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Grow 21: Enhancing North Dakota's
Economy Through Agriculture, 2009-11
The Concept
Agriculture in North Dakota continues to be a remarkable success story and a vital cornerstone of the state’s economy. Farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness leaders are remarkably innovative and creative in seeking opportunities and finding new ways of operating their enterprises. Agriculture is dramatically different than it was a few short years ago. It will be dramatically different in a few short years.
These enterprises require continued development of new knowledge and technology and ongoing education to assure continued success. The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station (NDAES) and the NDSU Extension Service (NDSUES) have been, and will continue to be, major sources for the innovation and support to keep North Dakota’s agriculture at the leading edge.
Much of agriculture occurs in rural areas. Farming and the success of rural communities have become inextricably linked. In North Dakota, they are mutually dependent. In our state, healthy communities are essential for the success of agriculture and agriculture is essential for the success of rural communities. Numerous studies across rural America, including North Dakota, find that the majority of farm family income is derived from off-farm sources. An essential key to the continued success of agriculture is assuring that communities remain successful and vibrant with numerous successful enterprises and quality of life. In North Dakota, much of this development will emerge from agricultural and natural resource based opportunities.
In preparation for the 2007 session of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, we met with scores of organizations and hundreds of citizens across North Dakota asking them to describe what they wanted this state to be like in 2025. With the guidance and support of the State Board of Agricultural Research and Education, NDAES and NDSUES propose “GROW 21: Enhancing North Dakota’s Economy through Agriculture” as the approach for addressing the vital issues raised above.
We have continued to have discussions with organizations, leaders, and individual citizens and continue to get enthusiastic feedback that the GROW 21 focus on healthy communities, is a solid strategy.
Briefly, GROW 21 says the focus in the coming years must be on communities and that a healthy community has three essential attributes: a diverse and resilient economy, an effective efficient infrastructure, and leadership. If a community is missing any of these, it is in trouble. These are outlined briefly below:
Diverse, Resilient Economy – A community must not “put all its eggs in one basket.” Rather it needs multiple sources of income that provide a buffer when one sector of the economy may be down. As we look to the future, certainly enhancing agricultural production will be essential, but not sufficient. There are significant opportunities to add value to raw products; new enterprises to explore; new markets to develop; renewable energy and bioproducts to be developed; multiple uses for land where, in addition to agricultural production, there are tourism and recreational businesses; and potential to enhance the manufacturing of devices developed for agricultural applications. All of these hold significant promise for North Dakota’s rural areas. Some of these efforts will be developed through large-scale enterprises and some through the activity of entrepreneurs.
Effective, Efficient Infrastructure – Traditional infrastructure (roads, water, electricity, phones, etc.) continue to be vital. In the future, equally important will be: access to high speed broad band digital communications, adequate health care, youth and family development, local planning, and access to capital. Through the dispersed system of the Extension Service, NDSU can play catalytic roles in helping communities be positioned for future success. Research and Extension activities also are critical components of infrastructure throughout the state. In order to improve our capacity to serve North Dakota, the infrastructure capacity of the NDAES and the NDSU Extension Service needs to be enhanced. Additional funding for support staffing, equipment pools, operating funds, and information specialists are needed. This investment will ensure that the NDAES and the NDSU Extension Service remain a highly respected source of technology, products, and information needed to allow our producers to remain competitive in a global market.
Leadership – Without local citizens who have skills and feel confident that they can make a difference, a community will not be successful. In many North Dakota communities, there is a desire to have a bright future, but presently, there is not a cadre of citizens who have the skills and feel empowered to effectively plan and carry out programs and activities that will lead to future success.
In the 2007 session, the Legislature supported the GROW 21 strategy by providing investments in many program areas including: bioproducts and bioenergy, critical crop diseases, livestock waste management, enhanced irrigated agriculture, youth development, rural leadership enhancement, parenting, and horticulture. Support was also provided to enhance greenhouse research facilities, facilities at several research extension centers, and planning for essential beef research facilities. The Legislature also provided support for updating of vital research equipment and general operations and investment in compensation support to allow us to reward the commitment of our people. The Experiment Station and Extension Service have aggressively implemented these investments and already there is significant impact for the citizens of North Dakota.
In preparation for the 2009 Legislative Session, the State Board of Agricultural Research and Education reaffirmed the importance of the GROW 21 approach. Many groups and individuals from North Dakota agriculture and rural communities came before SBARE with concepts and ideas. Numerous others provided written comments. SBARE asked Experiment Station and Extension leadership to synthesize the large amount of input into approaches. The materials included herein are the result of listening to North Dakota citizens; drawing on the insights of our scientists, specialists, and staff; and SBARE’s careful and well-studied prioritizing of investments that will make great differences for North Dakota over the next generation.
These initiatives hold great promise for enhancing North Dakota’s rural economies through continuing the innovation that has made North Dakota’s agriculture so successful while concurrently providing the information and technologies for new rural enterprises and successful rural communities.
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