South Dakota Farmers Union members approved two special orders of business at their just concluded state convention. President Doug Sombke says the primary one supports having two beef check off programs in place running as concurrently as proposed by Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. Sombke says that’s the best solution to reforming the beef check off and making it more responsive to the producers who pay into it.
Sombke says their policy also calls for giving more control of the check off to producers themselves and doing away with the 1985 act that established the first beef check off program.
He says their second policy calls for changing the way redistricting is done in South Dakota. He says they’re calling for a ballot issue that would make up a redistricting board made up of voters rather than legislators.
Sombke says currently the legislators select the voters and it should be the voters selecting the legislators. He says their proposal would put it in the hands of the voters.