The South Dakota Farm Bureau has a new executive director. Krystil Smit is starting as the head of the state’s largest agriculture association later this month.
Krysti Smit has a long history of working with agriculture in the state. From growing up on a farm to becoming an advocate for Ag, she says she wants to make the organization an open door for consumers and producers.
“We encounter challenges every day, whether it’s making sure we’re communicating with consumers in a way that is authentic and completely transparent and in a way that really builds trust in our food system. I think that is a continued challenge that we can’t ever get just comfortable with or not be active in arena because we truly want to be able to go forward and connect with consumers on a level so that they know where they food comes from and so they trust the producers as the source of their food,” says Smit.
Smit says the farm bureau has a long history acting as a policy watchdog for the association’s 16,000 members.
“Every commodity such as corn, soybeans, wheat— just anything you can think of — also the livestock side of things, this organization is thinking about all interests in agriculture and that’s really important to note. Farm Bureau is not only active in direct new policy in South Dakota, but also in making sure that policy is implemented in the way that it was intended for, and the organization is very strong on protecting its producers right to farm and in doing so, they really keep an eye on the regulation that could impact producers at the farm level,” says Smit.
Smit says she’s already started working on wet land mitigation and concentrated animal feeding alongside other agriculture groups.
She says one of her goals is engaging more young people in agriculture in policy. She begins her new role Oct. 12th.