Valuable corn: North Dakota corn groups said a new report by North Dakota State University researchers offers more evidence of the growing importance of the crop in the state.
The report from the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at NDSU said corn production and processing added nearly $2.5 billion to North Dakota's economy during the last five years.
Corn production has increased tenfold in North Dakota in the past two decades, primarily because of strong prices.
Agriculture Department data show that North Dakota farmers are expected to produce more bushels of corn than spring wheat for the second straight year. But spring wheat still outpaces corn in terms of production value.
Grain exchange closing:The Minneapolis Grain Exchange will close its trading floor for good Dec. 19 because of an industrywide movement toward electronic trading. "Over the past 12 months, there has been a dramatic trend away from open outcry and toward electronic trading witnessed by all U.S. exchanges, including MGEX," the exchange said Friday in a prepared statement.
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Electronic trading of the exchange's hard red spring wheat contract will continue after the floor closes, the exchange's board said. The Minneapolis exchange is the only one of four grain exchanges in the country to offer the contract.
"The trading community is successfully migrating to the electronic platform, and we are focused on providing greater MGEX operating efficiencies for our member owners," said Mark Bagan, the exchange's president and chief executive.
