BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) awards for nine projects. The awards totaling $598,090 were approved at the APUC quarterly meeting Feb. 16-17 in Jamestown.
APUC is a program of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture that administers grant programs for research and development of new and expanded uses for North Dakota agricultural products. The grants can be used for basic and applied research, marketing and utilization, farm diversification, nature-based agritourism, prototype and technology and technical assistance.
The following received approval:
Agassiz Sustainable LLC was awarded $100,000 to assist in building a vertically integrated wheat straw pulping and molding operation that converts wheat straw into compostable containers for use in the food and beverage industry. Contact Hua Sun at 763-706-7078.
Pride Dairy Inc. was awarded $100,000 for a comprehensive brand strategy and to develop their new ice cream sandwich product. Contact Kriss Allard at 701-228-2216.
Tharaldson Ethanol Plant I LLC was awarded $110,000 for engineering services to produce purified corn oil, an ingredient in renewable diesel. Contact Ryan Carter at 701-347-4000.
BASS Genetics Inc was awarded $53,662 to develop a highly competitive non-GMO corn hybrid. Contact Patrick Baumgartner at 320-444-0944.
Black Leg Brewery was awarded $66,000 to fund planning, design, and consulting for a newly developed bison-branded beer. Contact Jay Doan at 602-510-6094.
InvisionIT LLC was awarded $80,000 to launch a website and marketing campaign for its mechanical device used to house video cameras for electronic tarp systems. Contact Steve Johnson at 701-660-9155.
The National Agricultural Genotyping Center was awarded $25,000 to develop and execute strategies, tactics and campaigns to promote their services. Contact Missy Berry at 701-239-1451.
The NDSU Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering was awarded $35,462 to study the best drying and storage processes for hemp. Contact Ewumbua Monono at 701-231-7277.
The NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center was awarded $27,966 to study the effects of hybrid rye as the sole grain source in comparison to corn in a backgrounding diet and as a partial replacement for corn in finishing diets. Contact Colin Tobin at 701-652-2951.
APUC will hold its next grant application hearing on May 18-19, 2022, in Watford City. Applications for the May meeting must be received by April 1, 2022. Prototype and technical assistance applications must be received by June 1 for the July 20-21, 2022, meeting.
For additional information, please visit https://www.nd.gov/ndda/apuc.