A shortfall in the South Dakota state budget is setting up a re-prioritization of funding for new and existing projects and programs, including those important to agriculture. South Dakota Farm Bureau Lobbyist Mike Held says if the projected trend for the most recent quarter holds, the state budget will experience a large deficit in 2017.

Held says the economic downturn in the state’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors is the cause of the revenue shortfall and he doesn’t see any improvements in the near future.

As a result, he says Governor Dennis Daugaard has already told farm groups he will not use public dollars to help fund the proposed $68 million Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Lab at South Dakota State University.

He says they are currently looking at other funding sources, including increased user fees, to upgrade the vet lab to bio-safety level three.