701-566-9300Murphy’s Law 2023 Blog | #23 — Waldron Hall (NDSU Research and Extension)
Also known as the Ag Field Lab, Waldron Hall is the number one priority item identified by SBARE (State Board of Agricultural Research and Education) for this legislative session. The bill it is found within is HB 1020, which contains all manner of funding for Research and Extension efforts. The building would replace four aging […]hi
Also known as the Ag Field Lab, Waldron Hall is the number one priority item identified by SBARE (State Board of Agricultural Research and Education) for this legislative session. The bill it is found within is HB 1020, which contains all manner of funding for Research and Extension efforts. The building would replace four aging structures, I believe, with the central focus of being seed and...
Murphy’s Law 2023 | #13 — Zoning, Transportation, NDSU Research and Extension
The day started by attending two full House Appropriations final budget hearings on HB 1012 (DOT), and NDSU Research and Extension HB 1020. One interesting facet of the $2.4 billion DOT bill is a new $115 million in flexible funding whereby the department can spend that on projects off the state system (such as county […]hi
The day started by attending two full House Appropriations final budget hearings on HB 1012 (DOT), and NDSU Research and Extension HB 1020. One interesting facet of the $2.4 billion DOT bill is a new $115 million in flexible funding whereby the department can spend that on projects off the state system (such as county or township roads or bridges they deem of importance). The $336 million...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2022 | #11 — Last Ag and Natural Resources Meeting
The last Ag and Natural Resources Committee meeting lasted about 90 minutes in Fargo and was kicked off by the new president of NDSU, Dr. David Cook. He discussed his past experience in higher education in both Iowa and Kansas and gave an update on how he has hit the ground running by going around […]hi
The last Ag and Natural Resources Committee meeting lasted about 90 minutes in Fargo and was kicked off by the new president of NDSU, Dr. David Cook. He discussed his past experience in higher education in both Iowa and Kansas and gave an update on how he has hit the ground running by going around the state visiting each of the eight NDSU Research stations. I was impressed with his...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2022 | #10 — Ag Coalition Meeting
A two-fold mission was played out this week in BisMan. One, was to attend portions of the International Legislators Forum (ILF) followed and capped by the Ag Coalition meeting. The ILF is made up of legislators from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba. It was founded more than twenty years ago with the intent […]hi
A two-fold mission was played out this week in BisMan. One, was to attend portions of the International Legislators Forum (ILF) followed and capped by the Ag Coalition meeting. The ILF is made up of legislators from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba. It was founded more than twenty years ago with the intent of working on mutual water issues, especially the Red River Basin....
Murphy’s Law Blog 2022 | #9 — North Dakota Joint Summer Water Meeting
The North Dakota Joint Summer Water Meeting is considered a joint meeting because during parts of the three days they meet, Garrison Diversion and Water Resource Districts hang out and do business, sometimes independently, at other times together. This week it was at the Holiday Inn of Fargo, and I will report briefly on my […]hi
The North Dakota Joint Summer Water Meeting is considered a joint meeting because during parts of the three days they meet, Garrison Diversion and Water Resource Districts hang out and do business, sometimes independently, at other times together. This week it was at the Holiday Inn of Fargo, and I will report briefly on my jumping around to cover both organizations: Mostly I spent time with...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2022 | #4 Tax Committee, Other Issues
On April 6, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association (NDSGA) Executive Director and newly named American Soybean Association (ASA) Leadership Award winner Nancy Johnson showed why she deserves both titles when addressing the interim North Dakota Tax Committee. When this committee last met, I had testified in favor of keeping the soybean crush tax incentive and […]hi
On April 6, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association (NDSGA) Executive Director and newly named American Soybean Association (ASA) Leadership Award winner Nancy Johnson showed why she deserves both titles when addressing the interim North Dakota Tax Committee. When this committee last met, I had testified in favor of keeping the soybean crush tax...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2022 | #2 — Ag and Natural Resources
This committee had met for the first time in October and now for the second time this Tuesday. They have completed most of what they were assigned to do, receiving reports from the Advisory committee on Sustainable Agriculture. Because year after year nothing is done with this topic, they are submitting a draft bill to […]hi
This committee had met for the first time in October and now for the second time this Tuesday. They have completed most of what they were assigned to do, receiving reports from the Advisory committee on Sustainable Agriculture. Because year after year nothing is done with this topic, they are submitting a draft bill to do away with the annual reporting. The issue is that no one can...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #53 — Special Session
In my father’s opinion, it was nuts to take out a loan to go on vacation. I agree with that and it was the analogy used yesterday when discussing the water budget and funding with the Legislature’s water guru, Representative Jim Schmidt. He would like to build a reserve fund for water so that projects […]hi
In my father’s opinion, it was nuts to take out a loan to go on vacation. I agree with that and it was the analogy used yesterday when discussing the water budget and funding with the Legislature’s water guru, Representative Jim Schmidt. He would like to build a reserve fund for water so that projects can use cash. If I understood him correctly, he would use unanticipated oil...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #52 — Ag/Energy Summit, Special Session
The first Agriculture and Energy summit was held at the Fargo Radisson on Tuesday, November 9 in the afternoon. Hosted by the Commerce Department, it was taking a stab at getting players together looking for synergies seeing as, and I quote the ND Commerce Dept.’s Josh Teigen – “70% of North Dakota’s GDP is related […]hi
The first Agriculture and Energy summit was held at the Fargo Radisson on Tuesday, November 9 in the afternoon. Hosted by the Commerce Department, it was taking a stab at getting players together looking for synergies seeing as, and I quote the ND Commerce Dept.’s Josh Teigen – “70% of North Dakota’s GDP is related to oil and soil.” Gotta nice ring to it, does it not?
I have to tell...
Murphy’s Law Blog 2021 | #51 — SBARE Testimony
The State Board of Agricultural Research and Education (SBARE) has been around for almost 25 years and has several stated goals you can read on their website, but it is about Ag research and getting those results applied to help producers and their communities. They hold listening sessions for several days around the state to help […]hi
The State Board of Agricultural Research and Education (SBARE) has been around for almost 25 years and has several stated goals you can read on their website, but it is about Ag research and getting those results applied to help producers and their communities. They hold listening sessions for several days around the state to help them prioritize needs so that they can present them to the...