A Taste of North Dakota
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A Thoroughly Modern Farm

A Taste of North Dakota, also, A Thoroughly Modern Farm. . , A Taste of North Dakota , What did you have for breakfast this morning? Chances are that you ate a little bit of North Dakota , the corn sweetener in your cereal, the wheat in your toast, the soybean oil in your margarine. Did you wash your hair? There might have been oil from North Dakota sunflowers in the shampoo. , There are two kinds of sunflowers grown in North Dakota. The sunflower seeds of one type are harvested for their oil , used in soaps, cooking oils, salad oils, and industrial lubricants. The other type is harvested for snack foods. , Most of the corn grown in North Dakota is “dent” or “field” corn , not the kind you eat on the cob. Field corn is made into livestock feed, corn starch, corn syrup, and corn oil... and alcohol. Ethanol alcohol is an additive to gasoline that allows fuel (in automobiles) to burn cleaner and more efficiently., North Dakota is one of the nation's top producers of eleven crops , spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, sunflowers, flaxseed, corn, canola, soybeans, pinto beans, navy beans, and dry edible peas. North Dakota is also an important producer of sugar beets, potatoes, and oats. Each North Dakota farmer grows enough food to feed over 125 people. , North Dakota wheat farmers primarily grow hard red spring and durum wheat , leading the Nation in production. If you enjoy pasta, there is probably North Dakota durum in it. Some of the finest yeast breads, hard rolls, and bagels contain North Dakota hard red spring wheat. , Soybeans were originally grown for protein-rich soy meal, with a byproduct of soybean oil. Today, the oil is an important product in its own right , appearing in salad dressing, shortening, and margarine. Soybeans are also used to make livestock feed, paint, epoxy, and bio-diesel fuel. , North Dakota farmers and ranchers produce annually:

. Enough wheat for 108 billion sandwiches. , . Potatoes for 2 billion servings of French fries. , . Durum wheat for 93 servings of pasta for every American. , . Beef for 2 billion hamburgers. , . Wool for 640,000 sweaters. , . Enough milk for 1.6 million glasses. , . Pork for 65 million porkchops.

, A Thoroughly Modern Farm , North Dakota farmers have come a long way from the ox-drawn plows of the 1870s and steam-powered threshing machines of the 1890s. Today's farmer uses a variety of machinery to till, plant, and harvest crops. , Advances in technology are helping farmers to farm more efficiently. Global positioning systems (GPS), yield monitors, and soil sampling maps are used to precisely locate weeds, disease and insect infestations, and poor soil conditions. Automated steering in tractors and computers on combines (for calculating harvested crop) provide farmers crucial tools to effectively manage an otherwise risky business. , Chisel plows and other tillage equipment are used to uproot weeds, mix last year's crop debris into the soil, break up the soil, and smooth the way for planting. Some can also be used to incorporate nitrogen fertilizer into the soil. , Most planting is done with a tractor and “air drill” or “air seeder.” Pulled across the field at six to eight miles per hour, it uses air to deliver seed and fertilizer to precise depths in the seed bed and covers it with soil. , Harvesting of wheat, barley, soybeans, sunflowers, corn, and other row crops is done with combines , so called because they combine the functions of the binder and the thresher. The combine cuts and threshes (separates the grain or seed from the chaff), then delivers the harvest to grain trucks for delivery to storage bins. Modern combines are equipped with computers that help farmers calculate crop production and make informed decisions on marketing. , This site was once the home to the Getchell Congregational Church and parsonage. The present township hall was originally known as Getchell School #1, built in 1880. The school closed in 1951 but is still occasionally used for special events. The church and parsonage were removed in the 1960s.