Reservation cattle research in need of new funding source

FORT YATES, N.D. (AP) – An effort to create a cattle herd and beef processing facilities on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation has run out of money and is in danger of ending.

The Bismarck Tribune reports federal grant money has ended after six years of study on how prairie dogs and cattle can co-exist on rangeland on the reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

Without more funding, fencing will go unused and cattle owned by North Dakota State University will be returned to the school’s Hettinger research center.

U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp says officials will be looking for funding sources to keep the project going.

The ultimate goal is to create an agricultural research site for Sitting Bull College that also can be a locally produced food source for the tribe.

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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com