AgricultureID

State · US-ND

North Dakota

North Dakota is warm-summer humid continental (Dfb) across most of the state, grading into cold semi-arid steppe (BSk) in the west, with cold winters, short warm summers, and a brief frost-free season. The short season favors small grains and spring-sown crops.

Major crop systems

  • Spring wheat and durum — a national leader
  • Canola, sunflower, and flax oilseeds
  • Soybean, maize, barley, dry edible beans, and pulses (lentils and dry peas), with sugar beet in the Red River Valley

Major livestock systems

  • Beef cow–calf ranching
  • Some cattle backgrounding and feeding

Agricultural land: The flat, fertile Red River Valley in the east is prime cropland, the drift prairie and Missouri Coteau carry mixed crop and rangeland, and the semi-arid southwest is largely grazing land. Irrigation: Agriculture is overwhelmingly dryland/rainfed, with limited irrigation from the Missouri River system and local groundwater.

Agroecological zones: Dfb (Warm-summer humid continental), BSk (Cold semi-arid (steppe))

Documented crops & livestock

Official institutions

  • North Dakota Department of Agriculture — State department for agriculture, plant and animal health, and marketing.
  • NDSU Extension (North Dakota State University) — Land-grant research and extension for small grains, oilseeds, pulses, and livestock.
  • USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) — Official state-level crop, livestock, and Census of Agriculture statistics, published through its regional field office network.

Data coverage & limitations

Descriptive profile; subnational statistics for North Dakota are published by USDA NASS and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and are not reproduced numerically here.

  • Boundaries and administrative classification follow the ISO 3166-2 subdivision system and USDA/state reporting units.
  • No subnational statistics are reproduced here; any official figures are dated, versioned, and periodically revised — read them with their year and source.
  • Canola is grown and reported as the oilseed brassica linked here under the crop "oilseed-rape"; the two names refer to the same crop group.
  • The short frost-free season and the wet east / semi-arid west divide strongly shape which crops are grown where, which a statewide profile cannot fully convey.

Soils documented by the official survey

The soil survey maps 376 named soil bodies in North Dakota, with surface pH from 6.0 to 8.8 and organic matter from 0.3% to 95.0%. The twenty appearing in the most mapped units are shown; each figure is the survey’s representative value for that soil body, not a measurement.

Soil bodies mapped in North Dakota, with representative surface properties from the official survey
Soil bodypHOrganic matter %Clay %DrainageMap units
BarnesMollisols6.7–7.23–510–24Well drained611in 32 survey areas
BuseMollisols6.5–7.92–9523–24Well drained470in 31 survey areas
WilliamsMollisols6.7–7.23–512–28Well drained392in 23 survey areas
ParnellMollisols6.7–75–825–34Very poorly drained320in 39 survey areas
TonkaMollisols6.5–75–823–32Poorly drained301in 44 survey areas
ZahlMollisols7.2–82–3.522–25Well drained299in 23 survey areas
VallersMollisols7.4–7.94–823–30Poorly drained264in 38 survey areas
CabbaEntisols7.5–82–4.519–31Well drained254in 21 survey areas
HamerlyMollisols7.5–7.83–620–31Somewhat poorly drained248in 39 survey areas
HeimdalMollisols6.7–73–410–14Well drained244in 15 survey areas
SiouxMollisols7–7.62–312–17Excessively drained232in 31 survey areas
DarnenMollisols6.7–7.26–722.5–23Moderately well drained to Well drained218in 31 survey areas
ParshallMollisols6.72.5–4.513–15Moderately well drained to Well drained204in 26 survey areas
VebarMollisols6.4–6.52–3.514–20Well drained193in 21 survey areas
EmbdenMollisols6.7–7.44–5.512–14Moderately well drained to Well drained190in 30 survey areas
FluvaquentsEntisols7.2–82–510–12Very poorly drained189in 52 survey areas
EsmondMollisols7.92–312Well drained176in 15 survey areas
DaglumMollisols6.4–6.72.5–5.514–32Moderately well drained to Well drained173in 21 survey areas
RenshawMollisols72.5–315–21Somewhat excessively drained167in 30 survey areas
ArvillaMollisols7–7.32.5–312Somewhat excessively drained162in 30 survey areas

These values describe soil bodies a survey has mapped, not samples taken in a particular field. A measurement on one farm may differ from the representative value of the map unit containing it.

AgricultureID does not infer crop suitability from soil observations. That a crop is grown where a soil occurs is not evidence that the soil suits it, and no such link is published without a source that makes it. How these observations are recorded.

Climate and drought

Drought assessment, week of 2026-08-25

assessment

85.7% of North Dakota’s land area was assessed as being in drought (D1 or worse) for the week of 2026-08-25 to 2026-08-31.

No category
3.4%
D0 · not drought
10.9%
D1
42.0%
D2
37.4%
D3
6.3%
D4
0.0%

D0 is abnormally dry and is counted separately: the Drought Monitor treats it as a precursor to drought and a category areas pass through while recovering.

The Drought Monitor is drawn each week by an author who weighs several indicators together with reports from local observers. It is an assessment of conditions, not an instrument reading, and each map applies to one week.

Climate normals, 1991–2020

normal

23 stations in North Dakota publish a full-standard 1991–2020 normal. Each describes its own site; none is an average for the state.

StationMean tempPrecipitationDays ≤ 32°F
BISMARCK, ND US43.1°F19.05 in184.3
BOWMAN, ND US42.3°F17.08 in190.9
CAVALIER 7NW, ND US38.1°F20.02 in191.8
DICKINSON RCH HQ, ND US42.1°F17.65 in189.7
DRAKE 9 NE, ND US39.5°F18.15 in191.3
FARGO HECTOR INTL AP, ND US42.2°F23.95 in172.4
GRAND FORKS INTL AP, ND US39.8°F21.74 in184.7
GRAND FORKS UNIV (NWS), ND US40.5°F22.83 in179.0

Eight of 23 stations shown.

A climate normal is what 1991–2020 averaged to at that station. It is not what any year was and not what any year will be; a season that matches it is ordinary, not forecast.

How these figures are produced, and what they do not say

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]USDA NASS — National Agricultural Statistics Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Official state agricultural statistics

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]USDA — U.S. Department of Agriculture (opens in a new tab)

    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Federal agricultural context

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12