Work on the new National Proving Grounds Network for Agtech is already underway. USDA Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics Scott Hutchins says they are already working at establishing pilot programs with Grand Farm locations in North Dakota and Georgia. “We have pilot programs that we’re starting both here in North Dakota as well as their affiliate in Georgia this year, and then beyond that, we’re going to expand and multiply.” Senate Ag Appropriations Committee Chair John Hoeven, who secured $11 million in funding for the initiative, had effusive praise for Grand Farm and their new role overseeing the national program. “We brought Senator Boozman out here and Greg from Grand Farm built that relationship, and we had Sonny Perdue out here and Greg built that relationship with then Ag Secretary Perdue, who then went back and became the president of University of Georgia. So, now we’re going to be interfacing with Georgia, and it’s that kind of national networking these guys do at Grand Farm, and that’s why they’re going to be the national program manager for this, because they know how to do it.”
