Mark Watne Reflects on ‘Founding Farmers’ Success, Policy Battles, and the Future of Agriculture: As Mark Watne prepares to step down from his leadership role at the North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU), he sat down to reflect on a career defined by value-added innovation, fierce policy battles, and a deep commitment to the next generation of agricultural leaders.
In a recent conversation, Watne discussed the origins of the farmer-owned restaurant phenomenon, the 2025 policy landscape, and his plans for retirement.
From Commodity to Culinary Success
One of the crowning achievements of Watne’s tenure is the massive success of the Founding Farmers restaurant group. However, Watne revealed that the road to a $20 million-a-year restaurant wasn’t a straight line. It began with a realization that traditional value-added projects weren’t enough.
“We were finding that we were taking a commodity and still ending up with another commodity,” Watne said. “You’re back to a narrow margin business. And we said, ‘Well, that’s not really solving our issue for us.'”
The NDFU formed the “Ultimate Cooperative,” aiming to own the supply chain from the farm gate to the consumer. After 18 months of planning, they launched their first restaurant, Agraria, which initially struggled. It wasn’t until they partnered with the Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group and returned to their original business plan that the concept took off.
“We built the second restaurant using our original business plan, which became Founding Farmers… and within four months we were cash flowing,” Watne explained. “That restaurant today is 20-plus million in sales, serves about 1,400 people every day… we turn it seven times a day.”
The goal remains simple: getting money back into producers’ hands. “That’s why you see, you know, the meals are not… they’re kind of similar to what you might make at home. But a lot better in most cases.”
The Oklahoma Connection and Direct Shipping
Watne sees potential for other states, particularly Oklahoma, to fit into this high-quality, farm-to-table profile. He highlighted the “Certified Oklahoma Beef” program as a prime example of what consumers are looking for.
“The perfect world for us would be… if we can start doing direct home shipping,” Watne said. He envisions a future where high-quality beef from North Dakota, Oklahoma, Montana, and South Dakota can be marketed directly to consumers under a trusted brand.
“They love the stuff that they know where it comes from, has some type of a reasonable price to it, and it’s high quality. That sells.”
The 2025 Policy Landscape: Fighting Monopolies
Turning to policy, Watne didn’t mince words about what is missing from the current agricultural conversation: a serious crackdown on corporate concentration.
“We’ve got to get our politicians to understand that if you want to live in a capitalistic economy, there does have to be a certain level of rules when it comes to monopolistic practices,” Watne stated.
He cited sky-high transportation and input costs as evidence of a broken market. “We’re being beaten out because our input costs are through the roof because we have too few producers of seed, fertilizer, chemicals.”
His solution isn’t necessarily new laws, but the enforcement of existing ones. “We’ve got to have our politicians enact the antitrust laws… and actually enforce the rules. And it doesn’t really even take changes to the law.”
A Legacy of Mentorship
Watne is “passing the torch” to one of the youngest presidents in the organization’s history, a move he views as a major success. He emphasized that mentorship is a long game, comparing it to raising children.
“You’ve got to be sensitive that you’re not going to get somebody with one invite to all of a sudden be terribly active,” Watne noted. “It takes multiple, and it takes a few years before they find their home with you.”
Looking back, Watne is proudest of two things: a hard-fought victory preserving North Dakota’s Corporate Farming Law—where they won a public vote with nearly 70% support—and the construction of a state-of-the-art camp that now hosts 1,200 kids.
What’s Next?
Retirement for Watne won’t mean slowing down entirely. He plans to spend time with his grandchildren, travel for fun rather than work, and get his hands dirty in his shop near Fargo.
“I missed my farm shop,” Watne admitted. “I’ve got an old pickup truck I’m working on. I got one of my old service trucks that my son wants to fix up.”
He also plans to continue his service to the community as an honorary chair for a new food bank facility in Fargo.
“I really believe that it’s a shame we are the richest country in the world and we have hungry people,” Watne said.
