Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab

General Information about North Dakota Crops


North Dakota is a land of diverse agriculture. Small grains comprise a large percentage of the cropped land area. The state is the leading producer of hard red spring wheat (nearly 10 million acres), durum wheat (about 2.5 million acres), and barley (about 2.5 million acres). Other small grains, such as rye, winter wheat, and oats, are also produced throughout the state.

Row crops such as dry beans, soybeans, sugarbeets, and corn are also common across North Dakota. The state is the leading producer of dry beans, contributing more that 20% of the US production.

Oilseed crops are also common across the state. North Dakota has a history of flax production and continues to lead the nation in the production of flax seed as well as sunflowers. Other oilseed crops such as safflower and rapeseed/cranbe/canola are also grown in the state.

Vegetables such as potatoes have traditionally been a major crop in the northern end of the Red River Valley. North Dakota produces about 30,000 acres of seed potatoes, largely under dryland conditions, each year. Commercial potatoes are produced on another 160,000 acres. Increasing irrigation opportunities are moving potato production areas westward in the state. Carrot acreage has increased steadily over the past three years. There are currently four cooperatives producing carrots in the Red River Valley. About two thirds of those production acres are in North Dakota. Onions are also a vegetable crop that has shown steady increases in acreage in recent years.

Other specialty crops are grown in the state as well. Many of these crops fall in to other categories as well, but are currently low acreage efforts and as such are treated separately. Crops such as lentils, lupines, field peas, and chickpeas are covered here.

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root rot

Small Grains



  • Barley

  • Wheat (Hard Red Spring Wheat) and Durum (Hard Amber Durum)

  • Oats

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    dry bean plant

    Row Crops

  • Corn

  • Dry Edible Beans

  • Sugarbeets

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    blooming sunflower

    Oilseed Crops

  • Canola

  • Crambe

  • Flax

  • Safflower

  • Soybeans

  • Sunflowers

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    spuds

    Vegetables

    Potatoes

  • Seed diseases
  • Leaf and stem blights

  • Wilt diseases

  • Storage rots

    Carrots


  • Field diseases
  • Storage rots

    Onions


  • Field diseases

  • Storage rots

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    alfalfa leaf spot

    Forage Crops

  • Alfalfa

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    lentil pod

    Specialty Crops

  • Lentils
  • Lupines
  • Field Peas
  • Chickpeas
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    Email: hbrown@ndsuext.nodak.edu

    Published by The Department of Plant Pathology