North Dakota's Exports Have Grown From $1 Billion In 2004 To Over $5 Billion In 2014 -- May 26, 2015

Updates

May 27, 2015: see first comment. I am bringing it up here so it is google-searchable:

There is a big Case IH tractor plant in Fargo, which used to make Steiger tractors, which were huge (and help end the need for farm labor). Also, Phoenix Incorporated, a subsidiary of John Deere, has a plant in Fargo to assemble electronics for other Deere plants.

There's a number of smaller implement manufacturers, like Summer Manufacturing, in Devils Lake.

Original Post

This is really, really cool. For the mainstream media this story might not be much more than a footnote to all that is going on in North Dakota, but for me this may be the biggest story of the month. It takes me back to "Pigs In Space -- Almost. But, It's Kows Over Kazakhstan" posted back in October, 2011.

The AP is reporting:

A group of government and business leaders from Belarus is touring North Dakota this week to talk about trade. This is the second visit by a Belarusian delegation within the last year.

The delegation is interested in the state’s beef, dairy and agriculture sector, including farm machinery.

Officials say North Dakota’s exports have grown from $1 billion in 2004 to nearly $5.3 billion in 2014. The state’s top exports include front-end shovel loaders, tractors, wheat and soybeans.

Farm machinery? I am unaware of any farm machinery manufacturing in the state of North Dakota except for "Bobcat." But see RDO Equipment below.

For those who have forgotten, Belarus separates Poland from Russia, and is almost the same latitude as North Dakota. (Minsk: 54 degrees north; Alamo: 49 degrees north.)

By the way, speaking of Kazakhstan, this is from an October, 2014, press release:

The North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO), along with North Dakota agriculture machinery and technology companies, are returning to the KazAgro Farm Show October 27-29, 2014, in Astana, Kazakhstan.  This year, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan – the main sponsor of the show – has invited NDTO to co-sponsor the program, because of North Dakota’s long-standing relationship with leaders in the Kazakh agriculture sector.

That link will take you to RDO Equipment:

Despite these impressive gains, RDO Equipment's true growth spurt did not begin until 1997, when Offutt opted to take the company public with the hope of generating capital with which to fuel future expansion. In its initial public offering, launched in January 1997, RDO Equipment sold about 42 million shares and raised $68.3 million, becoming the first corporation based in North Dakota to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company immediately used $10 million of this total to retire debts and paid out another $15 million in dividends to existing shareholders. The remaining $34 million was intended 'to allow us to continue to grow the company, expand our dealership numbers,' Offutt explained to the Fargo Forum.

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Unwinding The Nation's Worst Nightmare Will Take Decades

This story was printed in The Washingon Post of all places. One would have expected to see this in the Orange County Register.

President Obama's second-term agenda, it seems, is in the hands of the courts. Same-sex marriage. Immigration. ObamaCare. Climate change.

It will take decades to unwind this. This is not to say that I'm in favor or not in favor of any of his initiatives, it's just what The Washington Post is saying.

And the article didn't even touch on what has already happened in the Mideast due to his policies.

Or the US energy industry.