A recent move by the animal activist group Humane Farming Society to petition USDA to end livestock indemnity payments is off-base and just a far-fetched idea. That’s according to South Dakota Stock Growers Association Executive Director Silvia Christen.

She says this latest attack by HFS on the livestock industry may be unreasonable. However, agriculture groups need to be vigilant in telling their story about how producers care for their animals in a humane and proper manner.

Christen says it’s concerning when a national group with over 250,000 members attacks agriculture. She says these types of push-back are even surfacing in South Dakota.

Christen says had it not been for the livestock indemnity program, it would have been difficult for many South Dakota producers to recover from the Atlas Blizzard that killed tens of thousands of animals.