South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden on Friday becomes the state’s Interim Agriculture Director. He replaces Kim Vanneman who submitted her resignation this week effective May 8. Rhoden says his focus is to help South Dakota’s producers get through the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

He says one thing he’s working on is trying to make it possible for South Dakota’s cattle producers to sell beef directly across state lines.

Rhoden was asked if he’d be interested in the future of being the State’s Agriculture Director on a full time basis.

Rhoden says one idea that may be worth pursuing is resurrecting the South Dakota Certified Beef program. He says if the state could develop a marketing strategy to bring that back, it could also work for beef, pork or lamb.