2025 Agricultural Outlook
special section inside! The official newspaper of Cavalier County Theborderlandpress.com
In this issue:
Friday, March 14, 2025
Raising the steaks
American Legion Riders to By Rebecca Davis host community dance on What started as a fundraiser for Relay for Life over 10 years ago has become a beloved community fundraiser in Walhalla. Each year, Jackson’s Bar takes Saturday! By Hilary Nowatzki Meat raffles rally for community fundraisers
requests from local charities and nonprofits and then draws for dates. Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and community members who donate meat or simply show up to support the cause, the meat raffles continue to be a resounding success.
News: Mountain hosts Thorablót, an Icelandic celebration, Pg. A2
“We really do them because we, at the bar, and the sponsors believe in helping out our community,” said Chris Jackson, bar manager at Jackson’s. “It gives everyone a chance to attend, socialize and help make a difference for the community.” Upcoming meat raffle beneficiaries are Kids Choice Daycare, Walhalla Volunteer Fire Department, Walhalla Ambulance, Pembilier Nursing Center, Walhalla Public Library and the Walhalla Swimming Pool. A meat raffle consists of multiple rounds, each offering participants a chance to win a selection of meat. During each round, volunteers walk through the venue showcasing the available cuts while ticket sellers follow closely behind, giving attendees the opportunity to purchase tickets. Once all tickets for a round are sold, a winning ticket is drawn from a bucket, and the winner is announced. The process then repeats for the next round until all the meat has been raffled off.
News: Randy Melhoff honored for 30 years of service to LREC, Pg. A3
UPCOMING MEAT RAFFLES AT JACKSON’S BAR: March 14- Kids Choice Daycare March 21- Walhalla Fire Department March 28- Walhalla Ambulance April 4- Pembilier Nursing Center April 11- Walhalla Public Library April 18- Walhalla Swimming Pool
Bringing healthcare home
Langdon Prairie Health's Visiting Nurse Service expands care to the community By Hilary Nowatzki
There is reason to celebrate at Langdon Prairie Health (LPH), as a new program is helping homebound patients receive the medical care they need without leaving the comfort of their own homes. The Visiting Nurse Service, launched by LPH in October, provides in-home nursing visits to eligible patients, offering care ranging from wound management to vital sign monitoring.
"It's a great program to promote patients being able to stay in their homes longer and also manage chronic conditions and communicate with the provider to help keep those patients at home," explained Maria Eisenzimmer, clinic manager and population health nurse as well as an LPN who helps with the Visiting Nurse Service. The idea itself is not new, as Darla Roder, chief operating officer at LPH, said she first started dreaming of this type of program 15 years ago when she was still the clinic director. “What triggered me to even start looking into it was there was a patient at the time that could really have used a home health type visit, and then come to find out that they didn't cont’d. on page A9
The American Legion Riders of Langdon are organizing a community dance fundraiser to raise funds to benefit the Legion Memorial Fund. This money will support the construction of a memorial to be installed in Langdon honoring all branches of the military. On March 15, community members are invited out to kick up their heels to some awesome jams. The event will last from 9 p.m. until midnight and aims to bring people together for an evening of music, prizes, and fun. “The American Legion riders wanted to put together a fundraiser to help the Legion for their Legion Memorial Fund,” said Jeremy Schuler, American Legion Riders president. “So we thought to get people out and about, let's try a live dance and just see what we can get for people to come out and make some money for these guys.” There is a $10 per person entry fee for the dance, and all ages are encouraged to attend. "This isn't just for adults,” noted Schuler. “Why can't our kids in our community or neighboring towns, why can't they come and have fun, too, and dance and just hang out?"
For more information or to donate meat for a raffle, please contact Jackson at Jackson’s Bar, 701-5493183. Sports: Lady Cardinals compete at state tournament, Pg. A11
Volume 4, Number 10
The live band playing on March 15 will
be AutoDrive. Composed of a group of young Starkweather teens; the band has a passion for the classics and has made several appearances in Langdon before, including at last year’s MusicFest. "I noticed that the band may look a little younger, but they do play good classic rock music, so those kids are great," said Schuler. In addition to the music, the evening will include various prize opportunities, such as 50/50 raffles and other games and activities. Attendees can also look forward to light refreshments, including ham sandwiches and chips, served later in the evening. The bar at the Legion will be open for the dance as well. There’s something special about gathering with other community members for fun and beneficial events like the dance, said Schuler.
"I like seeing people get out and get together and smile and laugh and forget about all the other crap that's going on during the day, you know,” exclaimed Schuler. "I just hope to see a lot of people out there to have fun and listen to music."
Rural North Dakota issues a priority for new group of lawmakers By Michael Achterling/The North Dakota Monitor Sen. Janne Myrdal likes to point out that everything North Dakota exports, from energy to food, starts from a gravel road. That’s why she and other rural lawmakers banded together this session to share information on how they can better serve their communities. The rural caucus, about 50 lawmakers from both chambers, amounting up to about a third of the total legislators, try to meet at least once a week to go over bills, their amendments and how they would affect rural constituents. “Because we are split up into committees between the two chambers, you don’t have time to go and listen to other hearings. You trust your colleagues in those committees,” said Myrdal, R-Edinburg, co-chair of the unofficial caucus. “This rural caucus gives us an opportunity to share what’s actually going on and what we’re fighting for.” Co-chair Rep. Jared Hagert, R-Emerado, said there was strong interest during the organizational session in December about forming the caucus to highlight rural priorities. “We may differ on the prioritization of them all, but it’s important to get those issues out,” he said. Hagert said the caucus doesn’t have any pledges to vote a certain way, but he hopes members would stick together to benefit rural areas. Myrdal said the pace of legislation making its way through the committees and the floor can be dizzying, so having a group that can highlight specific bills affecting their constituencies is invaluable. A total of 1,083
bills and resolutions have been introduced this session, the highest number since 2009, according to the Legislative Council. Although many think of rural N.D. as agricultural land, Myrdal points out the rural communities depend on a lot of institutions and services. “Grocery stores, hospitals, ambulance services, schools, you name it. It’s everything,” Myrdal said. “A citizen, one of us 40% that live in rural North Dakota, has the exact same needs as somebody that lives in downtown Fargo.” One bill highlighted during a recent caucus meeting was Senate Bill 2363, sponsored by Sen. Robert Erbele, R-Lehr. Erbele’s bill would have decreased the amount of property taxes that could be levied by local school districts on agricultural land. The bill failed on a 23-23 vote last week on the Senate floor. Sen. Paul Thomas, R-Velva, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and rural caucus, said residential, commercial and agricultural land are split pretty evenly on how much they contribute to local property taxes. But with major property tax reform bills targeting primary residences to provide savings to homeowners, agricultural producers are feeling left out of the conversation, he said. “It wouldn’t matter if we were talking about just the commercial sector, or just the ag sector, it just needs to continue a balanced approach,” Thomas said. If the property tax reform measures
are signed into law, he said the next time a small community or school wants to do a large project, a greater share of the burden will fall on ag producers. Thomas added he’s hopeful agricultural land will see property tax savings as bills are modified during the second half of the session. He said one of the greatest benefits for rural communities that passed during the first half of the session was an increase to the Flexible Transportation Fund, which, if signed into law, will include additional funding dedicated solely to road and bridge maintenance and replacement across rural areas of the state. “I think one of the encouraging things of that is a steady stream of funding that we don’t have to come back here and argue about every session about how much it should be, or shouldn’t be,” Thomas said. He said he believes the rural caucus lawmakers have created a louder, more unified voice to highlight rural issues during the first half of the session. Lobbying groups also find the rural caucus as another avenue to inform lawmakers about bills their mainly rural-focused organizations are concerned about. “Sometimes they’ve been overlooked to focus on the needs of population centers, and there are so many people in this state that don’t live in one of those population centers that they need a strong voice,” said Pete Hanebutt, director of public policy for the N.D. Farm Bureau.
Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, speaks during a meeting of the rural caucus in the House conference room on Feb. 20, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
Matt Perdue, government relations director for the N.D. Farmers Union, said there is a lot of strength in people coming together and working through issues that can benefit all of them. “We often talk about the business of agriculture, but the future of agriculture relies on farmers and ranchers having strong communities to live in, access to good local services and a good quality of life,” Perdue said. “I really see the rural caucus as being a key place where we can address those issues.” People are starting to take notice of the group, Myrdal said during a rural caucus meeting after announcing that Gov. Kelly Armstrong expressed interest in attending a future meeting. “We have a voice this time,” she said. “And it’s not like we’re saying, ‘Hey, just listen to us,’ but no, we’re part of the conversation. We’re at the table.”