Breaking News

Letters to the Editor

Why the autonomous ag grant program is good for ND

Michael Howe N.D. Secretary of State Growing up northeast of Casselton as the fifth generation of our family farm, I’ve been fortunate to have seen advancements in modern agriculture that my great-great-grandfather would have never imagined. From water drainage practices to Roundup Ready sugar beets to GPS farm equipment to precision agriculture technology. Today if you look back at a 1989 North Dakota farm, it may as well be a farm from 1889. What will a North Dakota farm look like in 2089? In 2021, the North Dakota Legislature took a forward-thinking step to prepare for what ...

Trump saving, not abusing America

Andrew Allis Granville Trump Saving, Not Abusing America. In a recent letter to this paper, one contributor likened Trump’s executive orders to family abuse, the abuse of the family of the United States. While every analogy limps, this one didn’t even crawl. Consider the abuse to the U.S. family, and individual families, the last four years under the previous Biden administration. According to a November 2023 analysis performed by the Joint Economic Committee, it now costs $11,400 more a year to buy the basics and have the same standard of living as in January 2021, visiting ...

School meals translate to student success

Michelle Wagner Bismarck Ensuring that every child has access to healthy school meals is about reducing hunger and is an investment in North Dakota’s economy. That’s why I strongly support HB 1475, a bill that would provide school meals at no charge to all students. As the Child Nutrition Program Director for Bismarck Public Schools, I recently testified in favor of HB 1475, highlighting its economic benefits. Increased meal participation means greater demand for North Dakota’s agricultural products. If this bill passes, schools statewide could purchase an additional 2.1 ...

Bill builds on past wins in ag

Sen. Paul Thomas Velva Rep. Jared Hagert Emerado In the 2023 session, we passed bills to address the limited growth and advancement of animal agriculture. That legislation provided the regulatory freedom and framework necessary to attract high capital, value-added animal and production agriculture investment in our state. Two bills currently working their way through the 69th legislative session would build on this success by providing financial incentives for continued investment in agriculture. HB 1332 provides for value-added agriculture facility incentive funding within ...

State must prioritize feeding children

Deven Mantz, Minot Here we are again, the rush of yet another ND legislative session, and the critical issue of providing meals for children in school is back. Many of us believed this matter had been resolved. Was there not legislation that provided meals in the last session? Yes, there was. Unfortunately, the meals bill was to increase their (legislators) own daily meal per diem, paid for by the taxpayers while at the same time denying the same funds be used for school meals to our children. How can this be? This is not the “North Dakota Nice” we pride ourselves on. Our state ...

School choice bills are taxpayer robbery

Cody Mickelson, Jamestown The 69th Legislative Assembly is well underway and North Dakotans need to watch the actions of their elected officials closely. There are a variety of bills this session that seek to undermine public education under the guise of Educational Savings Accounts, vouchers, or school choice. They’re all the same –taxpayer robbery. These are plans that will take money that could (and should) otherwise be used to improve our public schools for all students. ESAs and vouchers would take taxpayer money and give it to families who choose to send their kids to ...