The North Dakota Department of Agriculture’s APUC awarded funds to 11 state projects

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission awards for 11 projects. The APUC is a program of the NDDA that administers grant programs for research and development of new and expanded uses for North Dakota agricultural products.

The requests totaling $427,225 were approved at the APUC quarterly meeting earlier this month in Valley City.

The following requests received approval:

• 4 Family Farms Alliance was awarded funds to assist in developing a meat processing plant in Devils Lake.
• Bueche LLC was awarded funds to develop and implement a marketing plan for artisan herbal products.
• J & J Hazen Meats, Inc. was awarded funds to expand their existing USDA inspected meat processing plant in Hazen.
• Minn Dak Market was awarded funds to implement a marketing plan to promote local products.
• North Dakota State University was awarded funds to research the effects of feeding hempseed cake on ruminal fermentation and site of digestion in cattle.
• The NDSU Department of Plant Sciences was awarded funds to research the valorization of brewers’ spent grain using simultaneous co-fermentation to enhance nutritional value.
• The NDSU Department of Plant Sciences was awarded funds to evaluate small-scale vegetable planting technologies and techniques.
• The University of North Dakota was awarded funds to research the early identification of soybean cyst nematode disease.
• Quandt Farm was awarded funds for the engineering design of a swine finishing facility.
• Minn-Dak Growers Ltd. was awarded funds to research the use of genome-wide association study and transcriptome analysis to reveal the possible candidate gene/s controlling the seed coat color in buckwheat.

APUC will hold its next grant application hearing on Feb. 17-18, 2021, in Bismarck. Applications for the February meeting must be received by Jan. 1, 2021. Prototype and technical assistance applications must be received by March 1 for the May 19-20, 2021, meeting.