Changing Times in South Dakota Agriculture: Implications for our Citizens

We are living in times of rapid change in agriculture and in rural America. Hog and beef confinement systems, automated feeding systems, pesticides, four-wheel drive tractors and personal computers are innovations that did not exist or were seldom seen on farms 25 years ago. Interstate highways, factories in small cities, subterminal elevators and consolidated schools are examples of the changing landscape in rural America. In times of rapid change, many people are concerned about the future of agriculture, family farms and rural communities. In this paper, recent trends in South Dakota agriculture are presented and analyzed. Major implications of these trends are then discussed