Literature reports that small and medium firms face greater difficulty in obtaining the necessary export market information and in obtaining financing than do larger firms. Accordingly, the United States has many export promotion and enhancement services, but there is little documentation on the...

New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs) or value-added agricultural cooperatives are undergoing several structural changes with the acceptance of outside (non-farmer) investor equity and demutualization or transformation into investor-oriented ownership firms (e.g., Limited Liabilities Cooperatives...

Malt barley is an important specialty crop in the Northern Plains and growers mitigate risk with federally subsidized crop insurance and production contracts. However, growers face considerable risk due to "coverage gaps" in crop insurance that result in uncertain indemnity payments due to...

As farms increase in size, operators often face the difficult decision of remaining loyal to local merchants or obtaining volume discounts from more distant input suppliers. When farmers bypass local merchants and buy inputs in volume from a wholesaler, they often realize a price discount but...

Off-farm financial investments, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit, can offer farmers significant opportunities for diversification. Moreover, deregulation of financial markets in the 1980s enhanced the ability of farmers to invest in these financial assets. This...

Several recent developments have stimulated farmers' interest in raising corn for ethanol production in northwestern North Dakota. The purpose of this study is to estimate the corn supply response of western North Dakota farmers for ethanol production. Two focus groups of western North Dakota...

Mushrooms have been grown commercially on many different substrates for years, usually agricultural by-products such as straw or stover. Increased popularity for specialty mushrooms with consumers has led to increased production and great demand for economic substrates. Oyster mushrooms are...

The U. S. biodiesel industry is rapidly expanding due to energy production concerns, environmental concerns, and recent legislation. The most common type of biodiesel in the United States is derived from soybean oil. Soybeans are a major crop in North Dakota and could easily supply a 5 million...

Demand for identity-preserved (IP) crops produced by Northern Plains farmers is increasing. Buyers are willing to pay a premium for grains that can be guaranteed to possess a unique characteristic. Several general crop management practices apply to crops raised for IP. These include greater...