Some South Dakota truckers are being fined for exceeding hay height restrictions on trucks. They say the 23-year-old law is just now being enforced. At the District 1 Farmers Union meeting, the group passed a resolution to increase the permitted hay height to 15 feet, 6 inches. Josh Schmidt produces and transports hay from his farms near Avon and Sioux Falls. He says the current height of only 14 feet 3 inches isn’t practical.
He says the law needs to be changed immediately to match higher hauling levels in other states.
Schmidt says they’ve contacted the Governor’s office for help and have not received a response. State officials say the Highway Patrol is just enforcing the law which sets a maximum height for hay at 14 feet, three inches. A violation is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
