By C.J. Keene
Democrat Nikki Gronli squared off against Republican Marty Jackley in the SDPB/South Dakota News Watch Debate Thursday night.
Affordability, economic development, the debt and more were tackled, but in South Dakota the ag economy reigns supreme.
Agriculture runs through the veins of both candidates. Jackley owns ranchland in Meade County and he’s a third-generation operator. Gronli was once a USDA rural development overseer for the state from 2022-2025, managing millions in rural housing, broadband, and infrastructure.
As tariff battles eat into farmers bottom lines and beef prices turn consumers off steak dinners, Gronli said DC policy is handcuffing South Dakota farmers and ranchers.
“The term I keep hearing from farmers at this point in time is ‘chaos.’ They can’t plan right now," Gronli said. "They had high input costs in the spring, and now they’re dealing with high, high diesel costs this fall. They’re wondering if they’re going to be able to break even when they take their crops out.”
An NPR report found fertilizer prices up 15 percent over last year, and the cost of diesel has jumped by nearly 80 percent. That same NPR report found nearly 200,000 family farms have gone out of business in the last six years. Over the last 12 months ending this June, farm bankruptcies are up 19 percent.
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