News Archive
Posted 05/15/2025
For immediate release: May 15, 2025
For more information, contact:
Randy Schmitt, NDSA president: (701) 537-3440 • schmittranch@hotmail.com
Scott Ressler, NDSA environmental services director: (701) 223-2522 • sressler@ndstockmen.org
Julie Ellingson, NDSA executive vice president: (701) 223-2522 • jellingson@ndstockmen.org
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association Feedlot Tour coming June 17
The 23rd annual North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) Feedlot Tour will be Tuesday, June 17, at a feedlot near Davenport, N.D., and two research facilities in Fargo, N.D. The tour stops will include Carl and Karen Piper’s confinement barn, the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Beef Cattle Research Complex and the NDSU Peltier Center Meat Science Research Lab. The tour will depart from Gordy’s Truckstop in Casselton at 10:30 a.m. and return there at approximately 5 p.m.
Here’s a tour preview:
Carl and Karen Piper’s confinement barn near Davenport will be the first stop at 11 a.m. This facility features a 50-foot-by-476-foot hoop barn that was constructed in 2022 and is permitted for 500 head. Pipers background calves in the barn. Four-hundred-twenty feet are used to feed cattle with a plastic-lined bunkline. The remaining 56 feet houses the working facility, including a chute and a water room, which holds an 11,000-gallon water tank stocked with rural water.
At 2 p.m., the tour will visit NDSU’s Beef Cattle Research Complex, located west of NDSU’s main campus on 19th Avenue. The facility was dedicated in 2011 and designed to meet the needs of beef cattle research now and into the future. It is permitted for 200 head, with its primary use being backgrounding and finishing cattle that are part of individual animal research projects. Each animal can be monitored for feed intake at the Complex. The facility consists of a feeding area, animal handling equipment, calving pens, office and laboratory space and a feed storage and mixing area. It covers 22,900 square feet. The facility features a bunkline and heavy-use pads in a covered area, with the rest an open lot. Additionally, it has a top-of-the-line processing facility with a double alley leading to a hydraulic chute. The Beef Cattle Research Complex is managed by Sarah Underdahl.
The final stop of the tour will be the NDSU Peltier Complex’s Meat Science Research Laboratory on the west end of NDSU’s main campus at 3:30 p.m. The building was completed in 2024. It brings together NDSU’s food science, meat science, cereal science and bioprocess engineering programs in the same space. It is designed to meet federal and state food processing and food handling regulations. The Meat Science Research Laboratory is a U.S.-Department-of-Agriculture-inspected slaughter and meat processing facility. It includes a retail store that sells a variety of NDSU-produced products. There is also a room designed for animal evaluation with a rail that moves animal carcasses to an adjacent, chilled area for processing.
The NDSA Feedlot Tour will include lunch at the Piper stop at noon. There is no cost to attend. Pre-registration is not required, but appreciated for planning purposes. To pre-register, contact NDSA Environmental Services Director Scott Ressler at (701) 223-2522 or sressler@ndstockmen.org.
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