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House Ag Committee hears support for higher barley and wheat checkoffs and governance changes in Senate Bill 2,161
Summary
Supporters from North Dakota barley and wheat organizations told the House Agriculture Committee that Senate Bill 2,161 would raise producer assessments and add flexibility to council representation to fund research, marketing and education. The committee held a hearing but did not take a vote.
Senator Greg Kessel, a family farmer from Belfield, urged the House Agriculture Committee to back Senate Bill 2,161, which would raise assessment rates for the North Dakota Barley Council and the North Dakota Wheat Commission and change how district representatives are selected.
"This bill addresses critical needs in governance and resource allocation, ensuring that the interests of our state's barley and wheat producers are protected and advanced," Senator Kessel said, describing provisions that would allow appointment of at‑large representatives when districts cannot fill seats and increase the barley assessment from 20 to 30 mills per bushel and the wheat assessment from 15 to 20 mills per bushel.
Supporters told the committee the increases are intended to preserve funding for research, market development and education programs that benefit producers across North Dakota. Nathan Ball, chairman of the North Dakota Barley Council, said North Dakota produces roughly "25 to 30% of the U.S. barley produced in the U.S." and described partnerships with North Dakota State University, the U.S. Grains Council and other organizations.
"By going to 3¢ a bushel, that accounts about 61¢ an acre," Ball said, and he added that only about 2% of growers request a refund of the refundable checkoff, which he described as a high approval rate among producers.
Scott Hughes, a board member of the North Dakota Wheat Commission, said the wheat assessment has been unchanged since 2005 and that the commission is seeing its ending balance decline. He told the committee the commission "unanimously supports this 5,000,000 increase in the wheat checkoff" and highlighted research, international promotion and domestic outreach funded by checkoff dollars.
Neil Fisher, administrator of the North Dakota Wheat Commission, told the committee the commission places receipts with the state treasurer and the interest income noted in the commission audit reflects conservative investments such as certificates of deposit approved by state oversight.
Commission and grower representatives described how revenue supports NDSU breeding and variety testing, international market development with U.S. Wheat Associates and outreach to domestic buyers. Mark Birtzel, a wheat commissioner, said about 37% of the commission budget goes to research and about 31% to international marketing.
Committee members asked about possible use of funds for lobbying and current commission reserves. Senator Kessel and witnesses said funds used for national lobbying are routed through third‑party organizations such as the Grain Growers organization and that the commission maintains conservative reserves to continue programs through variable production years.
The committee closed the hearing on Senate Bill 2,161 with no committee vote recorded.
Supporters included producer organizations and commission members who stressed research, variety development, market promotion and consumer education as primary uses for increased checkoff dollars. No opposition testimony was recorded during the hearing.
The committee moved on to other bills; there was no formal committee action on Senate Bill 2,161 during the recorded session.
The hearing transcript shows detailed testimony on the funding breakdowns, the intent behind governance changes to allow appointments when districts lack participants, and the commissions' use of conservative investments for short‑term cash management.
