Photo: Rusty Halvorson/KFGO Ag News
Grand Farm broke ground this week on Phase II of its Innovation Campus near Casselton, North Dakota, the next major milestone in an expansion already underway, and announced a new $5 million federal grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to build a year-round Indoor AgTech Test Track on the campus.
Phase II will expand campus capacity for year-round applied research, real-world technology testing, and deeper collaboration across agriculture, research, industry and the public sector, blending federal and state investment with private industry and philanthropic support. It is an important next step in building the infrastructure needed to support more ambitious projects, stronger partnerships, and driving innovation in the field, creating room for more companies to put down roots in North Dakota.
That work, a projected $33.7 million investment, is already underway for Phase II. Grand Farm has acquired 450 additional acres, expanding the campus’s footprint to 590, and secured AGCO’s Precision Technology Institute – North Dakota (PTI ND) as its inaugural anchor tenant.
The groundbreaking begins construction on a new 8,500 square foot field operations facility, which will provide additional capacity for campus and on-field activity, and was made possible by a 2025 $7 million North Dakota Autonomous Agriculture Grant intended to expand capacity to test and validate autonomous equipment under real field conditions, and deliver permanent infrastructure to expand applied testing, research, and commercialization capacity. Also through the grant, Grand Farm has improved campus accessibility with a paved parking lot and low-water gravel crossing, upgraded air conditioning and AV equipment to improve Innovation Shop hosting capability, and installed one of the country’s few BenchBot platforms, an open-source autonomous imaging system developed with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
State support has been joined by federal investment, anchored by the efforts of U.S. Senator John Hoeven. Senator Hoeven helped secure a USDA-ARS work site on the Innovation Campus, enabling the partnership that made the campus’s BenchBot platform possible, and in April helped announce Grand Farm’s designation as National Program Manager for the USDA National Proving Grounds Network™ for AgTech, helping coordinate real-world testing and validation of agricultural technologies across research sites nationwide.
Sen. John Hoeven shares a gift with Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman during remarks at Grand Farm Innovation Campus. (Rusty Halvorson/KFGO Ag News)
On Monday, Senator Hoeven announced the next step: a $5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), supported by a $1.25 million match from the North Dakota Autonomous Agriculture Grant, to build a year-round indoor testing and demonstration facility at Grand Farm, the product of a multi-year effort he championed to bring the project to the Innovation Campus.
“With this $5 million in funding and today’s groundbreaking, we’re entering a new phase in Grand Farm’s history by providing a massive expansion of facilities and equipment so its work as an AgTech proving ground can continue on a year-round basis,” said Senator Hoeven. “The Indoor Test Track will be a central piece of Grand Farm’s cold-weather testing and demonstration work, giving their partner companies the support needed to prove these technologies can operate in severe, real-world conditions. On top of that, they are building a new Field Operations Facility, have nearly quadrupled their acreage and have even more ambitious plans in the works. Today is a marker showing that North Dakota has real momentum in AgTech.”
Also joining the groundbreaking as Senator Hoeven’s guest, on his second visit to Grand Farm, was U.S. Senator John Boozman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
“The U.S. has long been the global leader in agriculture innovation, and Grand Farm will help us continue on that path. I applaud the development of the next generation of precision technology to provide farmers with the tools they need to improve efficiency and productivity in their operations well into the future.” – U.S. Senator John Boozman
Dr. Steven Mirsky, USDA Digital Director for Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, highlighted what the BenchBot platform will mean for the region. “Grand Farm is hosting the BenchBot robotic imaging platform at their site, where it will serve as a core resource for the region and spur innovation among USDA-ARS, North Dakota State University, and their partners. Together, we will address critical needs of growers in the region, such as early disease detection and management. By generating the AI-ready data that new tools depend on, we will speed up how quickly those technologies reach growers.”
More of Phase II is still to come. With funding now secured for the Indoor Test Track, Grand Farm is also proposing a Center for Electromagnetic Resilience and Autonomous Systems to bring together testing capabilities otherwise scattered across the country, and will continue to invest in campus development and infrastructure that support it all.
Grand Farm is a network of growers, technologists, corporations, startups, educators, government, and investors working together to solve problems in agriculture with applied technology.
Source: Grand Farm news release
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