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April 9, 2019

New podcast on HB 1388

Topic: Issues

NDFB President Daryl Lies testified in support of House Bill 1388 before the Senate Ag Committee last week. The bill would allow second cousins to farm together under a corporate structure. Today, he issued a podcast about the outcome.

April 9, 2019: House Bill 1388 passed the Senate in the N.D. Legislative Assembly, allowing for second cousins to farm in a corporate partnership.

Download the HB 1388, the Second Cousins bill mp3

Many people in North Dakota do not realize that the state of North Dakota tells you who in your family you can do business with and who you can’t. But that’s only if you are a farmer and rancher.

We have a restriction in North Dakota on who can have a farming corporation. And the state of North Dakota says that a farming corporation can only be family members. But they tell you who your family is and who your family isn’t. Well that is now changing.

House Bill 1388 passed the Senate overwhelmingly last week. And what House Bill 1388 does, is it allows additional family members to be a part of that family farm corporation. Instead of having to be only first cousin relationships, now up to a second cousins are eligible to be part of that family farm and be a part of that farming corporation.

It’s ridiculous to think that the banker, the butcher, the barber, the grocery store owner, an elevator, a seed salesman, or any other legal business can have a corporate financial structure and have anyone in their family involved. But in North Dakota, we were told that if you weren’t at least first cousins, you are not family enough to be in that family farm corporation.

And if we truly want the future generations to come back to the family farms, then we must allow those family farms – which grandparents or great grandparents set up – to allow those grandsons and granddaughters to come back into that family farm no matter the relationship.

And we at NDFB thank the lawmakers for doing the right thing and making a small adjustment to allow more family membership to be a part and care for those God-given natural resources, to hopefully pass it to the next generation. Whether you’re a first cousin or now a second cousin, that can be a reality.  

 


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