N.D. beef plant receives $1 million federal grant – Plant could be training ground for students

A $1 million federal grant for a proposed beef plant at North Dakota State University should convince other groups to give money for the $3 million project, officials say.

By DAVE KOLPACK – Associated Press Writer Helena IR

The grant was announced Friday by Gov. John Hoeven, who said the Center of Excellence in Beef Systems will promote research development and lead to higher-paying jobs.

‘‘I’m sure some of the other groups are waiting to put their money in until they’re quite confident it’s a sure thing,” said Ken Odde, chairman of NDSU’s Department of Animal and Range Sciences. ‘‘We’ve had favorable feedback from those groups, but as of yet, we don’t have any firm commitments.”

The Legislature has approved $800,000 for the center, and project organizers are looking to raise another $1 million from other groups ‘‘as soon as possible,” Odde said. Additional funding is being sought from beef, corn, barley and soybean groups in North Dakota, he said.

Backers say the plant would be a training ground for students, a testing site for new technology and meat and cattle science, and a template for producer-owned processing plants in other parts of the state.

‘‘We’re using our knowledge base of higher education and adding value to products,” said Lance Gaebe, farm policy adviser to Hoeven. ‘‘This concept has been formulated for a lot of groups.”

There were more than 20 applications to the USDA for 10 projects, Gaebe said.

‘‘This was a very good day,” Odde said. ‘‘But we still have much work ahead of us.”

The project is being spearheaded by NDSU, the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. It has been in the works for more than a year, with hopes of completion within two years.

The NDSU plant would handle about 12,000 cattle per year, officials said. It would initially create about 25 packing-plant jobs.

There are more than 1 million head of feeder cattle produced in North Dakota every year.

http://helenair.com/articles/2003/09/27/montana/a07092703_03.txt