North Dakota Agriculture Pulse crops Sunflowers Soybeans Pulse crops – dry peas, The most easily Known as the BY THE NUMBERS lentils and chickpeas – recognizable North “miracle bean” are among the oldest Dakota crop, because of its • 24% - People employed directly by cultivated plants, going sunflowers were raised many uses, production agriculture or agriculture-related back some 10,000 years. here by American soybeans are a industries Pulses are a food staple Indians. In the 18th legume, related to century, the plant was Sunflowers clover, peas and • $8.6 Billion - Cash receipts of North in many parts of the taken to Russia where modern commercial varieties alfalfa. Native to Dakota’s largest industry world. Rich in protein, folate and dietary fiber, were developed. Asia, they first • 30,000 - Number of farms and ranches pulses are also excellent North Dakota farmers grow two types of sunflowers: arrived in the animal feed; providing the large striped-shelled varieties used for snacks Flowering flax United States as • 1,307 acres - Average farm size Harvesting wheat ballast in ships. energy and protein. Dry peas and food ingredients, and the smaller, black-shelled varieties used to make oil and for birdseed. Flax The only beans • 90% - Approximate land area in farms and Wheat Members of the legume family, pulses are an excellent rotational crop since Seen from a distance, a field of flowering, blue flax with complete ranches One of the world’s most important food grains, Sunflower oil is used for cooking around the world. Soybeans ready to harvest they fix nitrogen in the soil for future plantings. Most sunflower oil produced in the U.S. is the can look like a shimmering lake. protein, soybeans wheat leads North Dakota’s crops in acreage are used in food • 39.2 Million - Acres of farm and ranch NuSun variety, which provides optimal health An ancient crop, flax is the source of numerous and is tied with corn in total value. Grown on products, animal feed and hundreds of industrial land benefits, better taste and superior performance, and is products, including paint and wood finishings, approximately 8 million acres, it accounts for a applications. Soybean products include vegetable oil, Sugarbeets trans-fat free. linoleum and high quality paper and linen. quarter of our total land area and half of all crop margarine, inks, paints, biodiesel fuel, solvents and North Dakota is #1 Warm days and acres. This production is spread across the state – all North Dakota traditionally leads the nation in It is also a highly nutritious food; recognized for its hydraulic fluids. Rank Crop Percent of US total of North Dakota’s 53 counties typically grow at least cool nights in sunflower production. healthful benefits. North Dakota’s Soybeans are an increasingly important commodity one million bushels of wheat annually. North Dakota grows more than 90 percent of the 1st Spring wheat 53 Red River and Dry beans in North Dakota; ranking third behind spring wheat The value of North Dakota’s wheat production was U.S. flax crop. It is often grown in rotation with 1st Durum wheat 51 Yellowstone A half century ago, few as the state’s top cash crop. Cass County in eastern $1.79 billion in 2015. small grains, such as wheat and barley. 1st All wheat 18 River Valleys are farmers grew beans in North Dakota is the number one soybean growing 1st Dry edible peas 44 North Dakota leads the nation in the production of ideal for raising North Dakota. Today, county in the nation. 1st All dry edible beans 29 spring wheat and durum wheat. Winter wheat is of sugarbeets. there are thousands. These 1st Pinto beans 51 lesser, but increasing importance. Sugarbeets producers lead the nation 1st Barley 31 This root crop Hard red spring wheat grows from a seed the size of a grain of rice to a plant in growing all dry beans Honey 1st Canola 86 and in one specific variety - Flour millers prize the “aristocrat of wheat,” for its with a taproot six to eight feet in length. The average Those stacks of boxes often seen in North Dakota 1st Flaxseed 92 pinto beans. 1st Honey 23 gluten strength. They blend it with lower protein sugarbeet yields one pound of sugar. fields are apiaries – honeybee colonies. North wheats to improve the quality of bread flours. One Members of two food Dakota is the number one honey-producing state. 2nd Navy beans 37 The harvested sugarbeets are cleaned and sliced into Dry beans 2nd Lentils 40 bushel of wheat makes about 42 (1.5-pound) loaves noodle-like strips. Juice is extracted from these strips, groups – vegetable/fruit North Dakota beekeepers with five or more colonies 2nd Sunflowers, oil 37 of bread. cleaned, filtered and boiled. Most of the sugar is and protein/meat – beans are a staple in many produced over 42 million pounds of honey in 2014. cultures, and are enjoying a renewed popularity in 3rd Sugarbeets 16 Durum processed into granulated sugar, but some is made Long summer days, plenty of alfalfa and sweet clover, 4th Safflower 5 into brown sugar, powdered sugar or sugar cubes. the U.S. for their versatility, taste and nutritional and a favorable summer climate all contribute to the 4th Oats 11 The name “durum” comes from the Latin word for The used strips are dried and used for livestock feed. benefits. They are high in protein, phosphorous, iron, state’s prominence in the honey industry. 4th Potatoes 6 hard, and durum is indeed the hardest of wheats. Vitamin B and fiber. They are low in fat, calories and This variety, with its large, amber kernels, is the sodium and have no cholesterol. Many beekeepers overwinter their bees in California, 8th Soybeans 4 Florida and other, warmer states, where the insects 12th Corn for grain 2 choice for making spaghetti, lasagna and hundreds Beans were grown centuries ago in what is now of other pasta shapes. One bushel of durum makes are valuable for pollinating fruit and nut trees. North Dakota by the Mandan Indians. Honeybee colonies Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service - 2015 about 210 servings of pasta. Canola Barley Livestock Corn TH DAK Twenty-five years ago, canola was virtually unknown Perhaps the oldest domesticated grain, barley has Cattle outnumber people in North Dakota almost Corn production in North Dakota was once R OT three to one. The beef cattle industry contributes concentrated in the southeastern corner of the state, O A in North Dakota. Today, the state leads the nation been cultivated for at least 10,000 years. Now it is N North Dakota more than $600 million annually to the state’s but is now statewide. This surge in production is in canola production. The distinctive, bright yellow grown in about 100 countries around the world.

agricultural income. the result of new higher-yielding, early maturing fields can be seen across the state. Two grades of barley are produced in North Dakota. varieties, the need for crop diversification and the Agriculture The lower grade is used for high quality livestock North Dakota beef cattle production is principally After harvest, canola seeds are delivered to a growth of the state’s ethanol industry. processing plant where they are crushed, and the oil feed. The higher grade malting barley is for human commercial cow-calf operations. Most corn grown in the state is corn for grain, op rops extracted. Leftover seed material is used for livestock consumption; mainly for brewing beer. The barley Popular breeds include Black Angus, Red Angus, T C also known as “field corn,” used for livestock feed, feed. is processed into malt; the same ingredient used in Hereford, Simmental, Charolais and Gelbvieh. sweetener and ethanol. ivestock malted milk shakes. A 48-pound bushel of barley will The total number of swine in the state is about & L Canola is used to make shortening, margarine Researchers continue to find and develop new uses produce about 525 12-ounce bottles of beer. 140,000, while sheep and lambs total 73,000. and salad oil, as well as cosmetics, hydraulic fluids for corn, such as fabrics, tires, cleaning products, North Dakota Pearled or hulled barley is an increasingly popular and suntan oil. Of the food oils, it is the lowest in North Dakota’s dairy cows produce about 332 resins and solvents. Department of Agriculture saturated fats, highest in monosaturated fat and is a ingredient in cereals, soups, salads and desserts. million pounds of milk each year. Most dairy cattle Corn is believed to be one of the first agricultural 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 602 rich source of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids. in North Dakota are Holsteins. Specialty Crops crops grown in North Dakota. More than 300 years Bismarck, North Dakota 58505-0020 otatoes North Dakota raises about one million turkeys P North Dakota soil ranges from thick black loam in ago, the women of agricultural tribes of Native (701) 328-2231 (800) 242-7535 every year. Americans (Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa) raised Potatoes are one of America’s favorite vegetables – the the Red River Valley, some of the richest agricultural www.nd.gov/ndda [email protected] average consumer eats 142 pounds each year. North soil in the world located in the eastern portion of the Other livestock raised in North Dakota include corn along with beans, squash and tobacco in their gardens in the Upper Missouri Valley. Dakota is one of the few places where potatoes are state, to more porous, sandy soils in the west. This horses, bison, farmed elk, goats and non-traditional Doug Goehring grown for all four of the industry’s main uses: fresh environment is ideal for growing an immense variety livestock such as white-tail and fallow deer (table stock), processed (French fries, potato rounds of crops. North Dakota farmers also grow buckwheat, and furbearers. Agriculture Commissioner and hash browns), chips and seed. oats, rye, millet, garbanzo beans, white wheat, black beans, Great Northern beans (native to ND), crambe, North Dakota potatoes are shipped throughout safflower, sorghum, mustard, niger, vegetables and North America, South America, the Pacific Rim fruits such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries and Asia. and chokecherries. Potato production, long centered in Red River Valley, has expanded into central North Dakota where Beef cattle potatoes are grown under irrigation. Swine The Ag Foundation Sheep Corn member organizations: North Dakota Beef Commission North Dakota farmers & ranchers North Dakota Corn Utilization Council Barley North Dakota Wheat Commission annually produce enough... 2975 Highway 25

Irrigated potatoes Mandan, North Dakota 58554-8002 Canola (701) 667-4185 Wheat for 11.6 billion loaves of bread [email protected]

Potatoes for 2.6 billion servings of French fries