Statement of Principles and Policy

August 2026

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 legislators, government officials, and other organizations to promote and protect the interests of our member cooperatives and their member owners. 

  1. Government Relations
  1. Develop and maintain good working relationships with government officials on the local, state, and national levels 
  2. Support effective co-op statutes and policies
  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. Support responsible development and management of South Dakota’s water resources
  3. Advocate for access to reliable and affordable electric and communications services
  4. Support territorial integrity for rural electric cooperatives

  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 and the state’s secondary career and technical education institutes to support programs and degrees that enhance cooperative businesses
  4. Support FFA and 4-H
  5. Provide scholarships to support youth development

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

  1. Energy
  1. Support all forms of energy needed for agriculture and rural development, including ag-based bio fuels
  2. Support availability of year-around E-15
  3. 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. 

2026-2027 Focus areas:

  • Support passage of H.R. 9535, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 (SAWA), allowing agricultural cooperative associations to be eligible employers, removing seasonal requirements for H-2A eligibility, and restructuring of adverse effect wage rate
  • Support the passage of H.R. 6093, the Agricultural Cooperative Energy Savings (ACES) Act which expands eligibility for ag co-ops with fewer than 2,500 employees to participate in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
  • Protecting American food products from unfair trade practices by foreign countries
  • Support new market opportunities