BISMARCK – A proposal to add the agriculture commissioner to a North Dakota government board that manages state land and minerals has cleared the Senate.
If the House approves, voters would weigh in because adding a commissioner would require a constitutional amendment. The original proposal called for replacing the state treasurer with the agriculture commissioner, but lawmakers instead approved adding the commissioner as a sixth member of the Board of University and School Lands.
The proposal comes after ranchers became frustrated with leasing auctions that moved online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ranchers weren’t happy that the switch to online auctions was made with no agricultural voice on the board.