$7.5 million in funding is available through the Autonomous Agriculture Grant Program at the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
Tracey Miller is Deputy Director at the Economic Development and Finance division. She says the money was appropriated by the North Dakota Legislature, and aims to support transformative projects that advance autonomous agriculture in the state.
"Right now, the goal is to increase efficiency in the agriculture sector, reduce labor needs, improve yields, and really create a grounds and support for continual innovation in that sector."
She says funding may be awarded as a single grant, or divided among multiple recipients. Grand Farm is a previous recipient of this funding.
Miller says eligible projects may include development of commercialization of ag-tech innovations, workforce training programs or research and deployment of unmanned systems among others.
Applicants must be non-profits, public-private partnerships or industry consortia with a permanent North Dakota presence.
Proposals must be emailed to Shayden Akason at sakason@nd.gov.