Around the State: February 21, 2022

The counties and cities within the state of North Dakota hold many interesting news stories.

Here are just a few of the feature stories that others are reading in communities around the state.

The basics of vertical farming

Farms often inspire awe thanks to their beauty and the serenity of the areas that surround them. Though no farms may inspire such feelings as strongly as those in the heart of the countryside, another type of farm can induce a sense of awe as well.

Vertical farms vary in size, but the largest ones mimic the appearance of skyscrapers, if the skyscrapers were made of plants.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, increasing production of fresh greens and vegetables near urban populations will be a necessity in the decades to come. That’s because estimates from the United Nations indicate that global population will exceed nine billion persons by 2050, by which time two-thirds of the world’s people will live in urban settings.

Vertical farming could be vital to meeting the demands for healthy foods by 2050, making it worth anyone’s while to gain a basic understanding of this unique way to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

Vertical farms grow foods in stacked layers, which gives large vertical farms their skyscraper-like appearance. Some vertical farms employ techniques similar to greenhouses, utilizing natural light when it’s available and augmenting that with artificial lighting to ensure the plants grow regardless of the conditions outside.

The Vertical Harvest farm in Jackson, Wyoming, produces 100,000 pounds of vegetables per year and uses a fraction of the water of traditional farms with similar outputs. Utilizing hydroponics and moving carousels, Vertical Harvest consumes 90 percent less water than traditional farms.

(Story taken from the Benson County Farmers Press)

Beast Custom Works featured in national mag.

If there’s one thing Neil Walton knows, its trucks. Not only has he been working on his own vehicles since he was a teenager, he also owns his own official business working on vehicles.

Beast Custom Works, in Englevale, states on the Facebook page: “if you can dream it, we can build it!”

And Walton, along with his partner Brad Sjolin at Sinister Design, have done a ton of different projects ever since, making all kinds of dreams come true.

One of his recent projects was even featured in the national magazine Diesel Tech.

The story ran in the October 2021 edition of the magazine. It was called: “A Conversion Story: Why Durasquare Trucks are so Popular,” and featured several photos of Walton’s work.

The story focuses on two of Walton’s swap projects coined Durasquare One and Durasquare Two.

(Story by Mattie Richardson-Schmitz, the Ransom County Gazette)

Bakken Area Skills Center one step closer

The McKenzie County Public School District No. 1 is one step closer to bringing the Bakken Area Skills Center to reality after receiving a $6,666,666 grant from the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education.

The McKenzie County Public School District No. 1 is just one of three school districts in North Dakota to receive the funding. In addition to the McKenzie County School District No. 1, Minot and Dickinson also received funding at the same level.

According to district superintendent Steve Holen, the state legislature approved $70 million on a dollar for dollar matching grant for the creation of skills centers in North Dakota. But the committee that oversaw the funds decided to only partially fund three projects at this time.

“Ideally, we will be able to open the 38,000-square-foot Bakken Area Skills Center in the fall of 2023,” stated Holen.

According to Holen, with nearly two-thirds of the school district’s graduating seniors not attending a four-year college, there is definitely a need to provide additional training to prepare them for jobs in the workforce.

Initially, Holen says that the main focus of training at the skills center would be for training workers in the healthcare, building trades and automation fields. But the training would be adjusted as the needs warrant.

(Story by Neal A. Shipman, the McKenzie County Farmer)

Glacial weather expected to linger

Surrounded by the happy men in top hats, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter earlier this month, which by all accounts, seems to be accurate in these parts, indicates a National Weather Service (NWS) spokesperson.

Bismarck-based meteorologist Megan Jones cautions that we might not be out of the woods yet as far as the frigid temperatures go.

“We still have that La Nina ongoing. It’ll be a little bit easier to get Arctic air outbreaks, and so, definitely there still is the possibility of pretty cold temperatures ahead into February and into the start of spring,” stated the climate program leader.

For the uninitiated, the La Nina weather pattern is typically characterized by winds along the equator that push warm water westward, which causes deep cold waters to emerge to the surface.

During the winter, the hearty winds cool the Pacific Ocean a few degrees less than normal. What that means for the local communities is mild fall seasons followed by treacherously cold winters which was abnormally not the case in 2021, but very much so this year.

Looking ahead to the fall and winter seasons of 2022, the climate expert acknowledged that the two consecutive La Nina years we’ve experienced will more than likely usher in an ENSO-neutral phase.

(Story by Ralph Mancini, BHG News)