New Ag Legislation Aim to Encourage Farmers to Raise North Dakota Livestock
In partnership with: North Dakota Department of Agriculture
Clark Price, who raises cattle in Hensler, never quite understood why North Dakota fell behind when it came to animal agriculture. After all, the state has a rich heritage of raising livestock. Plus, farmers produce a lot of economically priced feed.
“There’s huge opportunity,” he says. “It always boggled my mind why we just didn’t get more animal development in the state.”
Though North Dakota brings in $30.8 billion thanks to agriculture, less than 10% of that is related to animal husbandry. And that low-cost feed North Dakotans produce? Most of it is sent to neighboring states like South Dakota and Minnesota. Meanwhile, North Dakota imports more than 90% of its milk, pork, beef, eggs and poultry.
But change is on the horizon, as the state makes a concerted effort to increase animal agriculture, including a handful of newly passed livestock-friendly laws.
“I think people have realized that livestock can be a very big economic driver in rural North Dakota, and we need to bring it back,” says Shaun Quissell, grain and livestock licensing division director for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.
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Lawmaking Change
NDDA watched and advised on a handful of animal agriculture bills during the 2023 legislative session.
This included HB 1371, which Gov. Doug Burgum signed in April 2023. In a nutshell, the bill lets farmers partner with corporate entities and LLCs to incorporate and create or operate an animal agriculture operation.
Price thinks this legislation will be helpful to farmers looking to expand.
“The word corporation scares people, but to me, it’s neighbors working together to do something to advance animal ag and to advance their operations from what they are today,” he says.
For instance, if a farmer wants to build a feed yard, utilizing an LLC can help because there is a little less risk.
“You’re risking the investment that you put into it; you’re not risking your whole farm,” Price says.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Paul Thomas of Velva, reiterated that individual producers will still manage day-to-day operations under the new law.
Another recently passed bill, HB 1276, created an agricultural fund providing $10 million in grants and loans to fund infrastructure programs like road construction to help support animal or value-added facilities like feed processing plants.
Thomas says this kind of state-level financial support aims to ease any tension between farmers and taxpayers, who might not want to absorb the costs of someone else’s agricultural operations.
Thomas adds that he and other legislators want to ensure they’re not just making laws but are willing to back the laws with funding as well.
HB 1423, which passed in April 2023, helped create a model zoning task force with the goal of fostering collaboration between various stakeholders, such as planners, environmental regulators and local townships. The task force will review zoning laws and modernize them to meet the needs of today’s animal livestock developers.
Two more pieces of legislation, HB 1437 and HB 2373, helped to create regional livestock planning grants and the livestock-friendly county designations. These bills will help identify areas suitable for animal agriculture and ensure local communities are open to it.
Price says with all the resources now available for livestock producers in the state, he feels optimistic animal agriculture will increase.
To that end, Thomas says he sees tremendous growth potential in the swine industry and for the establishment of larger dairies. Plus, with more feed staying in the state, crop farmers should benefit as well.
“We know that animal agriculture is a win-win if done correctly,” Thomas says.
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