Gov. Doug Burgum and Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller today joined federal, state and local officials in celebrating the grand opening of the new Innovation Shop at Grand Farm, highlighting how the facility will support innovation in autonomous and precision agriculture technology and help boost productivity for farmers.
The Innovation Shop is the first building constructed on the Grand Farm Innovation Campus just west of Casselton, led by Emerging Prairie. Burgum, who also attended the groundbreaking for the Innovation Shop in October 2022, cited the incredible gains in productivity in agriculture and said the research and innovation at Grand Farm’s new facility will help producers become even more efficient with fewer inputs and greater outputs. The Innovation Shop also has the potential to spin off new companies, he noted.
“We’ve had a century in North Dakota of people helping to feed the world, and when we’ve got food security, that’s part of national security. So great things are happening,” Burgum said during the grand opening ceremony.
The governor thanked Miller, who served on Grand Farm’s founding steering committee, as well as state legislators and Commerce Commissioner Josh Teigen, who oversaw the awarding of a $10 million grant to Grand Farm that was included in Burgum’s Accelerate ND plan and approved by the 67th Legislative Assembly during its special session in November 2021.
Burgum also expressed gratitude for the private sector partners who provided matching funds, including lead donor Gary Tharaldson. founder of Tharaldson Hospitality Management and Tharaldson Ethanol, and other partners including Microsoft, which invested $1.5 million in October 2019 to help get Grand Farm started.