Press Release

South Dakota Soybean growers are uniting with Feeding South Dakota to accomplish a common goal: bringing food to families facing hunger. This fall, in addition to harvesting soybeans, South Dakota farmers are providing food across the state through a $40,000 donation from the soybean checkoff that will be used by Feeding South Dakota to purchase pork.

“The protein provided through pork products is essential to a nutritional diet,” shared Lori Dykstra, CEO of Feeding South Dakota. “We’re thankful that soybean farmers are bringing food to the table of families facing hunger in South Dakota with this donation.”

The organization used the funds to purchase 20,000 pounds of pork loin that has been made available to Feeding South Dakota’s 250 agency partners across the state such as food pantries, meal sites and shelters. The donation was received at a crucial time as Feeding South Dakota is experiencing a continued increase in program usage and an impact to acquiring food products.

Soybean farmers are an important piece of the food supply chain as pigs are the number one consumer of soybeans in South Dakota, utilizing over 7.5 million bushels every year. This fall, South Dakota farmers are forecast to harvest over 230 million bushels of soybeans, nearly 80% of that will be fed to livestock.

”Soybeans are used in thousands of ways around the world, and one of the largest consumers are pigs.” Says Mike McCranie, Treasurer of the SD Soybean Research and Promotion Council. “We’re happy to give back to our local communities, especially through a high-quality protein source that we help produce.”

Farmers invest in the Soybean Checkoff every time they sell soybeans. The South Dakota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, a farmer-led board, invests checkoff dollars in researching new production techniques, markets, education, and uses for soybeans.

To learn more about how South Dakota soybean checkoff dollars are invested, visit www.sdsoybean.org.

About Feeding South Dakota

Feeding South Dakota, a member of Feeding America, serves all 66 counties in South Dakota and distributed 12.9 million pounds of food in its 2022 Fiscal Year. The Feeding South Dakota network of volunteers, local and corporate grocers, area farmers, corporations, foundations, and individual donors support Feeding South Dakota’s 250 agencies, 82 school partners, and 120 mobile food distributions who work together to fulfill the mission of ending hunger in South Dakota.

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