Wednesday,  April 3, 2013 • Vol. 14--No. 258 • 9 of 34 •  Other Editions

Farmers Union President Statement on
Secretary of Agriculture Appointment

• HURON -- South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke released the following statement following the announcement of Secretary of Agriculture Walt Bones' retirement and the appointment of Lucas Lentsch to head the Department of Agriculture.
• ­"In his two years as the secretary of agriculture, Walt Bones has been a pleasure to work with and I'm saddened to see him go," Sombke said. "He was a farmer first, and came at the job with a farmer's mentality. He knows first-hand what it's like to take on the risk of farming and make a living off the land. That was one of his greatest attributes, he looked at policy from the farmer's perspective. I thank him for his service to our state and I wish him well."
• "I'm looking forward to working with Mr. Lentsch in his new position," Sombke said. "Having worked for the department in the past, we expect he'll be able to hit the ground running and work with farmers and ranchers to enhance the agriculture industry in South Dakota."

• "I'm hopeful that Mr. Lentsch will continue to make the ethanol industry in South Dakota a priority of the department and that he can work to put policies into place that benefit the ethanol industry, our economy and the agriculture industry," Sombke said. "Water management issues should also be a top priority. Whether it's drainage or drought management, our farmers and ranchers who have dealt with these issues need the Department of Agriculture to take the lead in cleaning up water management and drainage laws and work on drought management to help solve some major problems."

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