New Devils Lake Company to Contract for Straw

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) — The head of a company planning a wheat straw fiber processing facility in Devils Lake says it won't have any problems obtaining the straw it needs.

Ultra Green President Cal Krupa tells Agweek (http://bit.ly/GJ1Dud) that the company will contract with area growers for the straw, which will be turned into biodegradable products ranging from pizza pans to tableware.

Ultra Green plans to open the plant late this year and contract for about 4,000 acres of wheat straw next year. Officials say the number of acres could reach 20,000 annually when the plant reaches full capacity in 2017.

Much farmland in the region has been lost to the rising Devils Lake, but government data show that about 125,000 acres of spring wheat were still planted in Ramsey County alone in 2010.

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Information from: Grand Forks Agweek, http://www.grandforks.com/mld/agweek/

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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