Bismarck, ND — While North Dakota may not be the first state that comes to mind when thinking about specialty crops, it is home to vital agricultural products such as dry beans, lentils, and sunflowers. To support these crops and the farmers who grow them, new federal grants are being made available for research, innovation, and solutions to challenges within the industry.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring recently pointed out that although North Dakota’s share of the specialty crop market is smaller compared to states like California, Michigan, and Florida, the state is still a significant player in this sector. “Most people don’t think of North Dakota as being a specialty crop producer, but when you look at California and Michigan and Florida, North Dakota is right in the mix of them,” Goehring said.
The new federal grants are part of an initiative designed to support smaller crop sectors that often lack the financial resources of larger industries such as corn and soybeans. These funds will focus on crops like peas, lentils, dry beans, and potatoes, as well as confectionary sunflowers, which many consumers are familiar with. In addition to supporting crop growth, the grants will fund efforts to address issues in production, crop genetics, and disease management.
“The funds available through this program will help tackle critical issues like production challenges, breeding programs, and disease management,” Goehring explained. “It’s about improving genetics and finding solutions to ensure the long-term health and productivity of these crops.”
However, farmers interested in applying for the grants must keep a key rule in mind: the focus must be on the crop itself, not individual farm operations. The grants are specifically designed to benefit the broader industry by funding projects that improve overall crop production or address widespread issues like diseases and marketing challenges. “The project can’t be about you and yourself. It has to be about a crop or a product, a commodity that you’re trying to enhance the overall production or address a disease issue or help with a marketing issue,” Goehring clarified.
An important aspect of the grants is that they aim to benefit not just farmers but the entire food supply chain. Goehring highlighted a lesser-known fact about the agricultural industry — that farmers receive only a small portion of the money consumers pay for food. For example, he noted that the grain in a box of cereal likely amounts to just 11 cents of the retail price. The rest of the cost is absorbed by transportation, processing, packaging, and the various middlemen in the food supply chain.
“Think about a box of cereal. There’s probably about 11 cents worth of grain in that box of cereal. Everything else is transportation, processing, retail market, packaging, and then you even have the wholesaler and the brokers. There are a lot of fingers in that food buy, and the producers only get a small part of that,” Goehring said.
Although only a small percentage of Americans are directly involved in farming, agriculture supports nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce. These federal grants are part of an ongoing effort to secure the country’s food supply while also strengthening local economies and ensuring the viability of smaller crop sectors like those in North Dakota.
While the total funding for the grants has not yet been determined, officials expect to announce the final amount in the coming months. The hope is that these grants will provide a much-needed boost to North Dakota’s specialty crop farmers, ensuring the state remains a competitive and sustainable player in the agricultural industry.
