Northeast South Dakota News

U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) have introduced the Balanced Agricultural Support and Efficiency (BASE) Act, a bill that would require the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update base acres for all farms as soon as possible. The last mandatory update to base acres was in 1985, with the most recent voluntary update occurring in 2014.

Johnson stated, "It’s been four decades since the last mandatory update and production agriculture has changed drastically since then. Changing global markets, high inflation, and black swan events over the past five years have changed farmers’ inputs and outputs. Updating base acres will help support our farmers."

Budzinski added, "The current base acre allocations do not accurately reflect what’s really being planted across the United States. For the folks I represent in Illinois, it’s simply not fair. This legislation will finally bring fairness back to base acreage for the first time in 40 years, see that farmers are accurately supported for what they grow today, and ensure that we serve as better stewards of taxpayer dollars."

Taylor Sumption, President of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, commented on the proposal: "We need a modernized safety net that benefits active farmers. Farmers in South Dakota face high input costs, low prices and widening basis. The South Dakota Corn Growers Association greatly appreciates Representative Johnson working to level the playing field on behalf of our corn producers."

The BASE Act proposes several changes:

- The USDA would be required to update base acres for all farms promptly after enactment.

- Updates would be based on a five-year average from 2020-2024 of acres planted or prevented from planting due to disasters.

- No crop year from 2020-2024 could be excluded, even if nothing was planted during a year.

- If land was used for more than one covered commodity (excluding double-cropping), producers could elect which crop to count but not both.

- The act would account for disasters such as drought or flood by including prevented planting acres caused by uncontrollable events.

- The bill would remove outdated “generic base acres” provisions and make conforming changes related to yield, payment, and coverage calculations.

Johnson has represented South Dakota’s at-large district in Congress since 2019 after succeeding Kristi Noem. Born in Pierre in 1976 and now residing in Mitchell, Johnson is an alumnus of the University of South Dakota.