Research agreement reached

North Dakota State University and the USDA's Agricultural Research Service have signed an agreement to collaborate on research to convert cropland to biomass production for energy use in North Dakota.

Under the agreement, the ARS's Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan will provide funding for a research associate in the NDSU Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department who will be based in Mandan.

The research associate also will work closely with NDSU's Bio Energy and Product Innovation Center. The center serves as a single site within NDSU to develop, coordinate and promote the development of bio-related activities at NDSU and in North Dakota.

The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station also will be involved. The NDAES is conducting research at its centers throughout the state, in conjunction with the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, to develop dedicated energy crops.

The process of hiring someone at the research laboratory in Mandan has started, with the hope that the research associate will start in the next few months.