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NC ND | Help Fight South Dakota Senate Bill 179
Proposed Bill Will Harm Farmers and the South Dakota Economy
From Brian Hefty, Baltic, S.D. (February 1, 2012)
Improving farm drainage throughout our region has been a big point of emphasis for my brother Darren and me over the last few years since we started tiling on our farm. Unfortunately, many legislators in the state of South Dakota are concerned that the tiling projects being completed in our state are doing harm to our environment, our rivers, and our neighbors. Obviously, this isn't true.
I am writing you today to ask you to consider attending a committee meeting in Pierre on Wednesday, Feb. 6 as Senate Bill 179 is debated. Many farmers are planning to attend, but the more we can get there, the quicker this bill gets stopped. PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR LEGISLATOR OR SD CORN (605-334-0100) BEFORE YOU GO, JUST TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T CHANGE THE DATE OR TIME FOR THIS COMMITTEE HEARING.
This bill, if enacted, would do great harm to farmers in our state and potential tiling projects in the future. It would require all tiling projects to be designed by an engineer and have an impact study done before any tile project is approved. I can understand getting an engineer involved if you're talking about hundreds of thousands of acres all going through one big pipe or one big ditch, but on most farms in our state the drainage only impacts a few fields at one time.
A copy of the draft of Senate Bill 179 is available for you to review at this link:
http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2013/Bills/SB179P.pdf
You will see that it is not favorable to farmers, and contains many points that could grind progress to a halt in South Dakota.
As farmers, we need to work more closely with non-farmers so they can better understand tiling and what it does. For example, tiling reduces erosion; tiling reduces flooding; tiling improves downstream water quality; and proper tiling helps improve roads, as well. Darren and I often reference the Zucker and Brown work done in 1998 at Ohio State which describes tiling as having little impact on the total annual flow in a watershed. I often say to non-farmers, "How do you think a farmer can pay for the tile?" The only way is through yield increases, and higher yields mean more water is used. That means LESS water will flow downstream rather than more in the future.
If you are unable to make it to Pierre next week, I encourage you to contact your legislators. Here is some information on how to do that.
Leave a message for your Senator at 605-773-3821 and for your Representative at 605-773-3851. You may leave messages with a page for up to 2 legislators. Give the bill number, the vote you want, your name and County or a message for them to call you.
To e-mail your legislator, use the link below. It helps to personalize the e-mail, and don't forget to sign it.
http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx
Use this link to find which district you are in:
http://arcgis.sd.gov/server/dlrc/lrc2012/
Use this link to find out who your legislators are:
http://legis.state.sd.us/who/index.aspx
My final point is simply this - in Iowa and Minnesota they probably get twice as much annual rainfall as we do in South Dakota, yet they don't have any laws like this. Why do we need one? When tiling is done correctly, it is great for the environment and our neighbors, which is why Darren and I invest as much time as we do training people on how to install tile correctly.
Everyone in government is looking at how we can grow the economy yet do it in an environmentally responsible fashion. Proper tiling fits into both categories. Senate Bill 179 will slow progress, hurt our economy, damage land values, and negatively impact South Dakota families and communities. Please help us in fighting it.
Sincerely,
Brian Hefty
605-529-5412
[email protected]
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attn. SD farmers, ranchers, landowners
