Building North Dakota

State Director Jasper Schneider

Greetings!

There's a growing movement towards the idea of a Food Hub in North Dakota. As more folks take an active interest in where their food comes from, the need for a more streamlined approach to connecting producers to consumers is needed. Despite the growing demand, providing local produce and meats has traditionally faced challenges in reliability of product, processing, distribution and marketing. A food hub would address those challenges by connecting the dots and offering a more complete product.

The Bismarck Tribune recently highlighted two of our grant recipients and their work towards creating a Food Hub in North Dakota. We have had inquiries from school districts, hospitals, restaurants and consumers asking for more information on how they can buy more locally produced foods. Connecting local producers to local consumers builds micro-economies, creates new business opportunities and gives consumers what they are increasingly demanding. USDA is proud to partner in that effort.

- Jasper

Helping Hand Award

State Director Jasper Schneider recently received the Helping Hand Award. The award was presented by the NDaREC (North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives) at their 71st annual meeting. Jasper was evaluated and selected based on the following criteria: dedication and personal commitment to rural electric cooperatives; co-op leadership, through both personal and public example; and contributions to the cooperative movement.

Pictured left to right: Dennis Hill, NDaREC general manager; Jasper Schneider; Kim Schneider; Alvin Myers, McLean Electric Co-op board president; Marty Dahl, McLean Electric Cooperative general manager. Photo Courtesy of NDaREC.

Food hub would open new market for small farmers

Bismarck Tribune

Local Foods

By Jessica Holdman: Two organizations are partnering to build a food hub for small vegetable growers in North Dakota. Foundation for Agricultural and Rural Resources Management and Sustainability and Common Enterprise Development Corp. are surveying farmers and growers across the state to learn how many might be interested in participating in a co-op style central food marketing hub.

Sue Balcom of FARRMS said the goal of the food hub is to increase the amount of fresh produce grown and eaten locally. Many young growers might not be able to afford to buy a commodity-size farm but may grow a few acres of vegetables, she said. Read full article.

FARRMS and Common Enterprise Development Corporation are both grant recipients of USDA. To learn more about resources and assistance for local food systems, click here.

USDA And Dakota Valley Electric Partner on Local Projects

Fairmount and Wahpeton

Architectural drawing of the proposed buildings where Farmers Union Oil in Fairmount will outfit trucks as fertilizer applicators.

Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative received $2 million in loans to support local projects. The funding is being provided through USDA's Rural Economic Development Loan program. USDA will provide two zero-interest loans to Dakota Valley Electric, which they will in turn lend to the following two local Businesses.

Farmers Union Oil of Southern Valley (Fairmount): $1 million loan. The financing will help construct a new 37,400 square foot shop and office in Fairmount. The shop will be for manufacturing trucks and trailers for resale to customers in the fertilizer business. Currently, they have 76 full-time employees and are planning to add five or more employees once the project is complete.

Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative (Wahpeton): $1 million loan. The financing will help acquire and install specialized equipment to further process molasses byproduct into refined granulated sugar through a de-sugarization process. The project is expected to increase the cooperative's revenues and add about 20 more full-time employees.

USDA Announces Support for Mental Health Facilities

Statewide

USDA has set a goal of investing up to $50 million to increase access to mental health care in rural areas over the next three years.

Provided through the Community Facilities direct loan program, the funding may be used for the construction, expansion, or equipping of rural mental health facilities. Read announcement.

Program Announcements

Housing Eligibility: Barring Congressional action, USDA will begin using 2010 Census data to determine eligible rural areas for Rural Development housing programs on October 1, 2014. Changes to eligible areas can be viewed by selecting the applicable program listed under "Future Eligible Areas" at http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov. NOTE: Complete applications received prior to October 1, 2014, will continue to use the existing eligible rural area definitions based on 2000 Census data.

Tribal Progress Report: This report highlights USDA Rural Development's strong relationship with the tribal nations in North Dakota.Through these partnerships, we have assisted in their growing infrastructure needs and helped empower the institutions of higher learning. The progress report was recently updated to list all Rural Development tribal projects from 2009 through 2013.

Deadlines & Events

January 31: Solid Waste Management Technical Assistance Grant application deadline.
February 18-10: 28th Annual Water Expo (Fargo)
February 20 (and dates through May): SCORE Workshops focused on starting and expanding businesses.
February 24: Value Added Producer Grant application deadline.
February 26-27: Annual Housing Conference (Bismarck)
February 27-March 1: ND State Fire School (Minot)
March 1: Rural Business Enterprise Grant application deadline.

Website Contact Us News NOFAs Forms Progress Report

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