws prohibiting certain foreign businesses and governments from buying agricultural lands within their borders, and more states are looking to join them. The efforts in at least 11 states are pitched primarily by Republicans as another security front in the nation’s ongoing propaganda battles, primarily with China and Russia. Many lawmakers […]

Cattle near Stoneville, South Dakota, on July 21, 2021. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung)

Ag Department launches cattle contracts library urged by Johnson

BY: - March 11, 2023

A recently launched program championed by South Dakota’s lone congressional representative aims to aid livestock producers in price negotiations with slaughterhouses. The Cattle Contracts Library is meant to log basic information on the prices paid for cattle by the nation’s four major processing conglomerates: Cargill, JBS USA, National Beef Packing and Tyson Foods.  The idea […]

Demonstrators at the "Rally for Resilience," headed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2023. (Adam Goldstein/States Newsroom)

Progressive agriculture groups rally for land access, climate-smart policies in farm bill

BY: - March 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Farmers and leaders from more than 20 progressive agricultural groups gathered this week to march on the U.S. Capitol, and promote climate solutions and underserved producers as priority issues for lawmakers in the upcoming farm bill.  “As farmers, we are close to the land. We love the land. We understand the sanctity and […]

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack speaks March 6, 2023, at the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco. (Courtesy of National Farmers Union)

U.S. agriculture secretary unveils initiatives aimed at small and midsized operations

BY: - March 6, 2023

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday announced new steps the Department of Agriculture is taking to recenter U.S. agriculture and benefit small and midsized operations, including a proposed new “Product of USA” labeling rule and an $89 million expansion of the USDA intermediary lending program.  At the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco, […]

COMMENTARY
Chestnut mushrooms ready for harvest in 2022 at Mother Fungi in Missoula, Montana. (USDA/FPAC photo by Preston Keres)

A doctor’s perspective: Here’s how Sen. Thune can support South Dakota farmers

BY: - March 2, 2023

South Dakota’s Sen. John Thune recently told the PBS News Hour, “This is a farm bill year. And it’s an issue that historically has been bipartisan. There are things that we can do there to support those who feed not only our country, but the world.” I’m a doctor, not a farmer, but the farm bill is important to […]

The U.S. Capitol building is seen on Oct. 22, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

U.S. House Ag panel hears industry complaints on regulations, scant crop insurance

BY: - February 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee listened to agribusiness executives on Tuesday rail against federal regulations, and lobby for new markets and reinforced crop insurance programs in the panel’s first hearing of the new Congress.  With the 2018 farm bill expiring this fall, lawmakers who will shape the next version of the […]

(Illustration by Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight; photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Brand Board power struggle tabled as work group arises

BY: - February 27, 2023

Proponents and opponents of legislation to change the way South Dakota Brand Board members are selected have agreed to table the bill and instead put together a work group to address the problems the bill aimed to resolve.  Brands are the symbols on hot irons used for marking livestock and identifying ownership. The board is […]