North Dakota Grain Growers Association President Ryan Ellis says their E-Tour delivers a real-world agricultural experience to EPA and USDA officials. “They work on pesticide labels that we use every day and they may not know much about production agriculture, especially how we do it in North Dakota.” The E-Tour has been taking place for over 30 years. Ellis says it has an impact. “When they consider setbacks, they have all these thoughts and ideas and when we can show them how it would impact the decisions we make or the ability we have to spray a field,” said Ellis. “They talk about drift and I always tell them I, as a farmer, am more concerned about drift onto my neighbor’s (field) than they probably are.”The tour was based out of Grand Forks. The delegation got a bird’s-eye view of the Prairie Pothole Region, visited farms and toured ag businesses, like the North Dakota Mill and American Crystal Sugar Company.
