U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to take further action to strengthen the integrity of the cattle market by requesting that USDA’s Packers and Stockyards Division investigate the cattle market volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thune also requested that USDA... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) today led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that he provide immediate assistance to cattle producers by using the resources provided in... Continue Reading
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) applauded passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which includes provisions the delegation helped secure to support South Dakota farmers and ranchers. Specifically, the CARES Act includes $14 billion to replenish... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today led a bipartisan group of senators in expressing their concern with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) decision to lift its U.S. ban on Brazilian raw beef imports. The senators... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency’s (FSA’s) announcement that the Thune-authored Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) pilot will soon be available to producers in South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota,... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to encourage him to prioritize several Thune-authored provisions of the 2018 farm bill that relate to improving the accuracy of the Drought Monitor. These... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement after the Senate unanimously approved his legislation (S. 2200) to reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), which provides vital drought information to farmers, ranchers, and other industries... Continue Reading
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today released a video highlighting South Dakota’s 100th annual pheasant hunting season and discussed the tradition’s importance to South Dakota’s economy and the critical need for effective conservation practices. “This is the 100th anniversary... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today issued the following statement after Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) released a draft of the Senate’s bipartisan farm bill. Today’s farm bill rollout comes nearly 15 months to the... Continue Reading
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today welcomed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue’s announcement that USDA, at the request of the delegation, will implement a new Section 502 relending pilot program on tribal lands in South... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today unveiled his ninth legislative proposal intended to be included in the 2018 farm bill. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Improvement and Rural Water System Access Act of 2018 (S. 2614) would increase... Continue Reading
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, today met with Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the committee, to discuss the eight farm bill proposals he introduced over the past year. Thune’s proposals, which are intended to be wrapped into the... Continue Reading
