APUC grants draw praise from recipients; committee asks for measurable results

The House Appropriations Government Operations Division pressed the Ag Products Utilization Commission (APUC) and grantees for results and accountability after reviewing the commission's grant activity. Committee members requested examples that show whether awarded grants produced measurable outcomes.

Dan Kalyle, chairman of the Egg Products Utilization Commission (APUC), described the commission's competitive process: applicants present, commissioners score using a rubric, and awards proceed after a public discussion and vote. "There is 15 minutes to present, and then another 10 minutes allocated to questions," Kalyle said, and he described a score sheet and a ranking process that leads commissioners to the final awards.

Committee members asked for examples of awarded projects that met contractual deliverables and for projects that failed to meet goals so the legislature can assess return on investment. Representative Dave Bosch and others asked APUC and the department to provide top and bottom examples with their original application objectives and final outcomes. Kalyle said the commission and the department can work together to produce those materials.

Several grant recipients spoke to the committee and described business results tied to APUC awards:

- Roger Gushas, Healthy Oil Seeds (Carrington), said APUC funding helped his company obtain federal approvals and open markets. He said the company exported to 26 countries, sells in 49 states and employs eight people. He described a $65,000 APUC award for the "Hemp Feed Coalition" study that supported regulatory approvals allowing hemp seed into poultry feed markets, and earlier APUC support of $15,000 that aided market development.

- Deanna Lozinski of Guardian Grains (Ward County) said APUC funding purchased a stone mill and supported packaging and nutritional testing that enabled sales to larger buyers and distribution to food banks. She reported 59% business growth in 2023 and additional 40% growth in the following year after further APUC support; she noted her business received funding in two rounds.

- Casey Murphy, co‑owner of Cows & Co Creamery (Carrington), said a roughly $50,000 award in 2018 helped launch a licensed dairy processing operation that has since expanded to a retail cafe, a Fargo scoop shop and nationwide shipping, producing jobs and collecting sales tax for the state.

- Talon Steffen, CEO of EcoBalance Global, described an APUC award of roughly $172,000 that helped the startup pivot to attach soil carbon and stewardship claims to North Dakota beef and to begin marketing and verification work. Steffen said the award supported travel, verifiers and marketing that led to memorandum‑level agreements in Dubai and market conversations with buyers in Mongolia, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

APUC-related statistics the committee reviewed: since 2021 the commission recorded 59 applications in the most recent biennium, funding 34 projects for roughly $2.3 million from about $7.3 million in requests; nine companies have received funding twice (typically for a distinct or phased project rather than identical repeat awards).

Kalyle and committee members agreed to assemble representative high‑scoring and lower‑scoring applications with their contractual deliverables and final reports so legislators can see which projects met benchmarks, which did not, and how the commission enforces contractual reporting and payment conditions.