Agriculture is still the #1 industry in North Dakota's economy. The state typically leads the nation in over a dozen crops.

Production agriculture is an important part of the North Dakota economy. North Dakota continues to work to diversify its agricultural fabric by targeting the development of value added agriculture.

Definition of Value Added Agriculture

Value added agriculture is changes made to primary agriculture products (crops and livestock) that increase the product's value, thereby creating new economic activity and jobs in one of three ways:

• Process activities that create value for the product and/or introduce the product to new markets;
• Diversification and/or modification of primary agriculture products; or
• Pre-production modifications that increase yields, quality and uses

Value added agriculture is not: on farm production of crops and livestock; biotechnology and research and development activities focused on increasing primary agricultural production; human capital investments; agritourism; seed production; and transportation
 

Focus of Value Added

North Dakota's initial focus in this area is to develop local markets for bio-fuels and its co-products working in cooperation with:

• State Agencies
• Commodity Groups
• Livestock
• Bio-energy
• New and Emerging crops
• Consultants of past projects
• Construction companies
• Engineering companies
• Investors