News Releases for February 2002
February 8, 2002
For further information, please Contact the Governor's Office
Hoeven Announces $2.8 Million USDA Bison Buy
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today announced that the USDA has made a $2.8 million, 840,000 pound purchase of bison meat for the department’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. The Governor was notified this afternoon in a phone call from A.J. Yates, Administrator of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
“We’re pleased that the USDA has moved on this purchase in keeping with the timetable they outlined for me last November,” Hoeven said. “It represents a real boost for our bison industry, which has been experiencing financial difficulty.”
The purchase includes 640,000 pounds of ground bison meat, and 200,000 pounds of bison stew meat distributed in two-pound packages. The bids for the purchase went out in early January. The final bid was awarded today to the North American Bison Cooperative of New Rockford, ND. Distribution will take place between March 1 and June 30, 2002.
The USDA made the purchase under the 2002 agriculture appropriations bill, which unlike a similar 2001 appropriation makes grain-fed as well as grass-fed bison eligible for the purchase.
In early November, Hoeven met with USDA Deputy Undersecretary James Butler and department economist Dr. Ken Clayton in Washington, D.C. to push the 2002 purchase announced today, as well as an additional $10 million buy under the department’s Section 32 program. Section 32 allows the USDA to purchase surplus commodities from distressed industries for distribution through federal food assistance programs.
“We want to thank all the political support we got in the state, with an extra special thanks to Governor Hoeven and his staff,” said Chad Bullinger, marketing manager of the North American Bison Cooperative.
The officials told Hoeven that the USDA would begin the bidding process for a certain amount of poundage under Section 32 in mid-February. The department was reluctant to assign a dollar value to the buy because it could affect the bidding, according to Hoeven.
“The bison industry represents the third largest livestock sector in North Dakota,” Hoeven said. “We welcome today’s purchase, and look forward to another substantial purchase under Section 32 soon.”
E-mail comments to the Governor
