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N.D. (AP) – The only livestock auction company in Minot is going out of business, though a co-owner still hopes it can reopen somewhere else under new ownership.

Northern Livestock Auction has been a staple of the area ranching scene for more than half a century, but it’s being forced to close to make way for new BNSF Railway tracks. Agweek reports (http://bit.ly/14MXOhD) that Northern Livestock held its final weekly auction on Jan. 29 and scheduled a sale of gates and other equipment Tuesday.

Co-owner Roger Sundsbak says a party whom he declined to identify is interested in buying the business and re-establishing it in a different location, but financing must be arranged. Sundsbak says he doesn’t know if that will happen.

Northern Livestock has handled about 60,000 animals annually in recent years.

Information from: Grand Forks Agweek