A FAARM for the future

If all goes according to plan, Udolpho Township will secure a spot in the future of agriculture.

The University of Minnesota has bought about 80 acres outright and has purchase agreements for about 750 additional acres of land in that northern-most township in Mower County, right outside of Blooming Prairie, as it moves forward with plans to create a new complex for agricultural and climate change research and teaching.

The plan is to buy another 750 acres to house a state-of-the-art facility called FAARM: Future of Advanced Agricultural Research Minnesota center. The seed of the idea was planted more than five years ago.

Funding

The total investment is expected to be about $220 million, and while The Hormel Foundation in Austin has pledged a commitment of $60 million toward the project, a $60 million request for state funding didn’t get past the 2022 legislative session.

That money now is part of a 2024 Capital request – a two-year delay. Still, officials are hoping for a 2026 groundbreaking.

“Both Representative (Greg) Davids and I are authors of the $60 million bonding project for FAARM,” said Rep. Patricia Mueller, R-Austin. “This project is up for consideration in the 2024 bonding bill… We will have to see what the financial state is like for bonding next calendar year.”

Mueller called it an “exciting project,” adding that “it is going to be a great investment in Mower County and be such a benefit for Minnesota.”

The U of M also anticipates funding from a variety of other public and private sources.

The land alone could cost as much as $25 million.

The vision

FAARM would include world-class facilities, as well as several hundred acres of fields and land.

“The collaborative vision fueling this project creates an extraordinary opportunity: unmatched preparation for students as they work toward productive careers, a platform for new world-class discovery and an engine that will drive strong economic outcomes for all Minnesotans,” U of M President Joan Gabel said while announcing the plan in February 2022.

The initiative will support and strengthen Minnesota agriculture and expand, develop, and retain agricultural and food system talent in rural communities and agribusiness, according to Brian Buhr, the dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS).

FAARM will be at the forefront of genomics, microbiology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other emerging methods that are transforming how food is produced and the environment is protected, university officials said.

CFANS has 10 research and outreach centers across the state, but officials say many are in poor condition and the costs to operate them are climbing.

Collaboration

The U of M plans local partnerships – specifically, with Riverland Community College – to provide a range of educational offerings for learners of all ages.

In addition to the clinical instruction, outreach education to the broader public is planned.

That collaboration, officials said, will open the doors of access and opportunity to broaden Minnesota’s workforce, as well as shape the next generation of researchers, farmers, and entrepreneurs.

“Agriculture is an important cornerstone of the economy in south central Minnesota,” said Dr. Adenuga Atewologun, president of Riverland Community College. “Riverland serves a key role preparing the region’s farmers to be successful, and I look forward to partnering with the University of Minnesota for the future benefit of the citizens and farmers of our region.”

Atewologun will retire June 30; Kathleen “Kat” Linaker will succeed him.

The township

Holli Naatz said the residents and leaders of Udolpho Township are in a bit of a holding pattern.

“There’s nothing as a township that we can even be doing,” she said. “It still has to go through the legislature before it’s approved.”

Still, Naatz has known about the proposal almost from the start: She’s a member of the township’s planning and zoning committee, which can make or break a project.

“It all goes through us,” she said. Once funding is in place, “we’ll wait until they come to us and say, ‘We’re going in your township, and you have an ordinance. What do we need to do?’ The township has to sign off on (the project) even before Mower County does.”

The ordinance Naatz is referencing was adopted 20 years ago, after two years of work.

“We took a long time to do it,” she said, “but we really wanted that input” from farmers and other township residents.

“We set it up so that our township stayed (zoned) agricultural, and that the people who live here can continue to live here and pass (farms) on to future generations,” Naatz said.

The ordinance includes maximum feedlot animal units and building setbacks, among other restrictions.

“Obviously, we have to make sure our township residents have safe roads,” she said, “but I just can’t see an organization like (the U) not wanting to do the right thing.”

For example, Naatz said, “as a university, biosecurity is going to be number one. They’re the ones setting the standard for that, so they’re not going to” jeopardize their own reputation.

That’s all good news for Ken Trom, who’s lived in the township for decades.

Still, he said, “like everything, nothing is all good and nothing is all bad. I do think the good outweighs the bad” in this case.

The future

One of the concerns, Trom said, “is the loss of real estate tax. The university is a non-profit, so the township will lose that source of funding.”

He said any plan to recoup that loss is likely in the early stages of discussion.

The university is “trying to move it along as fast as they can, but those kind of projects don’t move very fast,” Trom said. “A lot of those people probably hadn’t even thought about selling their land” before this opportunity arose.

Naatz and her family raise cattle in Udolpho Township, where they’ve lived for 32 years.

“To me, it’s just mind-boggling that something like this is coming to our township,” she said. “I think for the people around here, it could bring a lot of opportunity. We just have to make sure it works right for Udolpho and that everything’s taken care of.”

Between that protective ordinance passed 20 years ago – and the reputation of the University of Minnesota, Naatz feels confident.

“They’re going to be very respectful,” she said. “I don’t see that there’ll be a problem working with them. I just hope that for Udolpho residents and for the university and everybody involved that it’s a win-win.”