PIERRE, S.D.(KCCR)- With Veto Day approaching Governor Kristi Noem has been wearing out pens, signing legislation approved by the South Dakota Legislature.  One bill signed is Senate Bill 84.  The measure provides six-million dollars for much needed improvements to the Cottonwood Field Station.  Dr. Kristi Cammack runs Cottonwood as Director of the West River Ag Center.

Cammack says passage of S-B 84 will help Cottonwood advance their ag research mission.

The bill has an emergency clause which allows the funding to become available immediately.  Cammack says they have already been working on design for the upgrades.

Cammack says if the bill didn’t pass this year they would have gone back to the Legislature to try again.  She says failure would have hampered future research but she doesn’t believe it would have forced closure of the station.