Local agriculture leaders discuss creating new agriculture policy center at NDSU

FARGO — Local agriculture leaders came together the morning of Wednesday, June 28, to talk about creating an agriculture policy research center at NDSU.

The center would focus on addressing farming issues through policy and economic analysis.

There are similar centers at Texas A&M, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Missouri, but there’s nothing currently like it in the upper Midwest.

North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said the center would work with those existing centers to bring widespread benefits to agriculture policy across the country.

“To make sure that we’re not only driving ag research forward, but that we’re getting the right kind of farm policy that benefits our farmers and ranchers, benefits our country, and really is most cost effective in terms of the taxpayer as well,” Hoeven said.

Former Minnesota U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson said he supports the creation of the center because of the results others have yielded.

So far, $2 million has been secured towards creating the center.

“Over the years they’ve developed a cadre of about 200 producers that know more about this stuff than most policy makers do,” Peterson said. “And they’re motivated, and they spend their time on it and money on it, and it works.”