Weekly Column

This week marked the annual National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.

Between 85-90% of the beef processing in this country is done at just 30 plants – in fact, 12 plants do more than half of all the beef processing. Having such a large percentage of meat packing done at such a small number of plants is a vulnerability in our markets. We’ve experienced many “black swan” events in the past couple years—from the Holcomb fire, COVID-19, and weather, among others. This market concentration poses a significant risk to food security in our nation.

South Dakota is blessed to be the home of many state and national parks and forests. From Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, our parks are truly one of our greatest natural resources. Our state offers many ways to enjoy the outdoors. My family and I love getting outside any way we can. We enjoy hiking, camping, and hunting together.

As we move past winter storms (hopefully) and signs of spring begin to pop up, this time of year is often associated with “spring cleaning.”

This year, the list might look something like this:

Travel is coming back. After nearly two years of pleas, Speaker Pelosi finally reopened the Capitol building to visitors and tours. South Dakotans wasted no time in coming to their nation’s capital. This week, I had the opportunity to meet with members of the South Dakota Department of Tourism, including their Secretary Jim Hagen.

This week, President Biden announced a two-part plan to increase America’s oil supply. While the plan may appear good on paper, he is not fooling anyone.

As you may know, this week is National Ag Week. Agriculture is the number one industry in South Dakota and the lifeblood of not only our state, but our country and our world.

Supply chain problems are still plaguing producers, manufacturers, transporters, and consumers across America. These high prices and delayed shipments have been aggravated by steady increased demand. Consumer spending on e-commerce is expected to hit a record $1 trillion this year due to the shift of online shopping driven by the pandemic. This is a 13% increase from 2021.