South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program Overview
South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership, Inc., (SDARL), is a private, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to identifying and developing leadership for agriculture and rural communities in order to enhance the quality of life for all South Dakotans.
Agriculture in South Dakota is affected by changing consumer preferences, environmental regulations, national agricultural and monetary policies and international markets. If South Dakotans are to maintain a voice in policy decisions, both public and private are being made, they must be prepared with broad-based knowledge and leadership skills to participate in the local, state, national and international discussions. Though the arena in which agriculture operates is vast and complex, the population base from which it draws its leadership is diminishing.
To ensure that the South Dakota rural and agricultural community can keep pace with the rate of change, it is imperative we supply informed, decisive, communicative spokespersons to represent our industry and communities, keeping the public factually informed, as policies are formed and decisions are made. To address these needs, SDARL provides an intensive study and training experience for future agricultural leaders of South Dakota.
Each SDARL class is composed of approximately 30 individuals who are actively involved in production agriculture or agribusiness. Class IV members were selected from 48 applicants. Class V will be selected from applications that are submitted prior to March 31, 2008.
Class members are required to attend all seminars, complete pre-seminar assignments, participate in informal question and answer periods, evaluate seminars and report highlights to the media, civic groups, and/or community organizations.
The SDARL program consists of 11 seminars over an 18-month period. Nine of the seminars are 3-4 day in-state seminars held at various locations throughout South Dakota from Nov. 2008 to April 2010. The National Seminar is a 6-day study/travel seminar to Washington, DC in February of the first year. The International travel seminar is a 10-12 day study seminar held in February of the second year. Class I visited New Zealand/Australia. Class II visited the Netherlands, Belgium and UK. Class III went to Brazil and Argentina. Class IV is travelling to China and Hong Kong in February 2008.
The South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program strives to enhance rural and agricultural representation; improve professionalism; increase community involvement; sharpen promotional skills; boost urban support and understanding; reduce isolationism; and enrich the quality of life in the state of South Dakota.
The cost of the SDARL program now exceeds $400,000/class for the two-year program. Tuition for class V is set at $3,750 per individual payable in three installments. This represents only a small portion of the actual cost that is incurred by SDARL for each member. Foundation, organization, corporate and individual contributions are utilized to provide the balance of funding for the students.