Statement of Principles and Policy

August 2025

                                                                                   

  The South Dakota Association of Cooperatives proactively represents cooperatives and their members on legislative, regulatory, and educational issues by adding value through a unified voice.

State priority areas:

SDAC will work with state legislators, government officials, and other organizations to promote and protect the interests of cooperatives and their member owners. 

  1. Government Relations
  1. Support effective co-op statutes and policies
  2. Develop and maintain good working relationships with government officials on the local, state, and national levels 
  3. Develop coalitions to find solutions to issues facing our cooperative members

  1. Taxation and Funding
  1. Promote sales tax fairness, including maintaining appropriate exemptions for agricultural inputs
  2. Support fair property taxation for all classes of property
  3. Support reasonable education funding
  4. Support funding for infrastructure development

  1. Infrastructure
  1. Support efforts to maintain the safety and capacity of an efficient transportation system
  2. Advocate for access to reliable and affordable electric and communications services
  3. Support territorial integrity for rural electric cooperatives
  4. Support responsible development and management of South Dakota’s water resources

  1. Education
  1. Provide training and education opportunities for cooperative board members and staff
  2. Educate the public about the value of cooperatives through activities such as Co-op Month and the Cooperative Hall of Fame
  3. Work with the regental system to support programs and degrees that enhance cooperative businesses
  4. Support the state’s secondary career and technical education institutes and vocational programs
  5. Support FFA and 4-H
  6. Provide scholarships to support youth development

  1. Regulation and development
  1. Promote reasonable regulations governing use of agricultural inputs
  2. Promote reasonable zoning regulations
  3. Support responsible environmental and right-to-farm regulations
  4. Provide flexibility for farmers and ranchers to utilize a variety of business structures
  5. Support precision agriculture technology and programs, including use of artificial intelligence
  6. Support value-added agriculture and the work of the Value-Added Development Center
  7. Support efforts to find and develop new uses through biotransformation for South Dakota agricultural products

  1. Energy
  1. Support all forms of energy needed for agriculture and rural development, including alternative ag-based bio fuels
  2. Urge use of sound science in making decisions about environmental, safety, or economic issues surrounding development and use of all energy sources

  1. Workforce
  1. Advocate for policies and programs to ensure a skilled workforce
  2. Promote efforts to streamline licensing and regulatory requirements related to workforce development

Federal priority areas:

SDAC will work with our state’s Congressional delegation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and other organizations to ensure the value of cooperatives is recognized by Congress and the Administration.  We support the Capper-Volstead Act, and ask that administration of the Act remain vested in the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 

Focus areas:

  • Improved income from the marketplace
  • Strengthened bargaining power
  • Access to competitive credit sources
  • New marketplace opportunities
  • Rick management
  • Access to technical assistance and other services
  • Passage of the SECURE Act to address the overcharging of premiums by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for rural cooperative “multiple-employer” pension plans
  • Access to a skilled workforce, and improvements to the deeply flawed H-2A visa program, including definition expansion of all owner-related services
  • Protecting American food products from unfair trade practices by foreign countries
  • Clarifying cooperative eligibility in the Rural Energy for America Program based on number of employees