10 / www.FarmProgress.com – March 2012
Dakota Farmer
Around Dakota Ag
Dakota Digest
Zero tillage
association
gives awards
T
HE Manitoba-North Dakota Zero
Tillage Farmers Association
recently honored Kevin Larson of
Willow City, N.D., with the U.S. Zero
Till Farmer of the Year award, and
Roger Ashley, North Dakota State
University Extension area cropping
systems specialist, Dickinson, with
the U.S. Zero Till Non-Farmer of the
Year award.
Larson started no-tilling 30 years
ago, has served on the ManitobaNorth Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers
Association board for six years,
and last year introduced the New
Zealand Cross Slot seeding system
to the region.
Ashley has been an adviser to
Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage
Farmers Association board of directors and has been a leader on its
program and zero-till publication
committees.
New cheese
plant coming
to SD
By LON TONNESON
‘A
HECK of a shot in the
arm for everybody”
is how David Skaggs,
South Dakota Department
of Agriculture dairy development director, describes
the announcement that Bel
Brands is going to build a $120
million cheese plant in Brookings, S.D.
The plant could eventually need the
milk from 15,000 cows, which will be good
for the state’s current dairies and for those
that want to expand or relocate to South
Dakota, Skaggs says.
It also will be good for farmers who produce feed and forage for dairies, for the calf
and heifer growers who custom-raise their
replacements, and for cattle producers
who buy and feed out the steers. And the
new cheese plant will eventually employ
400 people.
“It will be good for everybody in agriculture,” says Walt Bones, South Dakota
secretary of agriculture.
Bel Brands makes The Laughing Cow
cheese wedges and Mini Babybel products — the No. 1 brand of snacking cheese
in America. It also manufactures Boursin,
Merkts, Kaukauna and other natural and
gourmet cheese spreads.
Bel Brands USA, headquartered in
Chicago, has two other production facilities in the U.S., in Leitchfield, Ky., and
Little Chute, Wis. The company’s world-
SD making ‘strong push’
for additional dairies
O
N the heels of Bel Brands’ announcement, Gov. Dennis
Daugaard announced a “strong push” to further develop the dairy industry in South Dakota.
“The strategy will entail a multi-front effort,” says Lucas
Lentsch, South Dakota Department of Agriculture ag devvelopment director. “Our first priority is to grow from within
South Dakota’s existing dairy herds. For example, the
current permitted capacity is an additional 18,000, plus or
minus, cows above the current numbers being milked.
“Our next priority is a quality recruitment effort. We’re
looking for great people from family operations from
herds of all sizes to become a part of South Dakota.
Additionally, we will be working on a global basis. Many
A
of the dairy families we talk to within or outside of the
United States have a common theme of overly burdensome regulations or urban encroachment.”
Plans for new dairies — especially large ones —
sometimes run into local opposition. But
Lentsch says several communities have
Key Points
already expressed interest in having a
dairy sited nearby. “The communities
■ New Bel Brands cheese plant could be a
and counties that we’re hearing from
boost for all of agriculture.
have a pioneering spirit and a willing■ The new facility will need milk from
ness to engage in a conversation of
15,000 more cows.
what their future will look like in the next
■ Markets for feed, heifer growing and other
five to 10 to 20 years,” Lentsch says.
services will grow.
wide headquarters is in France.
“The robust South Dakota dairy industry and its hardworking Midwestern
values make Brookings an ideal location
for our new plant,” says Lance Chambers,
president and CEO of Bel Brands USA.
“Bel Brands has experienced significant
growth over the past few years, and this
new plant is essential to expanding our
production capacity to meet the growing
demand for our Mini Babybel cheeses,”
he adds.
Plant construction is planned in
two phases. Ground will be broken this
summer, with a 2014 target date for completion.
The second phase, which is contingent
on increased market demand, is envisioned to be built in 2016-17.
“I am thrilled to welcome Bel Brands to
South Dakota,” Gov. Dennis Daugaard said
in a statement released by his office.
“The impact of this project goes beyond
the creation of up to 400 jobs. It goes
beyond the estimated annual $500 million
economic impact once the plant is fully
operational. And it goes beyond the opportunity for our dairy operations to expand
both capacity and market share.
“Having an internationally respected
company like Bel Brands as our newest
corporate citizen tells the world that South
Dakota is open and ready for business from
anywhere around the globe.”
Give a gift
of grain to 4-H
HE South Dakota 4-H
Foundation urges you to consider giving a gift of grain this year.
“Self-employed farmers who
donate grain to the South Dakota
4-H Foundation not only benefit
local 4-H’ers, they also reduce their
self-employment tax and increase
their income tax savings,” says
Nancy Swanson, the foundation’s
executive director.
For more information on how to
use a gift of grain to support 4-H,
call Swanson at 605-688-4943,
email nancy.swanson@sdstate.edu,
or visit the website at sd4h
foundation.org.
T
What do you
think of the
beef checkoff?
R
ANCHERS who manage the
beef checkoff in South Dakota
want to hear from the state’s beef
and dairy producers who pay the
$1 checkoff.
To complete the survey, go
to www.surveymonkey.com/s/
SouthDakotaBeefIndustryCouncil.
Or call the South Dakota Beef
Industry Council office at 605-2244722.
Survey responses will be summarized and presented to the
SDBIC board this summer prior
to planning the 2013 fiscal year
budget.
Sources: Manitoba-North Dakota
Zero Tillage Farmers Association,
South Dakota 4-H Foundation,
SDBIC