The South Dakota State Fair is something to celebrate. Once a year for a few days, it seems like the whole state is in Huron, and everyone has a smile on their face.
At one event this year, we kicked off the celebration of Americas 250th birthday with a mock signing of the Declaration of Independence I signed, and so did about 100 kids. Quoting the Declaration, I said that everywhere you look at the fair, you see South Dakotans pursuing happiness!
In many ways, the State Fair is a celebration or a series of celebrations. We celebrate agriculture, our most important industry.
We celebrate our veterans. And we celebrate so many things that make South Dakota the greatest and freest state in America.
The State Fair is primarily focused on agriculture, and thats as it should be. Ag is king in South Dakota, and its worthy of celebrating. We honored family farms that have been in the same family for 100 years or more alongside the South Dakota Farm Bureau and Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 100 years thats pretty remarkable! Our state depends on ag, and ag depends on our family farms, so anytime a farm stays in the same family for that long, its a testament to South Dakotas strength and stability.
We also honored our veterans, both with a Salute to Veterans event during the daytime and at the Bull Bash rodeo in the evening. None of this not the State Fair, not even our state or our nation would be possible without the service and sacrifice of the men and women in uniform. I particularly enjoyed the F-16 flyover by the South Dakota Air National Guards 114th Fighter Wing out of Sioux Falls what a powerful symbol of American freedom.
We finally cut the ribbon on a project thats been several years in the making, the new SHED, which will be the open class sheep facility at the fairgrounds for many years to come. This high-quality facility will also make our fairgrounds more attractive for national events!
As always at the State Fair, we took time to meet with leaders from all our states ag groups. I heard them out on each of their priorities and shared a few of my own. We talked about the need for property tax relief, especially in certain counties, and how my proposal does so in a way that doesnt harm agriculture in the process. We also discussed the importance of advancing South Dakota ag on the international stage, as Ive been doing with my trade missions.
Finally, we celebrated South Dakotas state sport: rodeo! One of my favorite accomplishments from my time in the legislature was carrying and passing the bill to make rodeo South Dakotas official state sport, and the Tuff Hedeman Bull Bash is as good as any rodeo in the state. Like I said before, we also took time to honor our veterans at this event and thats something else that makes rodeo pretty special: we honor our nation and our heroes.
To everyone who has an opportunity to enjoy the State Fair this year, I hope you enjoyed the celebration. And if you didnt, I hope well see you next year.
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