This week, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) state offices in South Dakota. While there, I spoke with local residents about overarching Department-level priorities, as well as the many opportunities, programs, and services these folks have at their disposal, thanks to USDA.
This listening session was a wonderful opportunity to hear about both the successes and concerns of local South Dakota residents. We spoke about everything from flooding to program streamlining to fears of staff reduction.
Attendees at the session included: South Dakota State Representatives, South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal leaders, producers and local business representatives.
Through our discussions, I heard about the hardwork going on in South Dakota. It is that sense of dedication and passion that keeps our rural communities strong and vibrant, thereby giving our nation the ability to continue to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.
All in all, we were able to educate participants about USDA programs and other resources across the federal government that can help rebuild and revitalize rural American communities. In addition, the session provided awareness to the public of USDA’s efforts to coordinate with its state and local field offices, drawing a common thread among the offices in their commitment to successful delivery of our programs and services.