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Inside Energy: Oil v. agriculture?

Farming and ranching have always been top industries in North Dakota. But now, oil has overtaken ag. Mining -- which includes oil -- is now worth $8.5 billion dollars. Agriculture is closer to $7 billion. It’s a milestone for a state that had hardly any oil production 10 years ago. Inside Energy's Emily Guerin (GARE-in) reports, the change has created some tension.

Killdeer, North Dakota turns 100 this year. And it feels like everyone in town is at the rodeo, celebrating the town’s farming and ranching heritage.

"Well it’s a cowboy town again this week as we celebrate 100 years in Killdeer  and the 91st Annual Killdeer Mountain Roundup…"

Killdeer may be a cowboy town this week, but increasingly, it’s an oil town. The main street is crowded with huge trucks hauling water, gravel and oil back and forth from wells. 

"Used to be you’d see one person on the road traveling 30 miles. Now you can’t drive 10 miles without seeing 15 or 20 vehicles."

That's Jesse Sipe.  She's the new manager of the Western Choice Co-op in downtown Killdeer,  the co-op was founded by local ranchers and farmers in 1935…. But it's not just a farmers store anymore.  There’s lots of stuff for the oil industry. Sipe points to a rack of $70 fire resistant sweatshirts.

"It’s specifically designed for explosions on the oil rig, and there’s no farmer that’s ever going to need that, no."

The new customers, with all their oil money, were getting priority over the old ones.  And that bothered  ranchers like Taylor Bang, who is one of the co-ops’ members.

"We see our groceries higher, we see our restaurant prices higher, we see a lot of that.  But we felt like we had a little control over that because the customer is the owner."

So, 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 --its a reality all around North Dakota.

"I got a cow on the other side that we  must have missed yesterday."

Ryan Taylor is driving an ATV around his  ranch in the central part of the state. He lives 30 miles from the tiny town of Anamoose.To get there you drive on endless gravel roads... past fields and abandoned homesteads. Taylor is  running for state agriculture commissioner in a race that’s as much about oil as it is about ag. He's proposed something radical for North Dakota -- a land owners bill of rights. It would protect farmers from the worst impacts of the oil industry.

"We’re going to harvest oil for 30 or 40 years ...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."

There’s a couple things farmers worry about. One is the backlog of grain shipments that’s partially due to more traffic from oil trains. Farmers here have already lost over $67 million dollars this year due to  the delays. They also worry about spills, especially salt water. That’s a product of the drilling process. In the past year, there have been almost 800 salt water spills in North Dakota

"When there’s a break, and there’s a spill, it will sterilize the soil for probably a generation or more."

Not everyone thinks the oil boom is making life worse for farmers and ranchers. Lorin Dvirnak lives in rural Dunn County west of Killdeer.

"Just trying to get a little haying done in between the showers."

Two pumpjacks are nodding just beyond the hayfield. Like many other landowners around here, Dvirnak gets a check from an oil company every month. It’s not that much, just a few hundred dollars.

"Well, it definitely makes farming more affordable. I’m able to buy newer equipment. Like, you look at my swather here. Currently I believe it’s approaching 30 years old. Having more cash available to replace and update stuff helps."

Across the state, per capita  personal income is almost twice as high as 10 years ago.And a lot of that is related to the oil boom. So it’s not surprising that many farmers and ranchers say the benefits of the boom outweigh the costs. And not just because it lets them buy newer equipment or pay off debt. The oil boom has brought young people back to North Dakota for jobs.

Donna Scott is a rancher and a Dunn County commissioner who lives outside of Killdeer.

"And I think sometimes industry gets a bad rap, but on the same token, this is what has kept these small communities alive, and healthy and growing."

That’s one thing most people agree on. The other is that the oil boom will end eventually. And when it does, it will be farmers and ranchers who keep the place going.

Inside Energy is a public media collaboration in Wyoming, Colorado and North Dakota.

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