Rep. Julie Auch, R-Lesterville, speaks on the floor of the South Dakota House in February 2025 at the Capitol in Pierre. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE — New legislation could outlaw lab-grown meat in South Dakota.
It passed 45-22 in the state House on Wednesday and will now go to the Senate.
Rep. Julie Auch, R-Lesterville, said Tuesday during the bill’s first committee hearing that she proposed the legislation with concern for “the takeover of the livestock industry here in South Dakota.” She said that “takeover” is being orchestrated by people claiming the cattle industry is bad for the environment.
“Being a witness to my industry being taken over by a society that is more concerned with climate change and sustainability is disheartening,” Auch told the House Agriculture Committee. “I am not going to stand by and allow global elites to take over South Dakota’s livestock industry.”
Additional supporters of the proposal alleged the chemicals and processes used to create lab-grown meat can cause health problems. Rep. Tesa Schwans, R-Hartford, described the process as “a petri dish that’s full of hormones and sludge.”
Other lawmakers pushed back, citing freedom of choice.
Rep. Kevin Van Diepen, R-Huron, said he doesn’t like lab-created meat, but that doesn’t mean it should be banned.
“We shouldn’t hold back the free market,” he said. “If people want to buy this stuff, let them buy it.”
Some opponents worry that passing the bill could open the state up to lawsuits, similar to ones filed against state bans in Florida and Texas. Auch said her bill is modeled after a law in Nebraska.
Last year, South Dakota legislators passed a law requiring lab-grown meat to be clearly labeled. They also passed a law prohibiting the use of state money for the research, production, promotion, sale or distribution of lab-grown meat. There’s an exception for public universities, which can still do research on lab-grown meat. But the law prevents, for example, the awarding of state economic development grants to companies that sell the product.
Auch’s bill would effectively ban lab-grown meat by adding it to the state’s list of adulterated foods.
Opponents worry about listing a product as “adulterated” with laws that say those products are “filthy,” “putrid” and “unfit for food.”
Taya Runyan spoke against the bill Tuesday on behalf of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association.
“We do not support the cell-cultivated proteins,” she said. “However, not supporting them and not wanting people to eat them is altogether different than defining it as adulterated.”
Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, said she spoke with a cattle producer about the bill.
“There’s producers out there that are not viewing this as competition or infringement on their production,” she said. “I’m not comfortable with us saying what people can and can’t spend their money on in South Dakota.”
Three other bills have been introduced this legislative session that could ban or temporarily ban lab-grown meat. Two have been withdrawn, and the other one hasn’t had a hearing yet.
