October 18, 2016• Page 6 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com A South Dakotan’s Field of Dreams By Sen. John Thune When South Dakotans picture opening day of pheasant season, they see unharvested corn and milo fields, sloughs, shelterbelts, and food plots lined with hunters – often friends and family, conspicuous in their bright orange clothing. Although shooting a limit of pheasants isn’t the mark of a successful hunt, the allure of the “Pheasant Capital of the World” is why hunters from across the United States gather in South Dakota every third Saturday in October to participate in this world-class event and renew or create family memories and traditions. As you walk through the amply covered fields during your fall hunt, it’s important to think about what the surrounding landscape looks like in winter after the crops are harvested, snow covers the ground, and temperatures dive below zero. It’s also important to think about the spring nesting season when quality habitat is crucial for pheasants to hide their nests and offer protection to their young chicks. Most people probably assume that’s what the widely known and wellrespected Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is for, and they would be right. Since its authorization in the 1985 farm bill, CRP has evolved into the cornerstone of federal conservation programs and has helped create a field of dreams for South Dakota pheasant hunters. CRP acreage in South Dakota peaked in 2007 at more than 1.5 million acres, and as a result of the nesting habitat and winter cover most CRP acres provide, pheasant numbers increased dramatically. Since then, CRP acreage has dropped, and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports show that over the next six years, nearly 580,000 additional acres will expire from CRP in South Dakota – that’s a 60 percent loss of our current CRPenrolled acres. The opportunity for South Dakota landowners to enroll more land in the most recent general CRP sign-up was significantly hamstrung when the USDA announced it had accepted just 107 of the more than 40,000 acres that South Dakota landowners had offered. In response, I wrote to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and later had an opportunity to question him during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing about the department’s disappointing decision and inappropriate CRP management practices. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I will continue to work with USDA officials and focus my efforts on making changes to CRP policy next year when we begin debate on the next farm bill to ensure adequate and equitable CRP enrollment and commonsense management of CRP in the future. Keeping adequate acres enrolled in South Dakota will benefit everyone because it will help maintain our state’s nearly quartermillion-dollar pheasant hunting industry, which directly benefits our small towns and rural areas. Farmers will continue to protect and preserve soil health, and our state’s pheasant hunting legacy will continue for generations to come. South Dakota's Science and Technology Plan Positions the State Towards Economic Growth From biopharmaceutical companies that are leading the fight against disease to industry-leading electronics companies that light venues throughout world, South Dakota is home to hundreds of science and technology businesses thanks to a unique partnership of state government, higher education and the private sector. The result of this partnership was the South Dakota Science and Technology (S&T) plan, first created in 2010 at the request of Governor Mike Rounds. In 2013 Governor Dennis Daugaard tasked the SD EPSCoR Advisory Committee to update the plan to help guide and focus infrastructure development investments, as well as workforce development. The plan can be accessed at www.sdstplan.org. The goal of the S&T plan is to build science and technology capacity in South Dakota that will promote innovation, foster knowledge-based companies, create better-paying jobs and generate more opportunity for all South Dakota citizens. Science and technology is having a positive effect on the state's economy. For example, the state's levels of academic science and engineering research and development (R&D) per $1,000 of Gross Domestic Product more than quadrupled, outperforming national standards. This growth is a direct reflection of statewide investments towards research infrastructure, which has brought in new companies and increased job opportunities for South Dakotans. The S&T plan employs a simple model that proposes investments in three key elements of an entrepreneurial "ecosystem": ideas, talent and companies. It presents a coordinated framework of programs and policies to launch economic growth in five targeted industry sectors: • Value-Added Agriculture and Agribusiness • Energy and Environment • Materials and Advanced Manufacturing • Information in INTERESTED SecuInterested Technology/Cyber IN THIS SPOT? rity/Information Assurance this spot? Call 665-5884 to place your ad here. • Human Health and Nutrition “The five targeted industry sectors of Call 665-5884 to South Dakota’shere. 2020www.missourivalleyshopper.com strategy either place your ad Vision grow the economies of large and small communities across the state by creating Interested www.missourivalleyshopper.com higher-paying jobs and high-value exports in by directly impacting the quality of life for this South Dakota citizens,” said Gary Archamspot? boult. 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