The Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that the Headwaters Tech Hub will receive $41 million from the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program. As part of this initiative, Grand Farm will play a pivotal role by providing precision agriculture test bed capabilities, facilitating immediate testing and validation of smart sensors and photonics. Grand Farm will receive $500,000 annually over three years for meeting these objectives.
“This $1.5 million award makes use of North Dakota’s leadership in ag and unmanned systems to ensure our nation remains globally competitive and bring new autonomous innovations to market. Doing so will not only benefit the U.S. commercially and help strengthen our food supply, but can also enhance our national security,” said Senator Hoeven. “This initiative comes as part of our broader efforts to forge partnerships between federal, state and local government entities, our research universities and private industry to bring to life the next generation of precision agriculture technologies. That’s why we’ve worked to secure support for Grand Farm, which sits at the convergence of these partnerships, to accelerate these important innovations.”
The award stems from an application in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Economic Development Administration’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs competition, established under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
The Headwaters Tech Hub Consortium is a collaborative venture involving startups, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, state, local, and Tribal government entities, economic development organizations, and academic partners, including Grand Farm. This funding aims to advance smart photonic sensing systems and their deployment into critical industry sectors essential to U.S. national and economic security.
As part of this award, Grand Farm will also provide Program Management Office support to Lutz Farm, located in Bozeman, Montana, as they build their own precision agriculture test bed.
“This partnership exemplifies Grand Farm’s commitment to advancing agricultural technology and addressing growers’ challenges across diverse environments,” said Dr. William Aderholdt, Executive Director of Grand Farm. “By contributing precision agriculture test bed capabilities to the Headwaters Tech Hub, we are poised to validate and deploy cutting-edge smart sensors and photonics, driving innovation and supporting the broader goals of the consortium.”
