Changing demographics in rural and urban North Dakota have provided both opportunities and challenges for rural communities. Cass County boasts the state's largest and fastest growing urban center, but the impact of the county's growth extends beyond the Fargo-West Fargo city limits. Towns like...

Biobased products and fuels appear to have a very bright future. A consortium led by NDSU is currently engaged in a project that would use cellulose nanofibers derived from wheat straw to make a product that could substitute for fiberglass and plastics in many applications, including automotive...

Recreational activities related to North Dakota's wealth of natural resources are well-established in North Dakota. In recent years, North Dakota's abundant resources have attracted visitors from around the country and the world. In addition to providing recreational activities for residents and...

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), first enacted in 1985, seeks to achieve both conservation and agricultural supply control objectives through voluntary, long-term (10 year contracts) retirement of cropland. By fall 2000, the program had enrolled about 31.4 million acres nationwide, and...

Switchgrass, a warm-season perennial grass, native to the region, has received considerable interest for its potential role as a dedicated feedstock for cellulosic-based bio-fuels. This research examined the farm-gate price needed for switchgrass to provide per-acre net returns equal to those...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic contribution of crude oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, transportation, and processing in North Dakota in 2005. Primary data for the study came from three separate surveys of firms involved with various aspects of the petroleum...

A pharmacist shortage, mail and internet competition, thinning margins, and third-party payer issues are some of the issues challenging community pharmacies. Those challenges have raised concerns about the long-term viability of independent community pharmacies, especially those in rural areas....

The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic effects of hunting and fishing activities during the 2001-2002 season on the North Dakota economy, and to compare current information to previous studies to identify trends in hunting and angling activities. A mail survey of 29,034 resident...

Recreational activities related to North Dakota's wealth of natural resources are well-established in North Dakota. In recent years, North Dakota's abundant resources have attracted visitors from around the country and the world. In addition to providing recreational activities for residents and...

This paper describes the use of input-output modeling in estimating the economic impacts of the conservation reserve program (CRP) in North Dakota, discusses challenges faced in conducting the analysis, and examines lessons learned from the study. The study had two major phases: (1) a statewide...