Oil Overtakes Ag As North Dakota's Economic Breadwinner And Tensions Mount

The Western Choice Cooperative in Killdeer, North Dakota

Farming and ranching have always been the biggest industries in North Dakota. But now, oil has knocked agriculture from the top spot. Mining – which includes oil – is now worth $8.5 billion dollars in the state. Agriculture is closer to 7 billion. It’s a milestone for a state that had hardly any oil production 10 years ago, and the change has created some tension. In Killdeer, North Dakota that tension is visible, especially at the local Western Choice Co-op. It was founded by local ranchers and farmers in 1935, but it's not just a farmers' store anymore. Now, there’s lots of merchandise targeting oil industry workers like giant pipe wrenches and $70 fire resistant sweatshirts that manager Jesse Sipe said are "specifically designed for explosions on the oil rig. There’s no farmer that’s ever going to need that." In the past few years, the new customers, with all their oil money, have been getting priority over the old ones at the co-op. That bothered ranchers like Taylor Bang, one of the co-op’s members. "We see our groceries higher, we see our restaurant prices higher," he said, but there was nothing anyone could do. The co-op is different. "We felt like we had a little control over that because the customer is the owner." This spring, the co-op booted out its president and hired new store managers that are friendlier to agriculture. The tension isn’t unique to Killdeer, it’s a reality around North Dakota. Ryan Taylor, a rancher from the central part of the state points to the shiny object theory. "Where something shiny and new comes along and there’s a bit of a honeymoon period there," he said. Taylor is running for state agriculture commissioner in a race that’s as much about oil as it is about ag. That’s because the agriculture commissioner is one of three people in the state who regulates the oil industry. He's proposed something radical for North Dakota – a land owner's bill of rights that would protect farmers from the worst impacts of the oil industry. "We’re going to harvest oil for 30 or 40 years," he said. "But it will end at some time. So we need to make sure in the meantime that agriculture is healthy and it’s not forsaken."...more

Stay tuned Sunday for a tale about me and a pard from Killdeer, North Dakota.