Editing North Dakota (section)

===Agriculture===
North Dakota's earliest industries were [[fur trading]] and agriculture. Although less than 10% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US38&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-redoLog=false | title=North Dakota—DP-3. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics:&nbsp;&nbsp;2000 | publisher=U.S. Census Bureau | access-date=August 30, 2007 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212052007/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US38&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-redoLog=false | archive-date=February 12, 2020 | url-status=dead }}</ref> it remains a major part of the state's economy. With industrial-scale farming, it ranks 9th in the nation in the value of crops and 18th in total value of agricultural products sold. Large farms generate the most crops. The share of people in the state employed in agriculture is comparatively high: {{as of|2008|lc=y}}, only two to three percent of the population of the United States is directly employed in agriculture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html |title=Extension |publisher=Csrees.usda.gov |date=April 19, 2011 |access-date=October 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328233541/http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html |archive-date=March 28, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> North Dakota has about 90% of its land area in farms with {{convert|27500000|acre|km2}} of cropland, the third-largest amount in the nation. Between 2002 and 2007, total cropland increased by about a million acres (4,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>); North Dakota was the only state showing an increase. Over the same period, {{convert|1800000|acre|km2}} were shifted into soybean and corn monoculture production, the largest such shift in the United States.<ref name="usda facts">United States Department of Agriculture (December 2009). [http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_2_US_State_Level/usv1.pdf ''2007 Census of Agriculture''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016132403/http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_2_US_State_Level/usv1.pdf |date=October 16, 2010 }}. '''1'''. Part 51. pp. 276–293, pp. 345–355, p. 434, pp. 474–489.</ref> Agriculturalists are concerned about too much monoculture, as it makes the economy at risk from insect or crop diseases affecting a major crop. In addition, this development has adversely affected habitats of wildlife and birds, and the balance of the ecosystem.

[[File: State Mill, Grand Forks, ND 1915.JPG|thumb|North Dakota Mill and Elevator postcard, ca. 1922]]

[[File:North_Dakota_State_Seed_Department_on_NDSU_campus;_May_5,_2024.png|thumb|right|North Dakota State Seed Department on North Dakota State University campus.]]

The state is the largest producer in the U.S. of many cereal grains, including [[barley]] (36% of U.S. crop), [[durum|durum wheat]] (58%), hard red spring wheat (48%), [[oat]]s (17%), and combined wheat of all types (15%). It is the second leading producer of [[buckwheat]] (20%). {{As of|2007}}, corn became the state's largest crop produced, although it is only 2% of total U.S. production.<ref name="usda facts" /> The [[Corn Belt]] extends to North Dakota but is more on the edge of the region instead of in its center. Corn yields are high in the southeast part of the state and smaller in other parts of the state. Most of the cereal grains are grown for livestock [[Fodder|feed]].
The state is the leading producer of many oilseeds, including 92% of the U.S. [[canola]] crop, 94% of [[flax]] seed, 53% of [[sunflower seed]]s, 18% of [[safflower]] seeds, and 62% of [[mustard seed]]. Canola is suited to the cold winters and it matures fast. Processing of canola for oil production produces canola meal as a by-product. The by-product is a high-protein animal feed.

[[Soybeans]] are also an increasingly important crop, with {{convert|400000|acre|km2}} additional planted between 2002 and 2007.<ref name="usda facts" /> Soybeans are a major crop in the eastern part of the state, and cultivation is common in the southeast part of the state. Soybeans were not grown at all in North Dakota in the 1940s, but the crop has become especially common since 1998.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Trends_in_U.S._Agriculture/Oats_and_Soybeans/index.asp |title=NASS—Publications—Trends in U.S. Agriculture |publisher=Nass.usda.gov |date=December 5, 2005 |access-date=October 23, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815052049/http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Trends_in_U.S._Agriculture/Oats_and_Soybeans/index.asp |archive-date=August 15, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In North Dakota soybeans have to mature fast, because of the comparatively short [[growing season]]. Soybeans are grown for livestock feed.

North Dakota is the second leading producer of [[sugarbeet]]s, which are grown mostly in the [[Red River Valley]]. The state is also the largest producer of honey, dry edible peas and beans, [[lentil]]s, and the third-largest producer of potatoes.<ref name="usda facts" />

'''North Dakota's Top Agricultural Commodities''' (according to the USDA {{as of|2011|lc=y}})<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/North_Dakota/Publications/Top_Commodities/pub/rank12.pdf |title=North Dakota's Top Agricultural Commodities|access-date=September 27, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214041324/http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/North_Dakota/Publications/Top_Commodities/pub/rank12.pdf |archive-date=December 14, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! 2011 rank in the U.S. !! Commodity !! Percent of nation's production
|-
| 1 || Beans, dry edible, all || 25%
|-
| 1 || Beans, navy || 35%
|-
| 1 || Beans, pinto || 46%
|-
| 1 || Canola || 83%
|-
| 1 || Flaxseed || 87%
|-
| 1 || Honey || 22%
|-
| 1 || Sunflower, oil || 40%
|-
| 1 || Wheat, durum || 36%
|-
| 1 || Wheat, spring || 37%
|-
| 2 || Sunflower, all || 38%
|-
| 2 || Sunflower, non-oil || 24%
|-
| 2 || Wheat, all || 10%
|-
| 3 || Barley || 11%
|-
| 3 || Lentils || 17%
|-
| 3 || Oats || 8%
|-
| 3 || Peas, dry edible || 21%
|-
| 3 || Sugarbeets || 16%
|-
| 4 || Safflower || 1%
|-
| 6 || Hay, alfalfa || 6%
|-
| 6 || Potatoes || 4%
|-
| 8 || Hay, all || 4%
|-
| 10 || Soybeans || 4%
|-
| 12 || Corn for grain || 2%
|-
| 17 || Hay, other || 2%
|-
| 26 || Wheat, winter || 1%
|-
| 21 || Sheep and lambs || 1%
|-
| 17 || Cattle and calves || 2%
|-
| 15 || Wool production || 2%
|}