APUC Awards Funding Requests Totalling $259,932 Posted on 2/25/2013
The North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) awarded funding requests for five projects totaling $259,932 at its quarterly meeting held February 21, 2013 in Bismarck.
APUC is a program of the North Dakota Department of Commerce which administers grant programs for researching and developing new and expanded uses for North Dakota agricultural products. The grants can be used for basic and applied research, marketing and utilization, farm diversification, nature based agritourism, prototype and technology, and technical assistance.
The following awarded requests were funded:
NDSU Department of Plant Sciences, Fargo, was awarded $75,000 to assist in research that will expand utilization of NDSU products, ultimately improving the expansion and future of the agricultural economy of the state.
NDSU Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, Fargo, will receive funding of $38,612 to assist in research that will explore the feasibility of using flax fiber as a replacement for glass fiber in the Thermo-Lite product line produced by SpaceAge Synthetics.
NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center, Carrington, was awarded $64,320 to defray the costs of a project that will examine the potential use of energy beets for bioremediation of saline soils.
The following projects were awarded, and are pending funding upon completion of contingencies: Crunchfuls of North Dakota, LLC, Minot, will receive funding of $56,000 to assist in plans for building a direct-sell marketing business plan for value-added agricultural products. This business will leverage the bean-based functional platform marketed under the Crunchfuls brand including cereals, snacks and bars.
Aspen Aquaponics, Bottineau, will receive funding of $26,000 to defray the costs associated with conducting a study for expanding operations to include product packaging for the retail market. The company plans to complete a feasibility study and business plan to confirm the size and scope of the market prior to the expansion.
The next APUC board hearing will be held May 15th, in Fargo. Applications for the May meeting must be received by April 1st. Prototype and Technical Assistance grants must be received by March 1st.
