701-566-9300This past Friday, NDSU renamed its greenhouse complex after Jack Dalrymple. It was to honor the support he gave as a longtime legislator, Lieutenant Governor and Governor towards agricultural research throughout that institution. I write briefly about this today to let you know that the benefits of Ag research were touted often to those assembled. Jack himself stated that there is no greater return on investment. Mark Birdsall, head of SBARE, reiterated and told the crowd of how many new crops they can grow in his part of the state (western ND) due to the work of NDSU Research and Extension. Soybeans in particular were discussed by most of the six speakers as either being the dominant acreage crop (Jack), the new value added star with the crush plant (both the Lt. and Governor) or being such a valuable rotation staple. Your organization has been working each legislative session and the interim sessions to promote the budgets for Research and Extension, the new Ag Research and Development Center and pertinent NDSU budgets so that they can maximize crops and species for your benefit as producers. What made Friday’s gathering special was who attended; several legislators, the Ag Commissioner, Atty. General and the aforementioned Executive Branch and staff. These are people who at times need to hear and understand how important research is to our industry. We would be foolish to take what research has done for us in the past few decades for granted. Thank you for your vigilance and membership to help us continue forward.
