ND Department of Agriculture Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 13, 2008

LIVESTOCK FEED GROUP MOVES FORWARD WITH PROPOSAL

CARRINGTON – A master plan for developing and promoting North Dakota’s livestock feed industry has gotten the green light from the North Dakota Livestock Feed Task Force.

The task force, which met Wednesday, in Carrington at the request of Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, consists of representatives of commodity groups, the energy industry, agricultural processors, feed manufacturers, livestock producers, university researchers and state and federal officials.

“I was impressed with the support and the unity of the group towards working together to make North Dakota a premier supplier of high quality feeds,” Johnson said. “North Dakota stands to benefit enormously by developing premium feed products both for export and use by North Dakota producers.”

The group united behind a proposal presented by the Carrington Jobs Development Authority and the Forward Devils Lake Economic Development Corp. that would use a joint powers agreement provided by state law to coordinate nutritional research, product development, feasibility study for feed mills, marketing opportunities for the product and site-specific business plans. The estimated cost of the project is $450,000 with funding proposed to come from the entities represented at the meeting.

The Carrington and Devils Lake development groups will seek volunteers for a nine-member board to oversee the project.
“It is the hope that the product development, feeding trials and the feasibility study can be done concurrently,” Johnson said. “An 18-month time line was adopted, but given the enthusiasm for the idea, I hope it can move faster than that. When the feasibility study is completed, local economic development groups can use the research to decide if they want that kind of industry in their community.”

The task force also agreed that developing the state’s livestock industry should be a priority at the same time as new feeds are developed. According to a North Dakota State University study, livestock development has the highest multiplier effect on the economy than any other industry in the state.

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MEDIA: For more information, please call Ted Quanrud at (701) 328-2233 or tquanrud@nd.gov or Patrice Lahlum at (701) 239-7210 or plahlum@nd.gov.