U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) recently outlined his ongoing efforts to advance North Dakota’s role as a hub for precision agriculture technologies.
“Precision agriculture offers a real opportunity for farmers and ranchers to improve efficiency and return on investment, and we are developing the future of this technology right here in North Dakota,” Sen. Hoeven said during a Nov. 27 focus group meeting for Emerging Prairie, an organization focused on connecting entrepreneurs and spurring economic growth in North Dakota.
Sen. Hoeven discussed his work to secure support for Grand Farm, an Emerging Prairie-led project to develop and demonstrate new precision agriculture that will help address farming challenges, according to information provided by his staff.
“That’s what Grand Farm is all about — ensuring our agriculture producers remain on the cutting-edge and giving them a leg up as they compete in the global marketplace,” said Sen. Hoeven. “We’ve worked to ensure Emerging Prairie is in a strong position to make use of federal funds for the project.”
Sen. Hoeven, chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, successfully got language included in the Fiscal Year 2020 Agriculture Appropriations Bill to prioritize projects like Grand Farm. The full Senate approved the bill in October.
Sen. Hoeven also maintains support for deploying rural broadband in his home state to boost the implementation of precision agriculture technology. “We continue developing the infrastructure we need, like rural broadband, and growing our technology sector to keep these innovations moving forward,” he said.
For example, Sen. Hoeven in January sponsored the bipartisan Move America Act of 2019, S. 146, with bill cosponsor U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), which would allow tax-exempt bonds and tax credits to be used for certain infrastructure projects, including rural broadband service infrastructure, according to the congressional record summary.
Among several other related bills Sen. Hoeven introduced to spur agriculture technology is the bipartisan Support Our Start-Ups Act, S. 2841, which he unveiled in November with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to help entrepreneurs deduct more of their start-up costs to more quickly invest those funds in their operations.