Dakota Beacon

A NATIONAL FARM CENSUS is made every five years — the 2017 results were released this spring.  Overall, no surprises.  Farms are getting fewer and bigger — farmers are getting older.  Don’t believe concerns about corporate farming — 96% of farms are family owned.  About 44% of farmers had positive cash flow in 2017 (weak year)  — that means over half didn’t.   The census results are unfortunately skewed by including farms as small as one acre — the 273,000 smallest farms account for 0.1% of all farmland.  The 85,000 largest make up 58%.

BIG FARMS  A Forum News Service summary by Jonathan Knutson included census information about ND and the three adjoining states.  ND farmers were the youngest at 56 years and average farm size was 1,500 acres.  SD averages were almost identical.  Montana farmers at 58 were the oldest and their 2,150 acre farms the biggest.  Minnesota farmers were about the same age as those in the Dakotas, but their farms averaged a relatively small 370 acres.

A PLEASANT SURPRISE FOR SOME  Last week it was briefly mentioned here that climate change was having a net beneficial effect on ND agriculture -- a boost to corn and soybeans with some downside for wheat.  This week a U. of Minnesota researcher elaborated: Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas were seeing a beneficial effect, while Illinois, Indiana and Ohio saw a negative impact.  Researcher Deepak Ray said the result "was totally a surprise" and "At present we are sitting in a very nice climatic condition."  His study said there are winners and losers, but around the world corn production has held steady, while soybean production has increased.

OUR NORTHERN FRIEND   “Despite recent ups and downs, the special relationship between neighbors has survived.” — From a Star Tribune editorial headed “Oh, Canada, we'll always have your back.”   The essence of the editorial was a 1961 quote from President John Kennedy: “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.”  ND is a significant part of “the longest undefended border in the world.”

BURGUM MAKES HIS MARK  ND governor Doug Burgum is the new chairman of the Western Governor’s Association, a coalition of 22 western states.  During his term, Burgum hopes to focus the governors on rural economic development and quality of life.  He may use historic rail cars to carry the governors from Bismarck to the Association annual meeting in Medora.  This is a departure from the Association's usual Las Vegas venue.  Burgum also chairs the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Committee, a coalition of oil- and gas-producing states. 

IS THE EMPIRE BUILDER NEARING AN END?  Amtrak makes a half billion dollars on its Northeast Corridor routes — it loses as much on 15 long-distance trains.  The Empire Builder between Seattle and Chicago is one of those trains and loses $50 million a year.  Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson would like to curtail the rural trains and invest in fast inter-city service — he is opposed by politicians along the long-distance routes.  Here’s a suggestion for ND congressmen — give up the costly, inefficient Empire Builder in exchange for timely, faster and frequent service between Fargo and the Twin Cities.

FARGO BOOM  Minnpost, which describes itself as “Nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism” for Minnesota, featured the Fargo-Moorhead boom in a Tuesday article.  While most of the article was familiar, a few items stood out:  F-M land value increases in the past five years were among the highest in the nation —three universities underpin the F-M economy — GDP per capita in F-M is close to the Twin Cities and higher than Minnesota communities such as Duluth and Rochester — the F-M economy has grown away from its ag dependency and become more diverse.  Yes, the weather remains severe and housing could become a problem — housing prices have outpaced income growth.

KEEPING SCORE  A Forum article on ND nursing homes was difficult to parse.  The state has six long-term care facilities on a federal “watch list,” nearly all in the western part of the state.  The nation has 2.5% of its long-term care facilities on the watch list; ND has 7.5% of its facilities on the list.  The AARP ranks ND nursing homes 37th overall nationally, although ND ranks 13th in nursing home quality of life and quality of care.  It’s a mixed bag, but the state ranks in the bottom quartile on over a third of AARP’s measurement indicators.

PROVINCIAL?  In June, ND newspapers reported the ND Dept. of Transportation had been given the first waiver to fly unmanned aircraft over people.  Great, another proud feather in the state’s UAS cap.  A Star Tribune article this week added a detail not in the earlier reports, that was, that nine other participants around the nation received the same waiver and the objective was a competition for the best solutions for incorporating drones into national airspace.  The narrowness of ND reporting seems part of a pattern which overstates UAS prowess.

IS IT ABOUT TIME for the Dickinson H.S. Midgets to reconsider their nickname?  The few schools in the nation that still have that monicker are quietly dropping it.  The given reason is the name is offensive to little people.  But it seems like there is also another reason — for a football team wishing to strike fear in the mind of opponents, isn’t  midgets, well, a bit wimpy?  Like, “our midgets are out to get you!” 

REGIONAL  HEALTH POWER  Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health has significant operations in the Dakotas and Minnesota.  Des Moines-based UnityPoint Health has most of its operations in Iowa, but also has hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin.  The two are exploring a merger projected to have $11 billion in revenue making it a six-state regional power just behind Rochester-based Mayo Clinic.  Sanford and UnityPoint are roughly the same size, although Sanford is significantly more profitable, and the proposed merger is described as one of equals.

“IT’S GOING TO BE DEVASTATING . . . it’s kind of unthinkable.” — The response of a University of Alaska professor to the news that the state’s university system faces a 41% cut in state funding, part of a state budget crisis.  This is a consequence of the state’s mismanagement of its oil economy.  Fortunately, Alaska has a $65 billion Permanent Fund built from oil earnings, but unlike ND it pays the fund earnings directly to individual residents.  Additionally, Alaska has no income or sales tax to fall back on.  

DON'T BECOME ALASKA  ND University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott said there are many lessons to take from Alaska’s crisis.  He said one of the most important is ND must stay invested in its university system “as a way to move North Dakota forward and continue to diversify its economy.”

DAKTOIDS:  SkyScopes, a UAS company headquartered in Grand Forks, has several branches, including one in Minot.  The company has been selected as one of the wold’s top five Drone Service providers . . . ND pheasant hunters need to reduce their expectations — recent drought and a shortage of grassland dim near-term prospects . . . The nearly $400 million Trinity Health project in Minot was slowed by an explosion, but is largely back on schedule for its 2021 opening.