North Dakota
Doctor with Dakota Resource Council warns controversial dairy operation will impact Fargo
FARGO — The impacts of a highly controversial dairy operation planned for Abercrombie could hit home in Fargo.
The proposed 12,500-head dairy operation is cause for concern for Fargo residents, Dr. Madeline Luke told members of the city’s Sustainability Committee on March 18, because the waste and chemicals from the farm will flow into the Red River and straight into Fargo’s water supply.
Troy Becker/The Forum
“I’m here to give you a heads up on what may be coming,” Luke said.
She spoke on behalf of the Dakota Resource Council’s Agricultural Committee, a group that joined with residents in Abercrombie to petition the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to repeal the permit for the cattle operation.
The $90 million facility is planned for just south of Abercrombie in Richland County, about 34 miles south of Fargo. The facility would be 1.4 miles from the Wild Rice River and 1.8 miles from the Red River, on top of the Wahpeton Buried Valley Aquifer that supplies nearby communities.
In addition, another controversial new dairy farm farther north in Traill County plans to have 25,000 head of cattle.
Wendy Reuer / The Forum
“This vastly outnumbers the amount of dairy cattle in the whole state, and these are both projects of Riverview Dairy, which is a company out of Morris, Minnesota,” Luke said.
In those numbers, cattle will send large amounts of pollutants out into the water and air, she said, which can cause negative health impacts on North Dakotans.
Officials with Riverview were not at Tuesday’s meeting, but issued a statement to The Forum on Thursday night:
“The claims being made are not accurate. Our goal is to always be good neighbors, which includes farming in a manner that protects our shared water resources and the environment. Abercrombie Dairy will be designed, built, and operated for the protection of surface waters. All manure will be collected and stored on-site. This manure will then be tilled into the soil on surrounding farmland as an organic fertilizer. Manure application will occur at agronomic rates so that nutrients are used in crop production, which prevents run-off.”
The company also said it has been working with neighbors and other government agencies as the farm is being developed, and that all manure handling and application processes will be regulated.
“We are excited to grow dairy in North Dakota, and we encourage anyone with interest in our farms to contact us,” the statement said.
A retired internal medicine doctor, Luke said the cow manure contains nitrogen and phosphorus and creates a perfect breeding ground for green algae and other disease-causing organisms like E. coli.
The Red River already has more nitrogen than is advisable for community health, she said.
“North Dakota really hasn’t faced this kind of industrial farm operation before so they talk about nutrients and they talk about E. coli, but they don’t really mention things like hormones. All of these cows are making milk and excreting a lot of estrogen,” Luke said. “This is a lot of estrogen that is going into the urine, into the ground, and into your river.”
Anything the farm operators give the cows — vaccinations, disease treatments — can also flow into the water.
In addition, the state will face air pollution from the cattle, she said, with small particulates that cause inflammation of the circulatory system and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who live nearby.
Increased costs to the city of Fargo
While the city’s newly updated water treatment plant can filter pollutants out, Luke said, doing so would raise the cost of running the facility and, ultimately, impact Fargo taxpayers.
The amount of wastewater and manure from this farm will be massive, she said, and none of it will be treated as it leaves the farm before joining the river.
On Tuesday, Luke asked the sustainability committee to join the Dakota Resource Council in appealing the permit in court this month.
The committee did not take any action Tuesday.
Anna Paige / The Forum
Chairman and City Commissioner John Strand said Tuesday it was “important to hear from the people” but that the committee had to “wrap up” the meeting.
Neither Mayor Tim Mahoney nor other top city officials in attendance said anything further about the matter.
The sustainability committee only meets four times per year, meaning they would not be able to sign on to the appeal without calling a special meeting.
Reporter working the night shift 👻. I cover Fargo city government, Cass County government and underserved populations in the area.
(Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – Two North Dakotans are semifinalists for the Bismarck State College president’s job as North Dakota State University narrows its presidential candidate list.
Valley City State University also is searching for a new president, with an application period closing this month..
Kevin Black, chair of the State Board of Higher Education and co-chair of the North Dakota State University Presidential Search Committee, said the committee reviewed over 60 applications. The committee is planning off-site interviews with candidates March 9-10 and campus visits with semifinal candidates March 23-27.
“We’re really excited about taking the next step and there’s some very quality people in there,” Black said.
FARGO — One season ago, a Cinderella run for the West Fargo United girls hockey team came up just short in the state championship game.
United, the No. 7 seed, fell to Legacy/Bismarck in the 2025 final.
This time around, the team had momentum swaying in its favor, riding nine consecutive wins into Saturday’s title game against Grand Forks at Scheels Arena.
Led by goals from a pair of senior captains, United capped its redemption season with a 10th straight victory, fending off the KnightRiders 2-1 to claim the North Dakota girls hockey state tournament championship.
“It just means everything,” said United’s Payton Stocker, whose goal at the 12:31 mark of the second period gave her team a 1-0 lead. “We’ve worked so hard and throughout the season, it’s just been such a battle. Winning and coming out on top is just such a great feeling.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Stocker was followed up in scoring by United captain Rachel Spanier. The defenseman fired a slap shot from the left point that beat Grand Forks goaltender Kylie Schmaltz to make it 2-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Reagan Wilson locked things down in net for United, finishing with 23 saves and picking up an all-tournament team nod.
“This is my first year of high school hockey,” the sophomore goaltender said. “I can’t believe coming in here and winning a state title with all of these girls. I just love them so much.”
While it was the senior duo of Stocker and Spanier finding the net for United on Saturday, contributions were seen across the board.
Sophomore Emma Hassler also put forth an all-tournament campaign with five goals and an assist for six points over the three-day stretch.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Freshman Kaylee Augdahl finished the tournament with four points — including
a double-overtime winner
over Fargo North/South in Friday’s semifinals — and junior Liana Williamson added three assists.
“It wasn’t just us (seniors),” said Stocker, who joined Hassler and Wilson on the all-tourney team. “It was everyone collectively. Being seniors, it feels a lot better. It was a great feeling.”
United, the No. 5 seed this year, capped its season with a record of 17-9-0.
“These girls are awesome,” first-year United head coach Kennedy Blair said. “They’ve worked super, super hard since last April. Wake up early in the mornings, go into off-ice training, on-ice training and all that.
“This group of girls is really special. They’re a really close-knit group, and they trusted our coaching staff coming in as a first-year group.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Blair knows a thing or two about winning championships. She was a North Dakota state champion goaltender with the former Bismarck Blizzard co-op and also won an NCAA Division I national title with the Wisconsin women’s program in 2021.
Yet, she never imagined ending her first year as a high school varsity coach with a state championship.
“No, I didn’t,” said Blair, who also won North Dakota High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors. “But I had belief in these girls that we could get to the state championship again.”
It’s the United co-op’s first-ever state title — which consists of West Fargo, West Fargo Sheyenne and West Fargo Horace high schools.
Prior to Saturday, the last time a West Fargo girls program won the state title was in 2014 when it was still a standalone program competing as the Packers.
“It’s amazing considering United hockey has never won a championship game,” Wilson said.
Grand Forks, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, ended its campaign with a 21-5-0 record.
Ella Yahna’s fourth goal of the tournament — which came on a 2-on-1 rush with the assist from teammate Reese Meagher, put the KnightRiders within one shot with 8:17 remaining in the third.
Grand Forks, however, was unable to find the equalizer as its bid for a first state championship came up just short.
“I thought we came out in the first and we had a tough time,” Grand Forks head coach Kelly Kilgore said. “I felt we battled some nerves. I really liked our second period … We carried the play and tilted the ice a little bit back in our favor. The shots kind of started to really turn in our favor.”
Stocker said she wouldn’t have wanted to win a state title as a senior with any other group of teammates.
“(They mean) everything,” Stocker said. “We’re so tight and they’re all my friends. Leaving them is going to be hard. But they mean everything to me. We’re all so close and I love them a lot.”
FIRST PERIOD: No scoring.
SECOND PERIOD: 1, WFU, Stocker (Augdahl, Hassler), 12:31. 2, WFU, Spanier (Augdahl, Stocker), 16:25.
THIRD PERIOD: 3, GF, Yahna (R. Meagher), 8:43.
SAVES: WFU, Wilson 7-13-3—23. GF, Schmaltz 7-3-14—24.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Children’s Museum has revealed the anonymous donor of the $2 million in matching funds that prompted others to step forward and bring the fundraising campaign closer to its goal of $35 million.
“It is with deep gratitude that the Grand Forks Children’s Museum now shares the name behind that bold vision,” said Katie Mayer, executive director of the museum, in naming Pam Laffen of Grand Forks as the anonymous donor.
With this gift and other major contributions, the fundraising campaign “stands at just $1.75 million remaining, bringing the finish line clearly into view,” Mayer said.
The museum “reflects Pam’s passion for learning and her belief in creating meaningful opportunities for children which have guided her life’s work and are deeply reflected in this gift,” she said.
Laffen said, “I am honored to be part of a community that supports a project dedicated to encouraging growth in education and service for future generations.”
Recognizing the impact of Laffen’s gift, Mayer said, “Pam and her late husband, Lonnie, shared a deep appreciation for this community. Being raised in a rural area in North Dakota taught them to be actively engaged in their immediate and surrounding communities across the state.”
Contributed / Grand Forks Children’s Museum
At the start of the “Unlocking Tomorrow, Together Challenge,” the $2 million would be released, or “unlocked,” with the receipt of each of eight $250,000 donations. The challenge actually resulted in “securing nearly 10 leadership-level commitments and accelerating the campaign even further,” Mayer said.
A leadership gift of $250,000 from the Pancratz Family Foundation, based with the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation, has helped to “unlock one of the final keys in the challenge,” according to an announcement from the museum. The gift has added “meaningful momentum at a pivotal time in the campaign.”
The foundation’s commitment to the museum “reflects a strong belief in expanding opportunity for children and families, and helped carry the challenge to completion.”
The final keys to the $2 million matching grant were “propelled by an extraordinary wave of generosity from families and businesses across our community,” Mayer said.
A vertical climber, to be named for Pam Laffen, is designed to physically and symbolically connect the land and sky levels of the museum, Mayer said. It will span two stories and include a slide. Designed to face 42nd Street, it will be visible from the road, serving as a signature feature of the building.
The climber will reflect the guiding phrase “In land, we root. Through sky, we rise. Together, we grow.”
“The words echo both the spirit of the community and the belief that learning, curiosity, exploration and opportunity are built step-by-step, grounded in place and lifted by possibility,” Mayer said.
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