Efforts to educate producers, industry, government, and financial clientele in both North Dakota and Montana are the focus of this value-added agriculture program. This effort focuses on three phases of value added agriculture development: (1) to assist producers and industry identify the strengths and opportunities in the region; (2) to educate clients on constraints and requirements to develop a value-added ventures; and (3) to serve as a resource for implementing identified value added-agriculture opportunities.

Five events aimed at educating the public on the strengths and identified opportunities for the region were held. Over 75 participants attended each session. The outcome of this effort included identification of four areas that participants felt had the best opportunity for success. The first was potential for high-value crop development with the vast irrigation resources in the region (potatoes, carrots and onions were singled out). The second was developing niche crops to be used in rotation with high value crops (malting barley and identity preserved wheat were identified). The third was attracting food-processing firms for better markets (an effort is underway to attract a French fry plant to the region). The final area of identified opportunity was the development of higher value dry land crops (chickpeas and other legumes saw dramatic acreage increases in the past three years).

Throughout the year producers and end users were brought together in an effort to form value added agriculture production and marketing alliances. Four outcomes from this effort are offering value added opportunities to producers in the region. First, Anheuser Busch, Cargill and Coors have implemented a malting barley increase program. Acreage of selected varieties of malting barley under contract has gone from zero acres in 1998 to over 30,000 acres in 2001. The three companies would like to contract 50,000 to 100,000 acres of malting barley in the near future. Second, identity-preserved wheat production for sale directly to end-user markets began in 2000. Ten producers contracting 1,100 acres of identity-preserved hard red spring wheat participated in a pilot program to develop this opportunity. Acreage for this project should increase substantially in following years. Third, contracted irrigated potato production went from zero acres in 1997 to 80 acres in 1998 up to 1,500 acres in 2001. During the summer of 2000, $2.6 million of potato storage facilities were built as local French fry processors have guaranteed five years of production contracts. Eventually, the region hopes to attract a French fry processing or potato dehydration plant from this effort. Fourth, pulse and oilseed crops have seen a dramatic increase over the past three years. With over 100,000 acres of legume crops (chickpeas, field peas, lentil, etc.) and over 2 million oilseed acres (canola, mustard, flax, etc.) many new processing facilities have developed. In the region, there was one processor in 1995; now there are 4 processing facilities.

As value-added efforts such as the ventures described above are implemented, providing adequate resources and good information is critical to further developing these ventures. Detailed economic data on these projects were provided to producers interested in becoming involved with value-added agriculture. As a result, more producers are becoming involved, more acres of higher value crops are being produced, and producers are adding wealth to their bottom lines.

A multi-state project between the NDSU Extension Service, the South Dakota State University Extension Service and Ducks Unlimited continues to promote reduced tillage practices and the production of winter annuals. The project was to determine yield differences among soybeans grown on no-tilled land. Equipment dealers from Sargent and Ransom counties in North Dakota and Marshall and Day counties in South Dakota continue to participate with field demonstrations. Specialists from both NDSU and SDSU gave presentations and led tours of the field demonstrations. Cooperative work between extension and Ducks Unlimited allowed an extensive trial program to be developed. It allowed succinct, current information to be disseminated on no-tillage and production practices. The program allowed farmers from both states to see the trials established, managed though the season and the final results. It also allowed the cooperative project to be produced through both universities and the non-profit Ducks Unlimited organization.

A cooperative project involving agronomy information sharing across the Red River Valley was begun in 1999 and continued through 2000 and into 2001. Cropping information on corn, soybeans and canola was shared across state lines in North Dakota, Minnesota and into South Dakota.  Both hard copy and electronic cropping information was provided in the form of bulletins, brochures, crop newsletters, posters, PowerPoint programs, DTN articles, news releases and through list serves such as AgDakota . A Web site is maintained for county agents within the Red River Valley from both North Dakota and Minnesota and cropping concerns and information were disseminated through a weekly, interactive teleconference forum for discussing crop diseases, insects, and weed concerns as well as crop progress. This forum allowed the county agents to request specific specialists and in-depth information on problems that were encountered in the counties. Also, the discussions that followed allowed the county agents to provide information to fellow agents and also established a platform for standardizing information given out at the county level, specifically on technical requests such as crop insurance requirements and the county agents’ roles in answering questions and providing assistance with these programs. Agents from both states have emphasized the timely help that has come from this crops teleconference forum.

Sugar beet growers in North Dakota and Minnesota produce 50 percent of United States beet sugar. The total business activity of the sugar beet industry in North Dakota and Minnesota was estimated at $2.3 billion in 1997. Cercospora leaf spot is the most serious leaf disease of sugar beet in North Dakota and Minnesota. This disease causes reductions in tonnage and sucrose, increases impurities, and roots of diseased plants do not store well in sugar beet piles. In 1998, sugar beet growers in North Dakota and Minnesota lost $75 million because of Cercospora leaf spot, despite spending $38 million in fungicide applications.

Action and Recommendation

Researchers from North Dakota State University and the Northwest Research Outreach Center, University of Minnesota - Crookston, and researchers from the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative conducted studies to determine control and management strategies for Cercospora leaf spot. These studies contributed to the fungicide Eminent being granted a section 18 label for controlling Cercospora leaf spot in North Dakota and Minnesota in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. Extension specialists recommended that sugar beet growers rotate Eminent with fungicides having different modes of action for Cercospora leaf spot control and management of fungicide resistance. Our research also shows that another fungicide, Headline (a strobilurin), also is very effective at controlling Cercospora leaf spot. It is anticipated that this new product will have a full label in 2002 so that growers would have effective fungicides from different classes to control Cercospora, and by rotating different classes, manage fungicide resistance.

Impact

Cercospora leaf spot severity in sugar beet was very high in 1999, moderate in 2000, and low in 2001. Growers had excellent field control using Eminent and other fungicides in alternation. Ninety_seven percent and 94 percent of growers surveyed in 1999 and 2000, respectively, indicated that they rotated the use of Eminent. The percentage of sugar beet growers who stated that Cercospora leaf spot was their worst production problem dropped from 36 percent in 1998 to 6 percent in 1999, 3 percent in 2000, and 1 percent in 2001.

Title of Planned Program/Activity             FY 2001
Sugar Beet Program                                       48,909
Agronomy Program                                         8,840
Value Added Programs                                  31,206

TOTAL:                                                         88,955

Form CSREES-REPT (2/00)