Agriculture News

North Dakota Governor signs corporate farming bill

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has signed a bill, which modernizes the state's corporate farming law to encourage growth in the animal agriculture sector.

"These narrowly defined changes in state law will take the handcuffs off our farmers and ranchers and allow capital investment to flow into our state, growing animal agriculture, adding value to crops, creating opportunities for the next generation, and helping rural communities and schools to thrive in North Dakota once again," Burgum said. "With House Bill 1371, we can level the playing field with other states and expand animal agriculture with environmental stewardship. We're grateful to the bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Paul Thomas of Velva, Commissioner Goehring and all of the bill sponsors, commodity groups and other supporters for their collaboration on this groundbreaking legislation."

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring noted that in neighboring states, 40% to 50% of agricultural receipts come from livestock, compared with only 16% to 18% in North Dakota.

"This will add so much more (value) to every bushel of grain. It'll help offset expenses because we're going to be able to utilize the manure, something that's more natural, more balanced more beneficial, and improves soil health. And then it turns around and it creates more value in our backyard, with swine, with dairy, maybe some more feedlots, also opportunities maybe to get into the poultry business," Goehring said. "Now, I believe we have the environment to support our farmers, to support our rural communities and to support animal agriculture."

In his State of the State address on Jan. 3, Burgum urged the legislature to modernize the corporate farming law with the goal of growing the state's dairy, livestock, feedlot, swine and poultry production and adding value to North Dakota crops.

Lawmakers delivered with HB 1371, which allows an authorized livestock farm corporation or limited liability company (LLC) to own or lease farmland or ranchland if the entity has no more than 10 shareholders or members. For corporations, shareholders holding 75% or more of the shares must be actively engaged in farming or ranching; for an LLC, the percentage is 51%. Shareholders must be U.S. citizens, and no corporation or LLC may own, lease or have an interest in more than 160 acres of farmland or ranchland.

"(House Bill 1371) brings a modernization of the capital that's needed to support animal agriculture amongst our family farms and ranchers. This bill provides that important tool," Thomas said. "These animal agriculture facilities are not only going to drive animal ag numbers, they're going to add value to the feed grains that we've worked to develop in this state through soybean processing plants, corn ethanol production facilities, the canola crush plant in my local community. We're exporting value out of this state, but with these animal ag operations coming into the state, we're going to add that value back into our local communities."

The bill has an emergency clause, so it will take effect immediately, allowing potential projects to begin construction this spring.

Co-sponsoring the bill were House Majority Leader Mike Lefor and Reps. Dick Anderson, Jay Fisher, Jared Hagert, Craig Headland, and Senate Majority Leader David Hogue and Sens. Cole Conley, Larry Luick and Terry Wanzek. The House approved the final bill by a vote of 72-20, and the Senate passed it 41-5.

American economy driven by U.S. food, agriculture

By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

A new report highlights the significance of the U.S. food and agriculture sectors in feeding the American economy.

A study commissioned by 25 food and agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), found food and agriculture supports more than 46 million jobs and contributes over $8 trillion to the U.S. economy each year, while exports contribute another $202 billion.

The total food and agriculture industry’s economic impact is up 22% since 2019.

“American agriculture is really the foundation of our lives and our economy. This study reveals the numbers, and maybe some of the spirit, of this one indispensable sector,” Roger Cryan, AFBF chief economist, said.

Millions of farmers, ranchers, agricultural laborers, food scientists, food inspectors, factory workers, truck drivers, grocery store employees and countless other Americans link together in the food supply chain every day to bring the food grown on U.S. farms and ranches to grocery stores, restaurants and dinner tables across the nation.

The report, Feeding the Economy, considered direct economic impact, supplier economic impact and induced economic impact. The study provides data on jobs, wages and economic output. It also illustrates the food and agriculture sector’s impact on local and nationwide economic activity.

The results also underscore this sector’s resilience and reliability amid unprecedented global and domestic crises, including the commodity shock following the war in Ukraine and continued supply chain disruptions.

The seventh annual report shows the U.S. food and agriculture sector directly provides $927 billion in wages and is vital to rural communities across America.

The strength and growth highlighted in this year’s report reinforce that agriculture is evolving and innovating to meet the demands of the 21st Century. Land use for agriculture decreased by 28% while land productivity grew nearly four times and labor productivity grew more than 10 times, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In fact, agriculture’s total factor productivity growth rate is among the highest of U.S. sectors.

In Texas, food and agriculture supports an estimated 4.25 million jobs with an economic impact of $733.5 billion annually.

Workshop series to focus on workforce development in animal agriculture

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The applicant pool for high-demand livestock production occupations is shrinking, lacks diversity and often falls short in critical animal husbandry skills, according to an interdisciplinary team of educators and faculty from Penn State Extension and Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The team is investigating methods to improve skill sets and increase diversity in the livestock production workforce, with the goal of eliminating workforce barriers and enhancing secure food animal production.

As part of this work, Penn State Extension is offering a free monthly workshop series, from March to May, focused on workforce development in animal agriculture. The first and third workshops will be held virtually. Participants can attend the second session in person or via Zoom.

“These workshops focus on the critical issues around developing and retaining a modern workforce that will help feed a growing population,” said John Boney, Vernon E. Norris Faculty Fellow of Poultry Nutrition and assistant professor of poultry science.

The series is designed for agricultural and livestock employers, educators and faculty, high school teachers, mentors or aspiring mentors, and agricultural human resource managers.

“Recruiting, hiring and retaining skilled workers is essential,” Boney said. “One of the best kept secrets is the number of good-paying jobs available. We need to change the narrative and showcase the opportunities for long-term career success in animal agriculture.”

The first webinar, “People, Performance and Productivity: Mentoring to Retain Workers,” will take place from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. March 22.

This session will explore best practices for establishing a mentoring program. Mentorship opportunities demonstrate to employees that the company is actively investing in their careers, organizers noted, adding that workers who feel connected to their peers and supported in meeting their career goals are more likely to feel engaged in their work and stay at their company.

Attendees can learn about formal versus informal mentoring; the impact of mentoring programs on hiring and retention; components of a mentoring program; and mentor selection and training.

The second workshop, “People, Performance and Productivity: Using Workforce Development Practices to Enhance Business Performance and Longevity,” will occur from 11 a.m. to noon April 13 in 106 Animal, Veterinary, and Biomedical Sciences Building on Penn State’s University Park campus.

During this seminar, participants will hear about workforce development career connection strategies for diverse populations that enhance business performance and longevity. The key speaker will be Mark Threeton, professor of education and associate director of the Professional Development Center for Career and Technical Education within the Workforce Education and Development Program in Penn State’s College of Education. Threeton consults, teaches and conducts research in the areas of technical teacher education and workplace learning and performance.

The session will cover recruitment and retention in the workforce; career connection strategies; field-based work experience programs; and research-based development practices that enhance business performance and longevity.

The third event, “People, Performance and Productivity: Strategies to Hire and Retain a Strong Workforce in Animal Agriculture,” is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. May 11. Experts will discuss hiring and retention practices. Speakers include Emily Balcetis, associate professor of psychology at New York University, and Brian Ballard, corporate recruiter at Cal-Maine Foods.

This series is sponsored by a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Strategic Networks and Initiatives Program grant. This program is designed to capitalize on the collective expertise within the college and to invest in faculty-driven initiatives that will strengthen existing programs and promote new interdisciplinary research.

The research team includes project investigators from animal science, veterinary science and rural sociology. Based on information from the workshop series, the team will develop on-farm interview questions to gather preliminary data from workers and employers, with an eye toward seeking a large-scale, external grant to expand the project.

Penn State Extension offers this workshop series free of charge, but participants must register by March 20 for the first webinar, by April 13 for the second workshop and by May 11 for the third event.

One week after lawsuits challenging a Massachusetts law similar to the Proposition 12 law in California were stayed, a federal court issued a separate stay order to block enforcement of Question 3 for now.

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a joint motion stay enforcement of Question 3 until 30 days after the U.S. Supreme Court decides a similar legal challenge to California’s Prop 12 rules, according to court filings. Question 3 — originally passed in 2016 —  prohibits the sale of whole pork meat in Massachusetts that come from hogs that were raised in enclosures that do not meet new Massachusetts state standards.

It was scheduled to go into effect Aug. 15 and was the subject of a lawsuit filed Aug. 3 by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, among other related regional agencies. The plaintiffs last week agreed to hold off action on their suit until the NPPC’s challenge to California’s Prop 12 is heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The highest court in the land ended its session as scheduled at the end of June and is expected to resume work on Oct. 3, the traditional first Monday in October. The NPPC case against Prop 12 currently is scheduled to be argued in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11, according to the latest court documents released this summer. However, there is no firm timetable on when any decisions by the Supreme Court on the Prop 12 issue can be expected.