Xcel Energy and the University of Minnesota  Sand Plain Research Farm near Sherco have agreed to move the farm on one area of property to another. The  move is being opposed by a couple area farmers and could have an impact on the research the university does at their current site.

 

Two local farmers — Malcolm Olson and Alan Peterson — opponents to the move — cited the costs of moving irrigation equipment, installing wells, building fences, etc. as being a “million dollar move”.

 

“The current setting is perfect research land and it’s a shame the University doesn’t really have any say in making the move,” said Olson. “The costs involved doesn’t make common sense.”

 

Those millions of dollars, according to Olson, would fall to the taxpayers. However, Becker City Administrator Greg Pruszinske was asked about this cost and he told this reporter he “knows of no financial burden to the taxpayers of Becker in regards to the farm move.”

 

Pamela Jo Rasmussen, senior manager, Siting & Land Rights for Xcel Energy, agreed.

 

“We know of no costs trickling down to the taxpayers of Becker for this move,” said Rasmussen. “The U will be able to fund most if not all of the costs associated with the move through their research grants and funds.”

 

Olson and Peterson (Irrigation Association of Minnesota President) wrote an extensive chronicle citing  factors to consider with the SPRF staying at the current location, including information on the agronomy, horticulture, entomology, pathology, soil, water and climate as well as evaluations and examinations by the Uof M, NDSU and governmental agencies.

 

Olson is an agriculture graduate from the UofM in 1965 and said the Sand Plains Research Farm remaining in the present location is a very important matter and could have severe consequences for all irrigation farmers if it were relocated.

 

Pruszinske was questioned about Xcel’s decision to move the farm from its prime industrial park location and his response was, “We value what the Sand Plain Research Farm has done over the years, but the community wants to attract new jobs and tax base. We’ll be able to migrate as a community from a coal-based economy to a more diversified economy.”

 

Pruszinske provided the Citizen-Tribune with a letter from Brain L. Buhr, the professor and dean of the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Sciences at the U of M which stated, “The University understands Xcel’s interest in developing the property on the current SPRF site,” it said. 

 

“We respect the benefit that the new development will bring to the community in terms of jobs, investment and increased tax base and look forward to working with Xcel to establish a new site for the SPRF.”

 

Xcel Energy has been leasing the 212+ acres to the U for about $1 a year since 1976. Because of its location along Hwy. 10., Co. Rd. 8 and the railroad tracks, the property is invaluable for future industrial growth.

 

The plan by Xcel and the university is to move the U farm southeast and have it up fully functional in a few short years. Rasmussen said the process is already in the works.

 

“They’ve already begun moving plants to the new site, which is ideal for them because of the transmission lines nearby,” she said. “The move will be done incrementally and conclude in a few short years.”

 

Olson said the new location’s soil type is drastically different from its current site and even provided printouts identifying the types of loamy sand, Hubbard-Mosford complex and slope types.

 

An effort to contact Peterson by the Citizen-Tribune was unsuccessful.

 

Rasmussen said the University was given several sites to choose from and the one they plan to move to, fits their requirements.

 

Rasmussen said the move was instigated by a group effort between Xcel Energy and the City of Becker after the U contacted them to make some improvements to their current site. That got the ball rolling as far as redevelopment of the area and the move was agreed upon by all parties involved.

 

Xcel owns nearly 4,500 acres in the area with some already developed.

 

Currently, the U farm conducts agricultural and environmental research under both irrigated and nonirrigated systems, and is the only location in the university’s system with the type of sandy soil best suited to grow potatoes and other types of crops.

 

The farm’s website lists 20 current researchers who study plant diseases, drought, blueberry breeding, fertilizer management, insect control, nutrient leaching, native prairie restoration and other topics.

 

“We’ve been working with the Uof M for 40 years and it’s been a great partnership,” said Rasmussen. “We hope this new agreement and move will benefit both parties and keep our relationship with the U for another 40 or so years.”