Farming is on track nationally, but in the upper Midwest, progress has been slow. Iowa farmers are ahead, but planting has been slow in South Dakota and Minnesota and nonexistent in North Dakota.
A recent $30,000 per acre land sale in Sioux County, Iowa, sends signals into the land market in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and even as far away as Indiana.
A group of a dozen farmers are pooling their resources to better market their food-grade oats. The group hopes to build up to 1 million bushels in the coming years.
Demand has boosted prices for some crops, which include field peas, oats and canola, grown in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota on varying numbers of acres.
A farmer in West Concord, Minnesota, said participating in the MnDOT program is not just as an investment for public safety, but also as a good alternative revenue stream.
The potatoes, donated by Northland Potato Growers Association members through a project dubbed Northland Potato Blessing Project, will be used for meals, holiday gift baskets and food boxes during the next year.
Last winter's uncertainly on fertilizer inputs has subsided somewhat. Flexible or not, any lease is likely to reflect the strong prices for commodities and the demand for cropland.
