Good evening District 27. I want to share with you a few photos that I took on Saturday as I drove to Pine Ridge. It was a beautiful morning to see a sea of sunflowers in full bloom in West Bennett County between Martin and Batesland as the flowers faced the sun in the east. Sunflower production is an essential part of the Ag economy in District 27. As a matter of fact, the City of Martin proudly displays a sunflower on its elevated water tower to identify itself as a major producer of sunflowers. South Dakota is #2 in the country for sunflower production at 817.2 million pounds of sunflowers, and North Dakota comes in at #1 at 1.1 billion pounds in 2023 (1).
My mom and dad never grew sunflowers on our small family farm. We grew oats, alfalfa, hay, corn, and wheat. Life on the farm meant early mornings milking cows, pitching silage from a silo, cleaning manure out of a hog barn, and long days working the fields. We struggled financially, especially when a hailstorm wiped out an oats or corn crop. Growing up on a farm taught me to be resilient and resourceful. It taught me the value of hard work and the critical nature of each season for our survival. Growing up on the farm also helped me develop a deep faith and trust in God, a love for country, and respect for the land that one is entrusted with. These are the values of a family farmer that I hope are passed down to a new generation of Ag producers. If elected your next state senator, I will do my best to preserve our agricultural heritage in Western South Dakota and to support our Ag producers who work hard to feed the world...including our sunflower producers. God bless.
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