701-566-9300Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #5 — Soil Cons. Districts and Ag Coalition
There have not been many assignments in February or March, but on the 12th I covered the very first Agricultural Conservation and Stewardship Roundtable followed by the Ag Coalition meeting in the ND Heritage Center. The first meeting was an attempt by the ND State Soil Conservation Districts to engage the representatives of commodity groups […]hi
There have not been many assignments in February or March, but on the 12th I covered the very first Agricultural Conservation and Stewardship Roundtable followed by the Ag Coalition meeting in the ND Heritage Center. The first meeting was an attempt by the ND State Soil Conservation Districts to engage the representatives of commodity groups (the Ag Coalition) so as to not only communicate...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #4 — DOT
The recently formed Transportation Coalition met late last week and welcomed North Dakota’s new Department of Transportation Director, Bill Panos. He came from a similar position in Wyoming before our Governor tagged him a few months ago. Like most in the meeting, I had not heard him speak and shared the group’s unofficial opinion that […]hi
The recently formed Transportation Coalition met late last week and welcomed North Dakota’s new Department of Transportation Director, Bill Panos. He came from a similar position in Wyoming before our Governor tagged him a few months ago. Like most in the meeting, I had not heard him speak and shared the group’s unofficial opinion that his enthusiasm and background knowledge was impressive,...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #3 — Posting Issues
The Natural Resources Legislative Interim committee met again to discuss how to get the pilot program for testing out an app regarding posting lands for hunting up and running. The three counties have volunteered and been chosen for their geographical locations as well as their diversification in terms of how developed their GIS systems are. […]hi
The Natural Resources Legislative Interim committee met again to discuss how to get the pilot program for testing out an app regarding posting lands for hunting up and running. The three counties have volunteered and been chosen for their geographical locations as well as their diversification in terms of how developed their GIS systems are. GIS stands for Geographical Information Systems and...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #2 — Rural groceries and Septic systems
Back in December, the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association board was briefed on efforts by the Interim Legislative committee known as Commerce in regards to the drastically shrinking numbers of rural North Dakota grocery stores. This week the Commerce committee met to further discuss and search for solutions. Testifiers spoke of reasons for the decline […]hi
Back in December, the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association board was briefed on efforts by the Interim Legislative committee known as Commerce in regards to the drastically shrinking numbers of rural North Dakota grocery stores. This week the Commerce committee met to further discuss and search for solutions. Testifiers spoke of reasons for the decline which includes lower prices in the...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2020 | #1Livestock
Earlier this week when it was only 40 degrees below freezing I was sent to cover the 2nd Annual North Dakota Livestock Association Summit at Black Leg Ranch south of McKenzie. It was a pretty big deal featuring panels, radio stations, sponsors, food and even a comedian to wrap up the day. The soybean industry […]hi
Earlier this week when it was only 40 degrees below freezing I was sent to cover the 2nd Annual North Dakota Livestock Association Summit at Black Leg Ranch south of McKenzie. It was a pretty big deal featuring panels, radio stations, sponsors, food and even a comedian to wrap up the day. The soybean industry was thanked by speakers numerous times, most often about the importance of soybean...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #51 — Last of the Year
December 12th saw the latest Agriculture and Transportation Interim Legislative Committee meeting. The needle did not move on the issue of using the Sec. of State’s Central Indexing system to show any other loans procured by a producer after getting the primary or original loan to put their crop in. Nor did much happen on […]hi
December 12th saw the latest Agriculture and Transportation Interim Legislative Committee meeting. The needle did not move on the issue of using the Sec. of State’s Central Indexing system to show any other loans procured by a producer after getting the primary or original loan to put their crop in. Nor did much happen on the Road Train study although there was testimony from the DOT and the...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #50 — Potpourri
To catch you up on a few different items of the last month: The Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee met a couple weeks ago with the Soybean Council one of 30 or so entities whose turn had come. Their part went well, but the committee heard from the Commerce Department folks who had been […]hi
To catch you up on a few different items of the last month: The Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee met a couple weeks ago with the Soybean Council one of 30 or so entities whose turn had come. Their part went well, but the committee heard from the Commerce Department folks who had been subjected to treatment from the State Auditor that they considered unfair/unduly harsh. Because of...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #49 — Wind Power Transmission
EDTC (Energy Development and Transmission Committee) met on Wednesday to discuss the North Dakota transmission grid status. A testifier from NextEra (which is the world’s largest utility by market capitalization) and other wind energy officials to follow stated that the outflow of electrons from North Dakota is basically maxed out. This makes sense given that […]hi
EDTC (Energy Development and Transmission Committee) met on Wednesday to discuss the North Dakota transmission grid status. A testifier from NextEra (which is the world’s largest utility by market capitalization) and other wind energy officials to follow stated that the outflow of electrons from North Dakota is basically maxed out. This makes sense given that we are such a rich energy producer...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #48 — Natural Resources and a Thank You
Wearing my NDSGA shirt, I was able to personally thank both the Governor and Agriculture Commissioner for their Monday trip around North Dakota to view the watery situation we are facing. The Governor told me that there are a lot of people in need and one could tell he was impacted by the tour. The […]hi
Wearing my NDSGA shirt, I was able to personally thank both the Governor and Agriculture Commissioner for their Monday trip around North Dakota to view the watery situation we are facing. The Governor told me that there are a lot of people in need and one could tell he was impacted by the tour. The Agriculture Commissioner could not get over all the water he could see from the plane as they...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2019 | #47 — Ag and Trans
This week the Interim Agriculture & Transportation Committee met for the first time. They took up transportation issues first and discussed electronic vehicles and charging stations (minimal in North Dakota on both counts), then the Road Train study. Senator Larry Luick has been the driver on road trains as he knows that we have a […]hi
This week the Interim Agriculture & Transportation Committee met for the first time. They took up transportation issues first and discussed electronic vehicles and charging stations (minimal in North Dakota on both counts), then the Road Train study. Senator Larry Luick has been the driver on road trains as he knows that we have a 900,000 CDL shortage in the USA and our own state is...