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| CRP. Lots and lots of CRP. Retirement plan for the silent and greatest generation farmers that went broke in the 80s/90s or sent the kids off the farm. Also more barley, oats, and durum. But the wet cycle that started in the early 90s moved a lot of those crops away because of the quality issues that occured, and still occur to this day. So it was either adapt by adding corn and soybeans or suffer just getting by growing spring wheat. Cattle prices were never that stellar back then either, and calving and feeding in -40 and blizzards, and seemingly back to back issues from mad cow and anthrax in the early 00s sent a lot of cows to the sale barn because nobody wanted to deal with any of that anymore. Same with dairy and hogs, no money in it so why bother keep doing it. It's not as simple as the "ethanol and crop insurance" whipping post everyone likes to use.
Edit to add: I see mention of packing facility. That's not entirely true. We have very little outside of local butcher shops in ND. We could actually use more meat packing capacity in ND. Our cattle have traditionally gone south to get fed out then shipped to Grand Island. That's true for most of the feeder calves in this state
2nd edit: We do have other crops to grow in this state. Edible beans, sunflowers, canola, and pulses are popular options. But you have to be careful not to flood the market with those crops so the price of those don't absolutely crater either. Whwre I live isn't traditionally a canola growing area, but guys are finding out that it does grow well in our area, and i think it will become a more popular option in certain rotations over soybeans, especially on fields that are too light and sandy or are too saline to get good soybeans to consistently grow.
Edited by JCBFarmsND 10/8/2025 08:38
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Location with bad soybean basis?
