South Dakota governor’s response to diesel prices may not help producers, ag leader says

South Dakota’s Republican governor issued an executive order to blunt the impact of high diesel prices for farmers during harvest season, but an agricultural leader in the state said the order “doesn’t do anything” to help.

Gov. Larry Rhoden’s order allows producers to haul crops, livestock and other agricultural products at 10% above weight restrictions and suspends a $25 overweight trip permit.

Agricultural producers are typically only allowed to haul crop loads that are 10% overweight when they’re going from harvesting in the fields to the grain bins. The order expands the 10% allowance beyond crops and covers more trips, according to Josie Harms, a Rhoden spokesperson.

“Farmers haul from their bins to elevators, feedlots, ethanol plants, or other facilities and haul other products back (like dried distillers’ grain from ethanol plants),” Harms said in a message to South Dakota Searchlight. “This also applies to more than just crops, as all agricultural commodities are covered, including livestock, milk, and other commodities not from a field.”