North Dakota Soybean Processors has applied for a $100,000 grant to defray the costs of preliminary engineering services for a soybean crush facility and refinery.

That’s one of the funding requests that came before the North Dakota Agriculture Products Utilization Commission in July.

Other projects involved barley, dry beans, wheat and hops.

Here’s a rundown of the applications for grants for basic and applied research, marketing and utilization, farm diversification, nature-based agritourism, prototype, and technology and technical assistance. 

TALKING STAGE: Soybeans would be crushed at a new plant in North Dakota.

Grand Forks Region EDC, Grand Forks, is requesting $32,382 to complete a market analysis for expanded transload services in the Grand Forks region. Contact Keith Lund at 701-746-2722.

North Dakota Soybean Processors, Fargo, is requesting $103,000 to defray costs for preliminary engineering services for a soybean crush facility and refinery. Contact Darin Perius at 701-541-0399.

Dakota Specialty Milling, Fargo, is requesting $203,000 to expand its domestic and international sales and marketing activities and engineering design work for a new 70,000-square-foot, food-grade warehouse. Contact Bryan Hendricks at 701-282-9656. 

New Energy Spirit Biomass Refinery LLC, Amherst, Mass., is requesting $125,000 to develop and operate a commercial-scale refinery that would be a part of the Spiritwood Industrial Energy Park in North Dakota. The project's purpose is to convert local crop residues such as corn stover and wheat straw into cellulosic ethanol and solid lignin biofuel and to market these profitably. Contact Stephan Rogers at 413-531-6884.

Spiritwood Ingredients LLC, Fergus Falls, Minn., is requesting $52,500 to develop and construct a barley processing plant using 5 million bushels of high-protein feed barley to produce high-concentrate barley protein for use in the aquaculture (fish farming) industry. The remaining coproduct will be used as feedstock for ethanol production. The project will be part of the Spiritwood Industrial Energy Park in North Dakota. Contact Todd Hylden at 218-205-0545.

Keshav Rajpal, Grand Forks, is requesting $253,000 for the Red River BioRefinery’s engineering phase of their project for a fully integrated biorefinery, which will be one of the largest advanced ethanol producers in the U.S. and one of the lowest-cost producers of both advanced and cellulosic ethanol. The biorefinery will transform low-value agricultural byproducts to value-added biofuels and other coproducts. Contact Keshav Rajpal at 608-334-7240. 

Crunchfuls North Dakota, Mountain View, Calif., is requesting $93,000 to bring the healthy benefits of North Dakota beans to schools in a convenient daily, ready-to-eat bean bar and bean bites, branded as Sure Snack, which are compliant with School Nutrition’s USDA. The project will focus on product sampling and product presentations with school food service directors toward securing their interest and partnership for launch in schools starting with North Dakota and expanding nationwide. Contact Stephanie Hoffart at 701-852-1075. 

Dakota Pride Cooperative, Jamestown, is requesting $34,262 to support business expansion efforts and partner with a producer for the marketing of a newly developed hard spring wheat variety. Contact Travis Bruner at 701-626-2070.

Fluffy Fields Vineyard & Winery, Dickinson, is requesting $91,987 to support a comprehensive marketing campaign designed to increase visitors and revenues; to conduct an evaluation of production practices; and to build a greenhouse to be used to expand the growing season. Contact Deb Kinzel at 701-483-2242. 

Intelligent Malt LLC, Fargo, is requesting $153,000 to produce a prototype barley malting unit that will be paired with a novel cloud-based marketplace to directly connect producers to consumers. The purpose of this project is to meet the growing demand for craft malted barley in the craft beverage sector. Contact Katrina Christiansen at 515-451-0859.

Section 3 Hops, Casselton, is requesting $14,279 to begin its initial planting and preparation phase for 1 acre of hops located in the Wheatland North Dakota area. Section 3 Hops hopes to grow local product that can be utilized in the local craft beers within the Fargo-Moorhead area as well as regionally, with plans to partner with breweries in neighboring states, such as South Dakota and Minnesota. Contact Amy Meier at 701-793-6299.

North Dakota State University Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Fargo, is requesting $25,473 to evaluate harvesting and application of cattails, a perennial herbaceous plant found in North Dakota, and to demonstrate their potential industrial applications as cellulosic raw material. Contact Amy Scott at 701-231-8045. 

The 2016 Agricultural Bio-Sciences International Conference, Fargo, is requesting $26,250 for marketing and educational efforts for the 2016 Conference to be held in Fargo Sept. 18-21. The conference is a premier global meeting promoting innovation in bioscience to ensure sustainable food, feed and fiber security. Contact Roger Reierson at 701-237-4850.

APUC is an office within Economic Development and Finance, a division of the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

For additional information, see ndapuc.com or facebook.com/NDAPUC.

Source: APUC