BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring has appointed Julie Nilges as an assistant relief inspector in the North Dakota State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program.
“Julie’s experience in another state meat inspection program and her farm background make her an excellent candidate for this position,” Goehring said.
A Minnesota native, Nilges graduated from Argosy University in Minneapolis. She lived on a farm in Kansas for 27 years, while working for the Kansas Department of Agriculture as a meat and poultry inspector and in the department’s weights and measures division.
In her new position, Nilges will assist the program director, Dr, Andrea Grondahl, and senior inspectors. She will also substitute during the absence of other inspectors.
A division of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, the State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program was authorized by the 1999 Legislature. The program provides inspection and grading services that enable meat and poultry processors to retail and wholesale their products in the state. The program also ensures that custom exempt facilities – companies that slaughter and process meat provided by the customer – meet facility and sanitary standards.
Goehring said the program currently provides inspection services to 15 slaughter and processing plants and 94 custom exempt plants.
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For more information, please call Ted Quanrud at (701) 328-2233 or tquanrud@nd.gov or Patrice Lahlum at (701) 239-7210 or plahlum@nd.gov.