The South Dakota Soybean Association held their annual meeting last week. The resolution process included cleanup language on various policies including wetland delineations and non-meandered waters. However, they also passed a resolution to support the new precision agriculture unit at South Dakota State University. Resolutions Chair John Horter says this cutting-edge program will be important to the future of crop production in the state.
Another $30 million is needed to complete the new facility at SDSU, with scarce funding sources. However, Horter says they’re calling on the industry and the legislature to make it a priority.
Horter says part of their meeting also included a farm bill panel in which representatives from many of the state’s farm and commodity groups provided input. The groups agreed on priorities including CRP and crop insurance.
He says their membership has not taken a position on the amount of acres that should be included in the CRP program. They support conservation programs for sensitive lands, but don’t want CRP rental rates to be set so high they compete with rent on cropland acres.
