Lenders assist farmers with financing options

Stricter banking regulations are causing difficulties for some farmers and ranchers as they seek operating loans. But the region has a strong network of community banks that have continued to lend to farmers and ranchers.

Minnesota organic certification program adopted nationally

A model program developed a decade ago by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to help organic producers in the state recoup certification fees is now being utilized in every state.

Potential impacts of cap and trade on corn production

In recent months I spent time with the leadership of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association trying to discern the impact of pending federal cap and trade legislation.

Company profile: Dakota Growers Pasta Company

In the early 1990s a group of Midwestern durum wheat farmers banded together to form their own pasta company in a small North Dakota town.

• Image

Minot agriculture park attracts Canadian company

Bio-Extraction Inc., a Canadian-based agricultural technology company, has announced plans to build a canola processing plant at the Value-Added Agricultural Complex in Minot, ND.

• Jerry Chavez

UMC tests feasibility of running equipment on canola biodiesel

The challenge: Get canola biodiesel from a local crush plant, fill a farm machine and go to work. This scenario is getting closer every day to becoming a reality, and a lot of people are waiting for it. Barry Coleman, executive director of the Northern Canola Growers Association, is one of them.

• Talk about this topic

Q&A with Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union

Looking out of his seventh floor window on the bustling Washington, D.C. streets below, former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson was literally still unpacking when he agreed to meet with Prairie Business for a question-and-answer session about becoming president of the National Farmers Union earlier this year.

• Image

Agriculture is big business

The business of agriculture is of paramount importance to our region and agri-business has been a great business to be involved in the last few years.

Continued volatility expected in commodity markets

Agricultural commodity markets, like global financial markets, are in turbulent times. While the forecast for 2009 remains murky, continued volatility in the markets is expected. But there are still many profitable opportunities in agriculture.

Lack of financing slowing exports

Many exporters of agricultural equipment, commodities and ag-related products throughout the region are being pinched by a drop in orders in recent months as overseas customers, especially those in developing countries, are struggling to obtain financing as a result of the global credit crisis.

North Dakota expands global exports

With more than 90 percent of the world’s consumers living outside the United States, many North Dakota companies are venturing beyond the country’s borders to grow their businesses.

AgCam to provide timely satellite crop images from space

AgCam, a high-tech specialty camera designed and built by University of North Dakota students and faculty from a number of university departments, will begin taking frequent satellite images of crops and rangeland in the upper Midwest this spring, offering producers a more timely tool to keep an eye on changes taking place on their land.

• AgCam aboard shuttle launch

Titan Machinery experiences explosive growth

Fargo-based Titan Machinery has increased its dealership base by more than 50 percent in the last year through acquisitions. And the company is poised for more growth in the future.

• Image
• Moorhead dealership
• Corporate office

Global Reach: Region's agriculture industry now a worldwide player

Globalization and the opening up of new markets to American products have led to new opportunities — and challenges — for those in the regional agriculture industry and related fields.

• The role of higher education
• Check out a blog discussion about the future of the region's ag exports
• Ukraine field days
• North Dakota trade mission to Turkey
• Northern Crops Institute class
• North Dakota trade mission to Colombia
• South Dakota seeks outside investment
• Food safety increases popularity of ID-preserved products

South Dakota certified beef in demand

The state of South Dakota is the first governmental agency to pursue a state-initiated certified beef program. The program, which started in 2005, aims to add value to South Dakota’s beef industry and increase profitability for the state’s producers and processors.

• Image