Agriculture
The Trump administration fired at least 65 USDA employees in South Dakota and froze funding that helped farmers upgrade their equipment.
Economy
The Trump administration cut funding that allowed food banks and school districts to buy produce from local farmers who rely on their purchases and closed multiple government offices in the state.
Environment
The Trump administration laid off a park ranger at Badlands National Park near Interior, South Dakota. The ranger was also one of three EMTs at the park.
October 2025: Trump’s Tariff Wars Increased The Prices Of Goods And Decreased The Prices Of Soybeans, Threatening To Bankrupt South Dakota Farmers. According to South Dakota Searchlight, "Jerry Schmitz is the executive director of the South Dakota Soybean Association. He said U.S. soybean prices are down more than a dollar per bushel from last year, from over $11 down to $10, with South Dakota prices another 80 cents to $1.35 lower. Local grain elevators are struggling because exports through the Pacific Northwest into Asian countries have slowed to a trickle. Based on the number of soybean acres planted this year, Schmitz said a $1 drop in price equates to about $250 million of lost income for South Dakota farmers. A tariff is a tax paid by importers, with the cost often passed along in prices charged to customers. Schmitz said the impact of tariffs on farmers goes beyond the obvious. An example is a rise in fertilizer prices, 'partly due to inflation, but exacerbated by the tariffs.' Streff, the Salem-area farmer, also works as a commodities broker in Mitchell. He said farmers like him who locked in a price with a grain buyer months before harvest are doing better, but 'you were gambling on the future.' 'A lot of farmers were hoping the president learned from the last time around,' he said. 'But it didn’t surprise me — he campaigned on doing these tariffs. The U.S. elected someone who likes to pick fights with other countries, and now we’re in the middle of it.'" [South Dakota Searchlight, 10/2/25]
February 2025: South Dakota Farmer Hoped Trump Administration Would Unfreeze Grants That Helped Him Improve Soil Quality. According to South Dakota News Watch, "Rodney Koch, who raises soybeans and other crops north of Garretson, in eastern South Dakota, hopes the federal government will re-open funding for agricultural conservation programs that have helped him modernize and improve the health of his farm. Koch, 38, has previously taken advantage of grants and training provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Stewardship Program and Environmental Quality Improvement Program, both of which are now halted under Trump’s freeze on almost all federal grant and loan programs. Koch said he has also been told that a few employees have lost their jobs at South Dakota offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which administers several USDA programs. According to the NRCS website, 'as the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency, (NRCS) we generate, manage, and share the data, technology, and standards that enable partners and policymakers to make decisions informed by objective, reliable science.' [...] 'To convert from a full tillage system to no-till, or add a crop into your crop rotation, or try cover cropping ... there’s a ton of different incentives.' Koch said farmers tend to do what they have done in the past or what their ancestors did. The USDA programs, he said, can 'jumpstart' efforts by farmers to engage in more progressive and precision agricultural operations." [South Dakota News Watch, 3/3/25]
March 2025: South Dakota Farmers Union President Stated “We’ve Got A Lot Of Pain” After Trump Administration Laid Off Agricultural Employees. According to South Dakota News Watch, "Doug Sombke, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, said 'we've got a lot of pain' with NRCS layoffs and also the uncertain status of Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan officers, who help administer programs and loans for farmers and ranchers." [South Dakota News Watch, 3/3/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Froze Grant To Midwest Organization That Helped South Dakota Farms And Agricultural Businesses. According to South Dakota News Watch, "Small farms and businesses that boost food security in rural areas could feel the pinch of a freeze on USDA funding to the North Central Regional Food Business Center, one of 11 such centers across the nation. The business center helped distribute grants to 'expand small and mid-sized agricultural value chains' in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. One the grants frozen by the Trump administration is the Business Builder Award Program, which provides direct financial assistance of up to $100,000. Fruit of the Coop, a Brandon-based supplier of pasture-raised eggs, was a recipient of a Business Builder grant and announced on Facebook that the funds have been frozen. The money was being used for distribution supplies and to hire a part-time employee. 'The Trump trickle-down has reached Brandon,' Fruit of the Coop owner Stephanie Peterson told her Facebook followers on March 3. Laura Swier Kotelman of Sioux Falls, an applicant for a Business Builder loan for a startup opportunity, received an email from the South Eastern Development Foundation that the grant program had been 'canceled by the Trump administration.'" [South Dakota News Watch, 3/3/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled USDA Program That Helped South Dakota Schools And Food Banks Buy Produce From Local Farmers. According to KELO, "The USDA has announced the deletion of two programs that provided schools and food banks with funding to purchase food from local farms and ranchers. The two programs are the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). In South Dakota, the Department of Ag and Natural Resources (DANR) was the recipient of LFPA funding, which was disbursed through Feeding South Dakota. KELOLAND News spoke on the phone with Feeding South Dakota CEO Lori Dykstra on Tuesday. Dykstra told KELOLAND News in 2025, $1.2 million was allocated through Feeding South Dakota. That grant will end in June and will now not be renewed. [...] Instead, Dykstra noted the impact will fall mainly on the 22 producers from which Feeding South Dakota buys the food. The program was in place not only to help food banks, but also to help producers. Per the USDA’s executive summary on the LFPA in South Dakota: 'This project will connect South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers, including disadvantaged producers, to more opportunities to deliver their products to local markets through Feeding South Dakota’s extensive network of food assistance partners.'" [KELO, 3/11/25]
South Dakota Searchlight Op-Ed: “Funding Freezes And Staff Cuts Pull The Rug Out From Under Farmers.” According to an op-ed in the South Dakota Searchlight by Travis Entenman, “Funding freezes and staff cuts pull the rug out from under farmers. What happens in Washington, D.C., can oftentimes feel far away, disconnected from everyday life in the rest of the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent efforts to streamline the federal government have, and will continue to have, unintended consequences for farmers’ and ranchers’ efforts to conserve water, soil and wildlife habitat if cuts continue with a hatchet instead of a scalpel. Freezing conservation funds promised to farmers, many of whom have already spent the money, and slashing Natural Resources Conservation Service staff are only exacerbating the uncertainty farmers feel every year during planting. Efforts to make government more efficient and responsive to local needs may be pulling the rug out from America’s farmers when certainty is what’s needed most.” [Travis Entenman op-ed, South Dakota Searchlight, 3/14/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled Grant To Help Poverty-Stricken Rosebud Sioux Reservation Plant Produce. According to the South Dakota Searchlight, " The Trump administration’s efforts to claw back federal grant money, led by the world’s richest person, will affect access to fresh fruit for some of the nation’s poorest people. Late last month, a nonprofit organization that serves and is headquartered on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation got notice that it would lose access to a $547,000 federal grant funneled to it through the Nebraska-based Arbor Day Foundation. Sicangu Co. was set to use the funding to plant 70 fruit trees and 600 berry bushes in backyards across the western South Dakota reservation and at the Keya Wakpala garden on the grounds of a Lakota immersion elementary school. Some of the community garden’s produce is used to feed kids in that program. Some is used for boxes delivered to tribal members. [...] The Sicangu grant is diminutive by comparison to higher-profile Trump administration actions, but Epps said the impact locally is significant. The reservation’s Todd County is a persistent poverty area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which defines the term as a place having a poverty rate of 20% or higher for three decades." [South Dakota Searchlight, 3/9/25]
February 2025: At Least 65 USDA Employees Were Laid Off By The Trump Administration In South Dakota. According to The Brookings Register, "Nikki Gronli, formerly the South Dakota state director of USDA Rural Development under the Biden administration, said she knows of 65 USDA layoffs in South Dakota, mostly employees who have been working less than a year. She said the firings are shortsighted, and she warned of the long-term consequences. 'A third of USDA employees nationwide are about to retire in the next three years,' she said. 'These new hires were brought in to learn, to keep the department running in the future.'" [Brookings Register, 2/25/25]
February 2025: South Dakota Farm Leader Stated Trump Spending Freeze Was Disrupting Program To Increase Energy Efficiency For Rural Farmers. According to The Brookings Register, "Doug Sombke is president of the South Dakota Farmers Union. He said the firings and funding freezes are disrupting some conservation and rural development efforts. 'These layoffs hit people who help farmers secure loans, grants and conservation funding,' Sombke said. 'These programs were already understaffed.' Sombke said delays are occurring in a rural energy efficiency initiative called the Rural Energy for America Program. It helps farmers upgrade to equipment with better energy efficiency. 'We already had farmers waiting months to get their grant money,' he said. 'Now some of them are being told they might never get it.'" [Brookings Register, 2/25/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired South Dakota Fish Biologist. According to The Brookings Register, "Liz Renner, who was a fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is another fired federal worker in South Dakota. When she was fired on the morning of Feb. 14, she was given until 3 p.m. to turn in her laptop, ID and office keys. She raced to send final messages and download paperwork before she was locked out of her email. Renner said she was the only person fired from her office in Yankton, but she heard that 45 Fish and Wildlife Service employees were fired from the regional office that includes South Dakota. 'It really does feel like the cruelty was the point with some of these layoffs,' Renner said. 'Many of us that were laid off received glowing performance reviews. So this narrative and some of these condescending emails coming out that are claiming that we didn’t meet performance expectations is patently false.'" [Brookings Register, 2/25/25]
September 2025: Trump’s Tariffs Threatened To Increase Bankruptcies Among South Dakota Soybean Farmers. According to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, "Chad Johnson is a corn and soybean farmer from northeastern South Dakota. He said he took to Washington to find answers, but hasn’t found anything new. 'It’s kind of the same thing we’ve been getting out of a few different places. We just got to talk to USDA and they kinda said, “We should trust the system. This is going to be good in the long run.” But that’s, you know, with bankruptcies up in the farming community over 90% from the year prior, that’s not gonna, that’s not good enough,' Johnson said. […] Despite the payments, farm debt, delinquencies and bankruptcies rose during that time. Soybean farmers were hit especially hard by Chinese retaliatory tariffs, and it appears they could be feeling déjà vu now. President Trump is imposing a 30% tariff rate on Chinese goods. However, NPR reported that the U.S. Supreme Court is examining whether the president's tariffs are lawful." [South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 9/10/25]
October 2025: Trump’s Tariff Wars Increased The Prices Of Goods And Decreased The Prices Of Soybeans, Threatening To Bankrupt South Dakota Farmers. According to South Dakota Searchlight, "Jerry Schmitz is the executive director of the South Dakota Soybean Association. He said U.S. soybean prices are down more than a dollar per bushel from last year, from over $11 down to $10, with South Dakota prices another 80 cents to $1.35 lower. Local grain elevators are struggling because exports through the Pacific Northwest into Asian countries have slowed to a trickle. Based on the number of soybean acres planted this year, Schmitz said a $1 drop in price equates to about $250 million of lost income for South Dakota farmers. A tariff is a tax paid by importers, with the cost often passed along in prices charged to customers. Schmitz said the impact of tariffs on farmers goes beyond the obvious. An example is a rise in fertilizer prices, 'partly due to inflation, but exacerbated by the tariffs.' Streff, the Salem-area farmer, also works as a commodities broker in Mitchell. He said farmers like him who locked in a price with a grain buyer months before harvest are doing better, but 'you were gambling on the future.' 'A lot of farmers were hoping the president learned from the last time around,' he said. 'But it didn’t surprise me — he campaigned on doing these tariffs. The U.S. elected someone who likes to pick fights with other countries, and now we’re in the middle of it.'" [South Dakota Searchlight, 10/2/25]
May 2025: The Trump Administration’s Cuts Threatened To Impact A Food Bank In South Dakota That Serves 3,400 Families. According to The Brookings Register, “South Dakota’s largest hunger-relief organization says it faces a $2.5 million budget shortfall next year because of President Donald Trump’s federal funding cuts. Feeding South Dakota CEO Lori Dykstra addressed lawmakers on a budget committee Friday in Pierre. She said the group has already cut the amount of food it provides and has merged distribution sites. She warned that unless the funding gap is filled, 21 food distribution events in 15 counties will be eliminated, affecting 3,400 families and eliminating more than 1.7 million meals annually. As federal funding and systems dwindle, states are left to decide how and whether to make up the difference. ‘We’re not here to say whether or not the federal funding decisions are right or wrong,’ Dykstra said. ‘We’re just letting you know that one of the unintentional consequences is that the food safety net for Feeding South Dakota and for all of your neighbors facing hunger is at risk.’” [Brookings Register, 6/2/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled Contract For Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Business. According to South Dakota News Watch, "The oldest agency within the Department of the Interior is the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which provides services to predominantly Native American communities, commonly through contracts and grants. One of those contracts, awarded to Akicita Cyber LCC of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, was cancelled recently as part of federal funding audits conducted by the Trump administration. The original contract was for $434,024 to provide translation services as part of business support services. The end date was changed from Sept. 3, 2029, to Feb. 13, 2025, meaning the funds provided decreased from 81% from $434,024 to $81,757. Mike Shvenderman, CEO of Akicita Cyber LCC, also known as Akicita Federal, confirmed to News Watch that the contract has been cancelled. He did not respond to inquiries about the specifics of the grant nor why it was cut short." [South Dakota News Watch, 3/3/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Suspended Grant For Sioux Falls Food Bank That Caused Missed Produce Delivery. According to Dakota News Now, "Many of those who live off the farm may not be aware that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) also manages food programs and grants across the nation. The Multicultural Center in downtown Sioux Falls also serves as the location for Church on the Street. They have a food pantry that usually includes produce, thanks to a USDA grant, but the produce cart is empty. 'We take the gifts of the church out to where they are meeting. At the laundry mat, being folks that are providing pastoral care at Bishop Dudley. We’re here with and for the people,' said Chris Matson, Church on the Street pastor and mission developer. One of their partners, Dakota Fresh, had a grant to buy produce, cheese and meat from local producers to donate to the church pantry. 'They pay the producers and then they bring us the food for our pantry, which is just a win-win for so many people,' Matson said. That all changed a few days ago when she received a message. 'Our grant has been suspended. We won’t be there tomorrow with a delivery,' Matson said. The Church on the STreet (sic) is not the only pantry affected. Sioux Falls Thrive’s Mobile Market pilot program also faces uncertainty." [Dakota News Now, 3/7/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Closed Four Government Buildings In Rapid City, SD Including Mine Safety And Health Administration And Bureau Of Indian Affairs Offices. According to the Rapid City Journal, “Four government agencies with offices in Rapid City could be losing their office leases, according to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As of March 3, the doge.gov website's Real Estate section listed 13 agency offices in South Dakota that will have their office space leases cancelled as a proposed cost-savings measure. DOGE is not an official agency of the United States government but has the backing of President Donald Trump and is spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest person per Forbes. In Rapid City, offices for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Office of Hearing and Appeals and the National Indian Gaming Commission are slated to have their office leases cancelled.” [Rapid City Journal, 3/5/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Closed Multiple South Dakota Government Offices Including The Farm Service Agency And Small Business Administration Buildings. According to the Rapid City Journal, “Other government agencies in South Dakota on the list of office lease cancellations are: Farm Service Agency in Watertown; Office of the Secretary in Sioux Falls; Geological Survey in Huron; Department of Labor in Sioux Falls; Bureau of Indian Affairs in Fort Thompson; Bureau of Indian Affairs in Sisseton; Small Business Administration in Sioux Falls; National Park Service in Yankton; and the Departmental Management (IG) in Sioux Falls.” [Rapid City Journal, 3/5/25]
April 2025: Trump Administration Cut 73% Of South Dakota Nonprofit’s Budget That Supports Local History And Cultural Programs. According to KSFY, "More sweeping cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency have reached a South Dakota non-profit. The South Dakota Humanities Council is part of a network across the country to support and promote public programming, including promoting literacy and civic engagement. On Monday, their week took a turn when they heard that DOGE was at the National Endowment for the Humanities. 'Life since Monday evening has been pretty crazy and hectic,' said SDHC Executive Director Christina Oey. The South Dakota Humanities Council was on high alert since learning DOGE was at their national headquarters. At around midnight on Thursday, they got word that all of their federal funding, 73% of their budget, would be slashed. Executive Director Christina Oey said their work brings plenty of value to the state and it’s disappointing to see it underappreciated. 'Without the humanities, what are we essentially living for? That’s what we do. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity. To get to where we’re going, we need to know where we came from,' Oey said. The SDHC believes the large cuts will have devastating impacts if they don’t reverse course. 'When these cuts do happen on a federal level, they do impact South Dakotans. We’re feeling it today and we’re not the only organization that is impacted,' Oey said. Center of the Book director Jennifer Widman said a majority of funding they receive from the federal government goes toward grants for communities across the state, events like the Festival of Books, and their Young Readers program. 'We cannot sustain our operations for very long with that kind of a cut. We are thinking about the small towns that won’t get to have a grant that will renew their local museum. We are thinking so much about the third graders who won’t get one of the 15,000 books that we give out every single year,' Widman said." [KSFY, 4/3/25]
April 2025: The Trump Administration Cut Funding For Interlibrary Loans And Research Databases In South Dakota. According to the Madison Daily Leader, “Within weeks, South Dakota public libraries went from selling the restoration of most of the state institution's funding to scrambling to handle a sudden budget slash at the federal level. The South Dakota State Library announced that the courier system which transports books across public libraries will not renew, effectively ending the system on April 30. Research databases will also be largely eliminated, except for some paid for by individual libraries. This has left small and mid-sized libraries, like the Madison Public Library, looking for solutions.” [Madison Daily Leader, 4/22/25]
February 2025: The Trump Administration Laid Off A Ranger, And One Of Three EMTs, At Badlands National Park In South Dakota.
October 2025: Trump’s Government Shutdown Let Federal Health Insurance Tax Credits Expire, Threatening To Price Farmers Out Of Health Insurance. According to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, "The government shutdown has many concerned about food benefits, pay and services from the federal government. For farmers though, the implications to their government-sponsored health insurance are another worry. Deadlock in Washington over funding the next fiscal year has consequences for every part of America. For those reliant on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, there is fear their coverage may be part of that battle. The ACA is very popular among farm owners, as many are self-employed, and the program offers benefits that are often better than private options. Lance Boyer is the director of financial products with the state Farmers Union. He said there’s no question a shutdown is going to hit farm country hard. 'Prices are high, they’re not selling any soybeans, input costs are up, I think it’s a tough time for some of those folks right now,' Boyer said. 'That’s where the piece on the insurance side will add a big burden to those folks financially.' He estimated that some farmers paying a few hundred dollars will see their premiums jump to over $1,200 per month. 'Seven out of ten of our self-employed farmers and ranchers receive some kind of a tax credit on their health insurance,' Boyer said. 'If they don’t extend these tax credits that are going to sunset at the end of 2025, that seven out of ten are going to be impacted substantially on their monthly premium.'" [South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 10/1/25]
October 2025: Trump’s Shutdown Caused Two Telehealth Programs To Lapse, Ending Those Services For Medicare Recipients Who Rely On Them. According to South Dakota Searchlight, "The federal government shutdown is forcing a reckoning for two remote health care programs because they automatically expired Oct. 1. The telehealth and in-home hospital care programs were both temporary — but increasingly popular — options for Medicare recipients. They allowed doctors and hospitals to bill Medicare for telehealth appointments and in-home visits from nurses to provide care that is generally only available in hospitals. The shutdown has prevented Congress from extending them. [...] 'In rural America, it’s often telemedicine or no medicine at all,' said Dr. David Newman, chief medical officer of virtual care at Sanford Health in South Dakota, in a September statement supporting congressional action to make Medicare telehealth permanent. Bipartisan bills that would have allowed telehealth to continue stalled in committee earlier this year in the Senate and House." [South Dakota Searchlight, 10/13/25]
October 2025: Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Failed To Extend Federal Health Insurance Tax Credits, Threatening To Price Farmers Out Of Health Insurance. According to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, "The government shutdown has many concerned about food benefits, pay and services from the federal government. For farmers though, the implications to their government-sponsored health insurance are another worry. Deadlock in Washington over funding the next fiscal year has consequences for every part of America. For those reliant on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, there is fear their coverage may be part of that battle. The ACA is very popular among farm owners, as many are self-employed, and the program offers benefits that are often better than private options. Lance Boyer is the director of financial products with the state Farmers Union. He said there’s no question a shutdown is going to hit farm country hard. 'Prices are high, they’re not selling any soybeans, input costs are up, I think it’s a tough time for some of those folks right now,' Boyer said. 'That’s where the piece on the insurance side will add a big burden to those folks financially.' He estimated that some farmers paying a few hundred dollars will see their premiums jump to over $1,200 per month. 'Seven out of ten of our self-employed farmers and ranchers receive some kind of a tax credit on their health insurance,' Boyer said. 'If they don’t extend these tax credits that are going to sunset at the end of 2025, that seven out of ten are going to be impacted substantially on their monthly premium.'" [South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 10/1/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Laid Off Employees At South Dakota VA Centers. According to South Dakota News Watch, "The DOGE cuts of probationary employees has included elimination of some staff positions at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in South Dakota, according to Eve Derfelt, a deputy director in the VA public affairs office. The VA has three South Dakota hospitals — in Sturgis, Hot Springs and Sioux Falls — and operates nine regional clinics, two veterans help centers and three national cemeteries, according to the VA website. 'The VA facilities in South Dakota dismissed a small number of probationary staff,' Derfelt said in an email to News Watch. 'This decision will have no negative effect on veteran health care, benefits or other services and will allow VA to focus more effectively on its core mission of serving veterans, families, caregivers and survivors.'" [South Dakota News Watch, 3/3/25]