New laws aim to boost animal agriculture
Grants, planning help among state efforts
Trending
Hoping to stem the decline in North Dakota's livestock industry, state lawmakers adopted legislation last year to create a more attractive environment for animal agriculture.
Implementation is just starting, with much of the work still ahead.
Rep. Paul Thomas, R-Velva, said a group of legislators worked with commodity and livestock groups to identify the law changes that could best bring improvements. A number of items were identified, from more capital investment into family farms and ranches to designating livestock-friendly land areas, he said.
"The effort was really to try and grow value-added," Thomas said. He envisions the eventual startup of meat processing plants, which likely would be smaller but still impactful.
"I think we have tremendous opportunity to be able to butcher and produce beef here, and with the intermodal rail system, it gives us a unique advantage," he said. "We can put that on intermodal rail and send it to the West Coast and ultimately on to Asian markets, which are definitely growing. It's kind of a unique opportunity we have here in the landlocked middle of the United States."
The Minot Area Chamber EDC has been involved in some of the planning efforts associated with the livestock initiatives because of Minot's Logistics Park of North Dakota Intermodal Facility.
Rail Modal Group, which operates Minot's intermodal port, has moved animal proteins out of its port in Fremont, Nebraska, into global markets, prompting livestock development around that site, said Brekka Kramer, MADEDC president/CEO. MACEDC is investigating whether similar opportunities might exist to support livestock growth in North Dakota.
Representing MACEDC, Kramer traveled with state Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring and others to Fremont in December 2022 to view those operations.
"We were able to see the type of growth and development that's happened around that, and then we were also able then to see how that could possibly fit into that Logistics Park of North Dakota - that 800 acres that we own to the north of the intermodal site. So it really gave us a line of sight on some of the potential opportunities," Kramer said. "Not only does it help agriculture in North Dakota, but also we need to make sure that we sustain the operations of the intermodal site, which is a big thing for us."
In the meantime, the state is taking steps to encourage new and expanded livestock operations. Among bills passed by the 2023 Legislature was the establishment of a regional livestock development and planning grant program.
The program provides grants up to $12,000 to counties and up to $500 to townships to conduct site analysis to identify suitable locations for animal feeding operations, agricultural processing and storage facilities and other agricultural-related development. The studies will look at available infrastructure, existing land uses, soil types and other factors relating to the feasibility of developments.
The North Dakota Department of Agriculture awarded a grant to Souris Basin Planning Council (SBPC) to coordinate a study for Bottineau, Burke, McHenry, Mountrail, Renville and Ward counties. SBPC has requested proposals from consultants by April 12. A team consisting of a representative from each of the project counties will evaluate proposals and interview consultants.
"After that point, we'll have more information in terms of the timeline and the scope of activities that will take place as part of this planning process," said Briselda Hernandez, executive director for SBPC. She added there will be community engagement throughout the study process to keep participating counties alert to the project status and any opportunities being identified.
Additionally, SBPC will be looking beyond the study, she said.
"Our goal, especially as a regional council that has expertise in securing funding, is during that process to start looking at what are some of the funding opportunities that we could bring in, and maybe it would open discussion at the state level about future grant programs they can make available specifically for livestock," Hernandez said.
Goehring said the willingness of the landowner to partner in a facility or allow a facility isn't considered at this planning stage.
"This is just identifying that you may have an area within a county or a township that's suitable for animal agriculture operations. It doesn't mean it should be. It just means that it's suitable, and there'll be other factors that would have to be determined if there was somebody that wanted to move forward," Goehring said.
"You don't need this analysis to do a project. But it sure helps for planning and zoning. It sure helps the county commissioners. It sure helps the public understand a little bit better," he added. "You're still going to have to meet all the regulatory requirements and you're going to have to meet all the requirements in law if you're looking at forming a corporation for animal agriculture."
The bill that made changes to the state's anti-corporate farming law to provide for additional investment into animal operations has generated interest from investors but little activity so far.
"They said it's just still so cumbersome for them to participate. There's just too many hoops to jump through and so they've withdrawn and chosen not to come to North Dakota," Goehring said.
Earlier this year, only two operations had registered, including Myers Livestock at Minot.
The 2023 Legislature agreed to allow corporations and limited liability companies to own livestock production facilities but the law changes restrict participation to no more than 10 members and require at least 51% ownership by active farmers or ranchers in a limited liability company or 75% in a corporation.
A feedlot or a dairy is limited to 160 acres. With a swine or poultry facility, about 40 acres is the maximum. Any farmable acres owned by a facility would have to be rented to an individual to farm. Construction must commence within one year of acquiring the ag land and be fully operational within six years, under the new law.
Another piece of legislation created a task force to either develop a new model zoning ordinance or update an existing one for animal feeding operations.
Goehring said a number of years ago some counties and townships began adopting ordinances to try to exclude animal agriculture - in violation of what courts said was appropriate. A study two years ago found 13 North Dakota counties and a number of townships not legally compliant in their ordinances, he said.
"We need to make it more clear that there's a model zoning ordinance. We need to make it more clear that the environmental restrictions, regulations and oversight is the state's responsibility, not counties, not local jurisdictions, because that's already been tried and proven in the courts," Goehring said.
Legislation also established a livestock-friendly designation for counties that adopt resolutions to support maintaining or expanding livestock processing.
Additionally, the Legislature approved $1.25 million for counties to make road and bridge improvements to support value-added ag processing or an animal operation. Utility companies are eligible for assistance if the issue is wastewater or power. The grants cover 80% of project cost.
Due to the need to craft the details of the program, those grants didn't become available until February.