Ag Business Briefs

Fargo specialty ingredient group buys Valley City flax plant

VALLEY CITY, N.D. — A Fargo specialty ingredient company is buying a flax manufacturing plant in Valley City.

KOVC radio reported that Healthy Food Ingredients, LLC has reached a deal to purchase Heartland Flax. Terms of the deal were not announced.

The agreement called for Luther Dietrich to remain as president of the Valley City plant. Dietrich said the deal will provide the opportunity for sales to expand into new markets.

Healthy Food Ingredients is the parent company of SK Food International, based in Fargo.

— Associated Press

Avera, Mount Marty get grants for telemedicine, education

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Two institutions in South Dakota have received grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture meant to help connect rural communities with medical and educational services.

Avera Health and Mount Marty College are each receiving one of the 81 grants that the USDA has awarded for distance learning and telemedicine projects.

Avera is receiving more than $494,000 to provide pharmacy services to 18 rural, understaffed hospitals through telemedicine. The agency said the grant will allow a pharmacist to provide prescription review and pharmacy support 24 hours a day.

Mount Marty College is getting more than $116,000 to buy video conferencing equipment to offer tribal colleges classes that are part of the curriculum of a master’s degree in education. The USDA said this project will help train current and future teachers.

— Associated Press

Turn your junk into ‘Fair’Cycled Art at the SD State Fair

Huron, S.D. — Entries are being accepted for the “Fair”Cycled Art Contest at the 2016 South Dakota State Fair.

Creations need to be constructed out of ‘recycled’ items, or items already found lying around. New resources can only account for 10 percent of the materials used. Divisions include a table top art division and a yard art division. In each division, there are two age categories, 17 years old and under and 18 years and older.

A first place prize of $50 will be awarded in each division and second place in each division will receive $25. The registration deadline is Aug. 22. Exhibits are due to the State Fair office by Aug. 29, unless prior arrangements have been made.

Entry forms can be obtained online at sdstatefair.com, by calling 800-529-0900 or at the SD State Fair office in Huron.

Stocks of many North Dakota crops up from previous year

FARGO, N.D. — Stocks of many crops in North Dakota are up from the previous year.

The U.S. Agriculture Department’s latest report shows soybean stocks up 73 percent on June 1, barley stocks up 43 percent, all wheat stocks up 39 percent, corn stocks up 32 percent and oat stocks up 21 percent.

Durum wheat stocks were down 7 percent.

— Associated Press

Farm Fun Day set for Bramble Park Zoo

The Farm Fun Day at the Bramble Park Zoo will be held on Saturday, July 30, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A limited quantity of youth tickets are available at McDonald’s for entrance into the Bramble Park Zoo that day. Come and participate in many hands-on activities with your children and grandchildren.

A meal and SDSU ice cream will also be available for purchase along with other games.

— Watertown Public Opinion

Heat lamp caused fire that killed 7,000 baby turkeys

LANCASTER, Mass. — The Massachusetts fire marshal said a heat lamp sparked last month’s fire that killed more than 7,000 baby turkeys in Lancaster.

State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey and Lancaster Fire Chief Michael Hanson said the June 30 fire at Bob’s Turkey Farm was caused by either a mechanical or an electrical failure of a newly installed propane-fueled heat lamp.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, but the farm said the blaze would affect the ability to fill its 8,000 Thanksgiving orders.

The turkeys, called poults, ranged in age from 1 day to 3 weeks old.

— Associated Press

More than 900,000 leafy spurge-eating beetles distributed

BISMARCK, N.D. — More than 900,000 flea beetles that eat leafy spurge were distributed during recent field days in Billings, Grant and Stutsman counties.

Leafy spurge is one of North Dakota’s most problematic weeds. The state Agriculture Department and county weed boards set up the field days so people with spurge problems can collect the bugs from established populations.

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the beetles have proven to be an effective biological control tool.

Other options to combat leafy spurge include herbicide application, sheep or goat grazing and cultivation.

— Associated Press