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• Other issues facing Native Americans include housing shortages, she said.
• "People need a place to live. There's no shortlist to challenges in Indian Country," she added.
• Lower Brule Sioux President Michael Jandreau said his tribe has had good and bad experiences working with agricultural officials. He mentioned issues with taxes and a need for more extension programs and funding.
• Still, he said, the tribe's agricultural producers are better off today than they were in the past.
• "But we still have a long way to go," he added.
• Merrigan and other USDA officials also toured Lakota Foods, the popcorn company owned by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe that has been in operation for the past seven years.
• "I'm very interested in value-added product," Merrigan said after touring the facility and trying several varieties of popcorn. "We're encouraging producers to come up with value-added products as seen here with this delicious popcorn, so more of that retail food dollar goes back to the community where the crop was produced."
• Lee Brannan, tribal general manager for Lakota Foods, said the company produces 15 million pounds of popcorn each year, but has few opportunities for marketing and transportation and has yet to make a profit.
• "We've never had the capital for advertising," he said. "It's all word of mouth."
• The company recently partnered with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to analyze the customer base and create marketing strategies, he said.
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