Lieutenant Governor Larry Rhoden will soon wear two hats… as Governor Kristi Noem says he will replace Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman.
Noem announced Vanneman’s resignation on Tuesday during her daily COVID-19 press conference. She says Vanneman is retiring.
Noem says she and Vanneman have worked on ag policy together for nearly twenty years.
“She’s a very special friend of mine. I don’t know of a bigger advocate for agriculture,” Noem says. “She has served—not just at the local level—but at the state level and the national level making sure that farmers and ranchers were supported and small businesses were supported and that we had the ability to pass our operations on to the next generation.”
Noem says Vanneman will continue to advise her office.
Noem has tasked Rhoden to help pork and beef producers with gaining more market access as packing plants across the country have closed due to COVID-19.