06.10.24

Hoeven Announces Senate Ag Appropriations Committee Field Hearing to be Held at Grand Farm

Senator: Field Hearing Will Highlight NDSU-Grand Farm Leadership Role in Precision Ag

WHEATLAND, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today announced that this summer he will hold a field hearing of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus.

“We are going to put Grand Farm’s Innovation Shop to work right away with a Congressional field hearing this summer. It’s a fitting location, as this facility helps solidify North Dakota as the lead dog in the precision ag race and represents the heart of what we’re working to accomplish – bringing new innovations to market that empower our farmers and ranchers to feed our nation and the world,” said Hoeven. “Our hearing will be an opportunity to drive home the importance of the ag research partnerships we’ve worked to establish between our research institutions, private industry, organizations like Emerging Prairie and federal agencies. The work being spearheaded at facilities like this innovation shop will give our producers a better competitive edge, while supporting the food security of Americans.”

Hoeven is organizing the hearing through his role as Ranking Member of the committee in order to highlight and further advance the expansive agriculture research partnerships he has supported across the state. This includes:

  • More than $50 million of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 funding for agriculture research conducted across North Dakota.
  • The collaborative agreement Hoeven worked to fund and establish between Grand Farm, North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
    • To date, Hoeven has secured $4 million for the Grand Farm-NDSU-ARS partnership.
  • The NDSU-led FARMS partnership, which is receiving up to $160 million over ten years under the National Science Foundation (NSF).
    • Partners include NDSU, Grand Farm, the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo (FMWF) Chamber of Commerce, the Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation and the North Dakota Tribal College System.
  • The new agriculture policy research center that Hoeven is working to stand up at NDSU, utilizing $2 million in funding he secured in FY2024.

Hoeven made the announcement as part of the grand opening for Grand Farm’s Innovation Shop, the first facility to be completed on the research and development campus in rural Cass County. The shop will support collaboration among producers, industry professionals and researchers and aligns with Hoeven’s efforts to advance the development of the next generation of precision agriculture technologies.

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