Opinion

Commentary by Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA Go back just five years, to 2019. Remember what fed cattle prices were back then? The 5-Area steer price was $115 per cwt, which was the lowest annual steer price in eight years. Remember also, that in 2019 the volume in the fed cattle cash market had fallen to the lowest level in history, to less than 21%. And back then, during the first nine months of 2019, beef imports were 2.3 billion pounds.

I recently presented my budget to the South Dakota State Legislature. It’s a budget that prioritizes people, not programs.

Chevalier and Francois Verendrye were fur traders who built trading posts across Canada and into what was later to become the Dakota Territory. What little is known about their journey from Canada comes from a journal found in the French archives in 1851 and an inscribed lead plate which they buried at Fort Pierre two hundred and eighty years ago.

Magistrate C ourt Alan Craig Flyger, 38, Parker, SD, transport and storage of fish, fine $25.00, court costs $50.00, surcharges $22.50. David Leo Cornemann, 61, Yankton, SD, seat belt violation, fine $25.00.

South Dakota has been drawing the blueprint for state-led response to the threat from Communist China. The Biden Administration’s failure to protect Americans from nations that hate us has required states to do the job themselves.

The City of Gregory Public Works department will be cleaning and jetting the City’s sewer mains in the next few weeks. Due to the amount of water and pressure used to clean the mains, some households may experience some back flow problems. To help prevent any clean up problems, residents are reminded to keep their bathroom toilet lids closed during the cleaning of the mains.

In 2019, the volume of fed cattle sold in the negotiated cash market fell to the lowest level in history. It fell to less than 21%. This means less than 21% of all fed cattle sales occurred in the price discovery market. More plainly, only about 100,000 cattle set the base price for the roughly 500,000 fed cattle sold each week.

Funeral services to be held for Deanna Brooks Funeral services for Deanna Brooks, age 84, of Gregory, SD, will be held on Friday, December 1, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gregory, SD, with Father Jonathon Dillon, celebrant. A visitation will be held on Thursday from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the church. Burial will be in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Gregory, SD. Kotrba-Smith Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

M arriages Dustin Scott Frank, age 24, Gregory, SD, to Ashley Diann Meyer, age 24, on November 18, 2023, in Gregory, SD. Lewis Joseph Bailey, 87 yrs., September 14, 2023, Tyndall, SD.

The United States Secretary of Agriculture has an absolute statutory duty to “strengthen (America’s) family farm system” of agriculture (7 U.S.C. 2204b(c)(2)(D)), including to develop solutions to problems faced by “small- and moderate-sized family farming operations.” (7 U.S.C. 2204(b).