What do you hope comes out of that meeting?

Well, of course, we're talking ag and ag is our number one priority.

We're an ag state.

It's our number one industry.

We're a huge energy state, too, oil and gas.

But, you know, for us, farmers, ranchers always come first.

And so, ag sales.

Tell us more about that.

[laughs]

... they'll tell you the important stuff.

Uh, it's great to be here, Jonathan.

Thanks for inviting me, and it's always good to be at any event, uh, with, uh, Senator Cramer and Congresswoman Fudorck.

I can't think of two better partners, uh, to have in the, in the Congress, and they, they both do amazing work on behalf of our great state.

So it's always fun to be with them, to work with them, and, and obviously today is a, is a great get-together on an important issue and, and it's nice to be able to, uh, talk to you all as a delegation.

Um, you know, you're right in the middle of something that I think is incredibly important, and that's Crack the Code 2.0, and that is, as far as I'm concerned, certainly my major initiative in the energy world, uh, you know, at this time.

What are your thoughts? What, what can be done in DC to help that, uh, industry grow?

I imagine you probably got back to Bismarck by the end of the night, but how difficult was that to be away from where you needed to be at a time when communications were not nearly as strong or as good as they are today?

Yeah, well, like I said, we got a rental car right away.

We got back to Fargo pretty quick.

I don't remember.

It might have been around lunchtime or thereabouts.

And I was on the phone the whole time.

And then, of course, as soon as we finished the press conference in Fargo, we go back to Bismarck.

What did that actually look like when you gave the command, everyone get to work?

I'd given up on that, even though it should have been a good thing many years ago.

Larry, great to be with you.

And energy dominance, baby, right? Energy dominance.

It's all about producing more energy.

And actually, that was my bill.

We passed it through the Senate and the House.

Obama vetoed it.

What does it tell you? How does that inform you?

What's going on here?

Well, uh, as you know, about 30,000, uh, pounds of beef were recalled.

And, uh, again, they, the FSIS is the arm of the, along with APHIS, who sets the standards, as you know, and USDA that does the inspection, any and all beef coming into this country, and we gotta be on it, you know, like a cat on a big rat.

We gotta be all over it.

And, uh, so I, I'm obviously have been pushing USDA and FDA both.

Uh, make sure whether it's that lettuce that causes explosive diarrhea or beef coming in here, it better be safe.

And we produce the best food in the world right here.

He, he just said, "I'm mad, and, and I don't like what's going on in our government right now." What would be your answer to that guy who I was golfing with?

And talk about what that could mean for the industry if that does make it through a final farm bill.

Well, I just think it's common sense.

It's something that I've been working on for more than 20 years.

And yeah, so big thanks to Senator Thune and some others, as you said, that worked on it with us.

And as a matter of fact, last time we voted on country of origin labeling on the floor was my bill, and it got defeated, unfortunately.

So I was really pleased we were able to get it in the farm bill.

I hope we can keep it in there.

What are some other things that you'd highlight that you're proud of, Senator?

Why is ag research so important, and how does that drive the regional economy?

Yeah, well, I grew up in western North Dakota, you know, and farming out there, you know, we could grow a few, you know, primarily it was... wheat and barley and those kind of crops and really not a lot of row crops like corn, soybeans, that kind of thing.

And really because of the incredible work done at NDSU Ag Research, uh, You know, we now not only grow those crops throughout all of North Dakota, including western North Dakota, the row crops, as well as the traditional crops like wheat and oats and barley and those kind of things that we've always grown, but all the row crops.

Now we've got all the pulse crops as well.

As a matter of fact, thanks to the incredible research that's been done by not just NDSU, but certainly NDSU as a leader, North Dakota is a leader in over 40 different major commodities.

So whether you're talking, you know, things like sugar beets or potatoes or soybeans or the pulse crops, peas, beans, and lentils.

Rape seed and all these different oil seeds, canola, honey.

Do you see that being able to be accomplished and get this farm bill moved to the full chamber?