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FARGO — Partners including North Dakota State University and Grand Farm have received up to $160 million in grants to spur the next generation of agricultural technology innovation.
A 10-year grant from the National Science Foundation supports a partnership that also includes the Fargo-Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation.
The funding will be used for a large-scale collaboration called FARMS (Food for Adaptive Resilience and Maximized Security Systems), which leaders say will put North Dakota at the forefront of global agricultural innovation.
“This is an important vision and very exciting,” said NDSU President David Cook. “The farm will make North Dakota stand out in the agricultural technology field.”
He said the initiative will accelerate agricultural innovation and enhance food security while creating job opportunities for students in fields such as agriculture, information technology, engineering, artificial intelligence and data science.
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U.S. Senator John Hoeven announced the grant on Jan. 29, calling it “a significant investment in NDSU and Grand Farm’s efforts to transform the future of agricultural production.”
Hoeven helped secure the grant through his seat on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee. “We are empowering this collaboration to provide farmers and ranchers with the tools to strengthen their operations, reduce costs and increase yields,” he said .
Hoving added, “Not only will this benefit the production of food, fuel and fiber, it will spur growth in a variety of industries, including our state’s vibrant technology industry and manufacturers. This means North Dakota and our country will Continue to have a competitive advantage in global markets while ensuring a high-quality and low-cost food supply for American consumers.”
Ryan Aasheim, chief business development officer for the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, said the FARMS partnership will also spur significant investment in the region.
“This is going to bring tremendous energy and light to this area,” he said during the announcement at Richard H. Barry Hall on NDSU’s downtown campus. “We are discussing a Billions of dollars in proposals,” private investment from corporations, venture capital firms and others.
“We already have companies coming here” to commercialize technology, including some from Silicon Valley, Asim said. “You’re going to see a lot of innovators decide to stay here.”
Colleen Fitzgerald, NDSU vice president for research, innovation and creative activities, said the grant is the result of a statewide coalition that began work in May 2022.
“Amazing things are going to happen on our farm,” she said.
Efforts will be ramped up in the first two years. She said in an interview that the project will accelerate genomic research on crops, including dry beans, and quickly identify resilient varieties through collaboration between plant science and artificial intelligence.
Fitzgerald said the program will also further develop sensors, such as soil sensors that transmit data to the cloud, and “last-acre” connectivity to ensure farmers have immediate access to field information.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for North Dakota as it relates to economic development,” she said. “This is our spark and catalyst to make sure everyone around the world understands North Dakota agricultural technology.”
Twyla Baker, president of Nueta Hidatsa Sanish College in New Town, another core partner in the FARMS collaboration, said tribesmen in the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes have “ancestral knowledge” about agriculture.
“I think it’s a continuation of that legacy,” she said, adding that members said a country cannot be truly sovereign if it cannot feed its own people.
“We’re excited to get into the work ahead of us,” Baker said.
Bismarck United Tribes Technical College President Leander MacDonald said the program is based on experience.
“What happens from here?” he said. “We have a solid foundation from which more good things can happen.”
Grand Farm leader Emerging Prairie chief innovation officer Brian Carroll said the FARMS partnership will bring together growers, industry leaders, startups and educational institutions.
With the help of federal grants, “we are building an ecosystem to accelerate innovation at the speed of trust,” he said. “This support not only energizes our work but brings us closer to a future of sustainable and groundbreaking advances in agricultural technology.”
Grand Farm’s 140-acre innovation campus west of Casselton is a collaboration of growers, businesses, startups, educators, researchers, governments and investors dedicated to solving problems through technology and innovation agricultural issues.
The grant is one of 10 across the country, providing $15 million over the first two years, awarded under the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program.
The 25,000-square-foot Grand Farm Innovation Shop is under construction. In 2022, the North Dakota Legislature awarded Grand Farm a $10 million matching grant.
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