I was surprised that North Dakota’s and South Dakota’s governors didn’t say much about agriculture in their state-of-the-state addresses this week. Agriculture is still the No. 1 industry in South Dakota and is probably tied with oil and mining in North Dakota. But N.D. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, a farmer himself, only mentioned agriculture twice in his speech. Once it was in reference to an agritourism venture. The second was about CHS’ plans to build a fertilizer…

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Two South Dakota milk processors are floating an interesting idea to encourage dairy and other livestock development in the state. Valley Queen Cheese and Lake Norden Cheese are proposing that the sales and excise taxes collected during the construction of a dairy go to county and township where the project is being built being sent to the state. The money could be used by local officials to maintain rural roads. It would amount to about $207 per cow. A 3,500-cow dairy, like the one recently…

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Agriculture in the Dakotas isn’t sexy anymore. Drilling for oil, not farming and ranching, is get getting all the attention. Agriculture is still the No. 1 industry in South Dakota, but it’s probably No. 2 in North Dakota. Ag and oil were about the same in 2010 -- $7.4 billion for ag versus $7.3 billion for oil, according to a North Dakota State University economic base analysis. Agricultural sales probably grew in 2011, given high grain prices and good yields that year. But oil…

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I get razzed by some of my colleagues about the U.S. sugar program. They argue that the only reason the U.S. restricts imports is because the sugar growers in the Red River Valley and elsewhere spend a lot more money lobbying Congress than other commodity groups. Protection money, they call it. True, the political contributions might give farmers who grow sugar access to tell their story, but maybe their story rings true. Consider this: Cheryl’s, a $50 million mail order cookie…

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Kudos to the folks at the North Dakota State University’s North Central Research Extension Center. They were recently honored by state ag and emergency services departments for providing shelter to pets during the 2011 flood in Minot. The NCREC staff housed more than 500 hogs, cats, rabbits, iguanas, birds, snakes and other pets the center’s garages, machine sheds and seed warehouses. The first of the animals began arriving in May when the Mouse River began rising and the last…

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Doug Sombke, South Dakota Farmers Union president and a Conde, S.D. farmer, says he’s an optimistic pessimist . He hopes for the best but plans for the worst. He described himself that way in his latest Union Farmer column, in which he described what he expects to see happen at the state legislature this year. It’s worth passing on. “First I predict there will be no dramatic change in South Dakota laws addressed by the state legislature this year,” he wrote…

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Walt Bones, South Dakota’s secretary of agriculture and a Parker, S.D. farmer, feeder, and dairyman, said something interesting the other day about all the time farmers and rancher spend volunteering and otherwise serving their communities. “It was about this time last year when I was contacted by a member of the governor’s search committee and asked if I would be interested in serving South Dakota’s agriculture industry [as secretary of agriculture],” he wrote…

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  South Dakota sure has had a good run of ag secretaries. Larry Gabriel – the West River rancher and longtime state lawmaker– was great. He really helped grow the livestock industry, especially dairy. Bill Even – the southeast South Dakota corn and bean farmer – did a fine job. When Even resigned to take a job with Pioneer, Deputy Secretary Jon Farris was appointed to fill out the term. He would have made a good secretary in his own right. Walt Bones is…

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proved he knows geography when he spoke at Big Iron recently. He was at the the West Fargo, N.D., farm show and at a forum was asked whether big oil is still fighting ethanol.  “Let see,” he said after a short pause, “I’m in North Dakota, the fourth largest oil producing state, and I’m in front of a bunch of farmers…” He went on to say that he “hopes” big oil now sees ethanol as a…

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I like it – some of the major players in the ethanol industry are proposing an end to the blender tax credit.   That’s got to be a first – an industry saying it’s time to end its subsidy.   Maybe now National Public Radio will get off ethanol’s back.   And the Tea Party ought to be happy.   Growth Energy suggests shifting the blender tax credit – which now goes to oil companies to encourage them to buy and blend ethanol with their…

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