Bismarck, ND – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has announced that $300,000 is available for drone detection of noxious and invasive weeds with a focus on amaranth species and waterhemp, as authorized by the 69th Legislative Assembly.
“The North Dakota Department of Agriculture is seeking grant proposals for drone detection of amaranth species and other invasive weeds,” Goehring said. “The project(s) will focus on sugar beet and soybean fields in participating counties during the 2025 and 2026 growing seasons, and may include areas where Palmer amaranth has been previously detected.”
The five counties of focus are Steele, Traill, Cass, Richland and Barnes. Other counties may be added as necessary. Grant awardees will coordinate with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, weed officers and landowners when flying drones over fields. The goal of the project is to create a library of images with high confidence in identifying and distinguishing the difference between the different amaranth species. Locations found to have detections during the survey will remain confidential and identified at the county level only.
Multiple grants may be awarded. Complete information on applying for funds is available on the NDDA website at https://www.ndda.nd.gov/uasgrant. Applications must be submitted in electronic form by 4 noon CDT on July 10, 2025. Applications will then be reviewed, scored, ranked by a committee to determine awards.
Additional information about the application process is available by contacting Charles Elhard at 701-220-0485 or celhard@nd.gov.
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North Dakota Department of Agriculture
