North Dakota farmers Wayne Hauge and David Monson, who wish to grow crops of industrial hemp, appeared with their case in the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals last week.  This post at StopTheDrugWar.org said it could take weeks or months to get a decision. Monson and Hauge maintain that industrial hemp (used in products ranging from lotions to clothing) is not the [...]

Through the North Dakota Farmer’s Union, North Dakota farmers are investing in a sister restaurant to the Agraria restaurant in Washington, D.C.  The new restaurant will be called Founding Farmers and will be located reasonably near the White House.  Besides being housed in an environmentally friendly building, the new restaurant will serve farm fresh food–and [...]

According to this article , former North Dakota governor and now Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer spoke out for ethanol during a rural economic develpment conference in Bismarck. In North Dakota, Schafer is well known for his efforts to increase high-speed internet connections across the state that allow for telemedicine and like programs in very rural [...]

We’re on vacation–I’m writing from Utah today.  My husband and little brother were joking about North Dakota this morning.  ”Our slogan is We’re farther away than South Dakota,” my husband said, and we all laughed.   ND is still a good natured joke with my loved ones, in spite of my efforts to get them to move there. [...]

According to this article, North Dakotans Wayne Hauge and Dave Monson have taken the hemp vs. marijuana debate to the U.S. Court of Appeals.  In November 2007, a federal judge ruled that the farmers would have to abide by a federal Drug Enforcement Administration ban against growing the crop even though it is legal to grow [...]

Political blog posts like this one and this one have surprised me, partly because North Dakota is apparently surprising the nation.   It seems ND, which has voted mostly republican these past few presidential elections, is now split evenly in the polls between Barack Obama and John McCain. Perhaps Obama’s visits to the state are paying off.  [...]

A well-written article published at Fargo Phantom stated that while much of the nation is seeing an economic downturn, North Dakota is in the middle of an economic boom. From the article: Don’t look for an economic downturn in North Dakota: In fact, the state is holding job fairs in other states to try to [...]

I love this story printed in the Bismarck Tribune.  Besides demonstrating how the oil boom, especially in the Bakken area, is creating millionares in North Dakota, it tells how an ordinary hard-working farmer and his wife were finally able to buy the first home they have owned.  They paid in cash.  The couple is in [...]

In a 4.4 billion deal, the agriculture company Bunge Ltd. will buy out Corn Products International, Inc.  The buyout was announced this morning, according to this article.  From the article: The buyout will combine Corn Products’ sweeteners, starches and other ingredients with Bunge’s portfolio of agribusiness, fertilizer, edible oil and milling products. The global market [...]

This past January, MSU-Bottineau in northern North Dakota opened its Entrepreneurial Center of Horticulture.  Now, according to an article in the Minot Daily News, an advisory board has come together to help market locally grown crops.   It’s common sense, in light of the recent tomato-samonella scare and rising transportation costs for people to get their produce from as [...]