February 27, 2018 • Page 4 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Protecting Free And Fair Elections So You Need Some Extra Labor Force On The Farm? By Tracey Erickson SDSU Extension Dairy Field Specialist As the American farm continues to grow and evolve, the need for extra labor increases. Unfortunately, many of us as agriculture producers did not sign on to become human resource managers. In addition, agricultural producers, as a group, tend to be very independent, do it ourselves types and the tranBy Sen. Mike Rounds sition into people managers instead of maybe "livestock Free and fair elections are a vital part of our democra- or crop managers" is not the easiest. cy. Being able to cast a ballot, beginning at the age of 18, Thus, if we are going to be successful in the future and gives us a voice in the decisions being made at all levels our success is dependent upon hired labor, as managers, of government. With the U.S. midterm elections coming we need to develop the necessary skillset. up in November, it’s important to uphold our democratic Below I outline some tips to intentionally recruit election process by preventing interference from outside and hire quality employees. Some of the information is actors. adapted from information found in a handbook, "RecruitIn the 2016 election, there was clear evidence that ing and Hiring Outstanding Staff," written by Bernard L. Russia attempted to undermine our elections by hacking Erven of Ohio State University Department of Ag, Envipolitical entities and manipulating social media platforms ronmental & Development Economics. to spread misinformation, or ‘fake news.’ While there is Recruitment & Hiring no evidence that the Russians were effective in manipuOnce an operation has determined they need to hire lating the outcome of the 2016 election, their attempts someone either part-time or full time, they will need to served as a wake-up call to our cyber vulnerabilities. put together a plan for recruiting and hiring outstanding As the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Comstaff. mittee’s Cybersecurity Subcommittee, one of my top No simple or even complex recipe guarantees hiring priorities is to increase and improve the defensive and success. Agriculture cannot meet its goals by hiring at offensive cyber capabilities of the Department of Defense the bottom of the barrel. We need to attract good people (DoD) to make sure it is fully able to defend against who are willing to work for others. cyberattacks whether on military or non-military entities. Hiring good people has nothing to do with luck. The The DoD has a critical role to play in challenging and employer who seems lucky in always finding high quality influencing the mindset of our cyber adversaries and people, rarely is in fact, lucky. Instead, these agriculture defending the homeland from attacks—attacks that could producers most often depend on carefully made plans include cyber-attacks by other nations against our elecand a reputation as an excellent employer. Both of which tion infrastructure. We want to be sure DoD has all the take time and patience. tools it needs to do this, particularly as we enter another Hiring Checklist election year. We recently held a subcommittee hearThe following eight steps are a sample checklist proing focusing exclusively on the DoD’s role in protecting ducers can utilize to help them succeed in hiring quality democratic elections. employee(s). Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats recently 1.Determine the labor and management needs of the warned that he has already seen signs that Russia is farm business that the new employee is expected to adtargeting our November 2018 election process. During a dress. Congressional hearing, Coats said that “there should be 2.Develop a current job description based on needs. no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts as suc3.Build a pool of applicants. cessful and views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a Some ways that you can make this happen is by keeppotential target for Russian influence operations.” There ing a list of applications that ranked high as you were is also evidence of Russian meddling in the 2018 Mexifilling previous positions. can presidential campaign. And all of this comes after confirmed attempts by Russia to influence the elections in France and Germany last year. We must have a plan to seize the strategic high ground in cyberspace. We need a strategy that moves out of the trenches and imposes meaningful, devastating costs on our adversaries. The lack of consequences for the countless cyber-attacks by those who wish to do us harm has The South Dakota Health Care Association (SDHCA) not only emboldened our adversaries, it has left us even strongly urges legislators to commit additional resources more heavily targeted by their emboldened behavior. As to adequately fund Long Term Care in South Dakota this long as our adversaries feel that they can act with impulegislative session. In a recent poll of South Dakotans, nity they will press further. 82% agreed that lawmakers must ensure Long Term At our recent subcommittee hearing, the panel of witnesses confirmed that we must tailor our strategies to Care has the necessary resources to care for the state’s elderly and disabled. the uniqueness of the cyber domain if we are to prevent “Nursing Centers in our state cannot continue to our adversaries from exploiting us. The attack attempts provide the quality of care we expect for our loved ones we experienced during the 2016 election are just the latwithout improved funding,” said Mark B. Deak, SDHCA est rung on an escalation ladder of cyber-attacks. Executive Director. “Centers have been inadequately As the 2018 election gets closer, my colleagues and funded for many years, and it is critical that we change I will continue doing our part to help make sure we course before lack of resources causes lasting damage.” protect a free and fair election process. As Chairman of Medicaid reimbursement for Nursing Centers is curthe Cybersecurity Subcommittee, I will also continue to rently set at such a low level that Centers lose an average work with the administration, to include its military and intelligence community leaders, to craft and implement a of $32.24 each day for each resident paying through Medicaid. A significant majority (57%) of the total resident strong, clear strategy to deter bad actors from attacking population in Nursing Centers relies on Medicaid to pay us in cyberspace. Looking to on-line data bases in which potential candidates post their resume's may provide potential candidates depending upon the job you are looking to fill within your operation. If the position also requires some technical or postsecondary knowledge you may look to various trade magazines to see who is leading the industry in your area and "creating a stir." Consider working with universities or technical schools and offer internships at your operation. These often are a great way of seeing if someone might be a good fit for your operation long term. Attending various industry conferences or association meetings is a way to network with others and promote your business as a superior place to work. Don't forget to use social media platforms to your best advantage as they may help you attract a candidate who may not have previously been aware of your job posting. These include such places as LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook. As you build your pool, it is always a good idea to get permission if you plan to retain resumes and personal contact data keeping in mind the data collection and information privacy laws laws within the United States. 4.Review applications and select those to be interviewed. 5.Interview 6.Check references / background checks 7.Make a selection 8.Hire Values Another factor that needs to be considered is personal values. Ask yourself what is important to you as a person? Are you courageous, respectful, a collaborator, driven by performance, have a positive attitude? Are you driven by success, honorable, trustworthy, these are among many, many values that you may have as a person? Would you, want to work for you? If not, what changes should you make to be someone who others can work for? Take a true look at your values and try to hire people with similar values as you. You will be more apt to connect with that person or group as they work in your operation towards your overall purpose, vision and mission of your operation. How To Prepare For Emerald Ash Borer SASD And ASBSD Encourage Funding Increase To Support Task Force’s Ideas SDHCA Calls On Legislature To Fund Long Term Care By Greg Josten, State Forester Emerald ash borer is coming. It has been found in 31 states, including Minnesota, Nebraska and within 80 miles of our border in Iowa. While we haven’t found it in South Dakota yet, it is just a matter of time. The borer, commonly referred to as EAB, is a relatively small insect. It repeatedly attacks the ash tree, growing in numbers each year and consuming only the layer of tissue beneath the bark that is vital to the tree’s survival. It’s stealthy too, attacking the top of the tree first, so it’s hard to find. The tree dies about seven years after the first attack. Our ash trees, unlike the ash trees in Asia, where the insect came from, are completely defenseless against this insect. Ash is one of the most abundant trees in South Dakota. It was planted extensively in our communities and in windbreaks after Dutch Elm disease started killing our American elms in the 1960’s. It is also native to our state and can be found along our streams, rivers and in our woodlands. Jamesville Township Annual Meeting Tuesday, March 6th, 2018 7:30 p.m. The borer moves from tree to tree by flying. It moves from city to city, and county to county, usually by movement of infested firewood. But it’s also a good hitch hiker, clinging to vehicles as they travel our highways. One of the things South Dakotans can do before EAB arrives is limit the movement of firewood. If you need to buy firewood, purchase it locally and make sure it was cut locally. If it isn’t local wood, make sure it is certified to be free of insects. If you’re going camping and want to have a campfire, get the wood at the campground and don’t take any wood home with you. EAB only attacks and kills ash trees, but it will do so indiscriminately. Healthy and unhealthy trees will be lost. We can prepare for the future by removing ash trees that are in poor condition now and replace them with young trees of different types. While it won’t protect us from EAB this time around, increasing the diversity of tree types in our communities and countryside will ensure more resilience to losses from invasive insects and diseases in the future. 4x4 Kevin Kirschenmann Residence Black Metallic w/Black Leather, 3 row seating, 3.5L V6, 31K miles, VERY SHARP $20,950 Salvage Title 605-665-3720 • Yankton, SD Now Open Aftermarket Parts Pros Sales and Installation Of Performance Parts and Accessories for Light Trucks, SUVs, Jeeps, Cars, Motorcycles, UTVs, ATVs, Golf Carts, Boats, Anything! 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Recently revised state budget projections show legislators have additional funding to allocate for the coming fiscal year above what was originally believed. “As the legislature determines how to disburse these funds, caring for our elderly and disabled loved ones should be a top priority,” continued Deak. “We respectfully ask lawmakers in the strongest possible terms to support Nursing Centers, caregivers, and the elderly and disabled South Dakotans who are served there.” The School Administrators of South Dakota and the Associated School Board of South Dakota continue to support the philosophy behind the work of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force. The goals set forth in the legislation that emerged from the task force are certainly attainable if there is continued revenue dedicated to the goal of raising teacher salaries. Recently, members of the South Dakota Legislature’s Joint Appropriations committee adopted revenue projections for the Fiscal Year 2019 budget totaling $1.641 Billion. This number exceeded the revenue figures proposed by Governor Dennis Daugaard at his budget address in December. “Given the improved financial outlook, we encourage our legislators to lift the Governor’s recommendation of a zero percent increase and follow the law as it pertains to school funding,” SASD President Joan Frevick said. Governor Daugaard’s proposal did not include a funding increase – beyond an uptick for increased enrollment – for public education, but the adopted projections contain nearly $19 million in additional funding, which could be used to meet the statutorily required increase in state aid to schools. State law requires schools to receive an annual increase in funding of three percent or inflation, whichever is less. The inflationary factor for the current year is 1.7 percent, which equates to approximately $11 to $12 million in new money to public schools. “With updated, and increased, revenue figures holding a place in the budget, there’s a starting point for dialogue on schools receiving their statutory increase,” ASBSD Executive Director Wade Pogany said. “Public education benefitted from 2016’s new dollars and from the increase provided to schools last year. “Any new money for schools this session would be beneficial.” We Do All Glass Auto Home Commercial Local, trusted service you can count on! Ron’s Auto Glass 1915 Broadway Yankton, SD 605-665-9841