BISMARCK -- A North Dakota Farmers Union official says the group has collected enough signatures to force a referendum on a bill signed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple in March that would relax the state's anti-corporate farming law for dairy and swine operations.
The group had 90 days to gather 13,452 valid signatures to get the measure on the June 2016 ballot. Thursday is the deadline.
They plan to deliver the signed petitions to the secretary of state's office Tuesday and have scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference at the Capitol to announce how many signatures were collected, said Kayla Pulvermacher, a lobbyist for the group.
"We have what we need," she said.
The 60-member NDFU board of governors voted unanimously March 27 to seek a referendum on Senate Bill 2351. The new law is set to take effect Aug. 1, but a referendum would delay it until after the vote.
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It would relax the current anti-corporate farming law approved by voters in 1932 to allow a non-family corporation or limited liability company to own a dairy or swine facility with at least 50 cows or 500 swine on up to 640 acres. The current law allows for family corporations and LLCs with up to 15 related shareholders.
Proponents of the bill have said it will give family farmers access to more capital and stave off the decline in the state's dairy and swine industries. Opponents argue it would be a fundamental shift that would pit local farmers against outside investors and drive up land prices, and they question whether it would actually boost investment in the two industries.
