Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven today marked the grand opening of AGT Foods’ $10 million expansion at its extrusion plant in Minot. AGT’s expansion adds 25 jobs to the plant and will further support the export of local pulse crops, including lentils, dry peas, dry beans, and chickpeas, to countries around the globe. North Dakota is a top U.S. producer of pulse crops, which dovetails with AGT’s role as one of the world’s leading suppliers of value-added pulses, staple foods, and food ingredients with locations in more than 45 countries.

Both as governor and U.S. Senator, Hoeven has worked to advance investment in value-added agriculture in North Dakota, which both diversifies the economy and creates new markets for farmers, including the state’s pulse crop producers. Specifically, Hoeven's efforts include:

“North Dakota is the number one producer of pulse crops in the nation, and that comes as a result of our efforts to attract added-value agriculture investments, like AGT’s recent expansion, which gives our pulse growers a local market and reduced transportation costs,” said Senator Hoeven. “Value-added processing facilities like this solidify our state as an ag powerhouse for the world. That’s exactly why I’ve worked since my time as governor to prioritize projects like AGT’s extrusion plant while supporting agriculture research to strengthen our ability to grow all kinds of crops in our state with better yields and lower input costs. However, at the end of the day, all of this hinges on providing an adequate safety net for our producers so they can continue growing the highest-quality, lowest-cost food supply in the world. That is why we continue our efforts to keep the farm in the farm bill.”

Hoeven is working as a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee to make needed investments in the farm safety net and provide tools farmers need to maintain and expand their operations. To this end, Hoeven is working to include specific priorities in the next farm bill.