Governor Dennis Daugaard’s reworked buffer strip bill is gaining support among South Dakota farm groups. South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Mike Jaspers says the Governor has changed the language so the 40-percent tax break for buffer strips applies to all land, and doesn’t reclassify tillable cropland as non-cropland and shift the tax burden. He says this should make it constitutional.

Jaspers says the bill also provides the tax break for land that is grazed adjacent to a qualifying water body if the owner maintains the buffer criteria, such as grass height.

The initial proposal introduced in the state legislature sets the buffer strip parameters at 50 to 120 feet, but he says that may be adjusted. And the current proposal indicates land around 575 lakes and 11.000 miles could be included.

While there is general agreement about the water quality and environmental benefits of buffer areas, there has been opposition from some county commissioners due to the expected decrease in tax revenue.