10/30/2006:
The State Mill and Elevator opened for business on this date in 1922. Governor Ragnvold Nestos, who had sold $3 million in bonds to construct the facility, pushed the button to start the mill machinery.
Nestos was running for re-election and having the start-up today, a week before the fall election, was crucial to his plans. However, construction was not entirely finished until February 1923.
Located in Grand Forks, the State Mill and Elevator cost $3.04 million and could store 1.7 million bushels and manufacture 3,750 barrels of flour a day. It paid the highest possible rate for wheat and a premium for protein, and the flour sold for less than the private mills.
The idea started because the state’s wheat farmers were unhappy with the prices they were getting from the elevators, mostly owned by out-of-state grain firms. The specific impetus for building the State Mill and Elevator came from Louis B. Hanna’s request in 1907 that the North Dakota Legislature study the feasibility of a state-owned elevator.
In 1909, the board of inquiry recommended a state elevator and, in 1911, the Legislature approved the amendment a second time, as required by law. The voters accepted it in 1912.
However, it wasn’t until the 1919 Legislature, when the Nonpartisan League was in power, that serious action took place. A law was passed forming the North Dakota Mill and Elevator Association, which was to manufacture and market farm products and establish a system of warehouses, elevators, flour mills and factories.
In October 1919, A.C. Townley announced that the State Mill and Elevator would be built in Grand Forks. Construction began soon after, but stopped in the fall of 1920 for lack of funds. It resumed in October 1921, and the first unit was completed the next October.
Profitability was low because of the mill’s location in northeastern North Dakota, high rail rates and poor sales of products, all resulting in losses. Another major problem was that the facility ran at less than half of its capacity during the first 10 years of operation, resulting in very expensive product.
The State Mill and Elevator also lost money in the 1920s because it was buying over half of its wheat from the line elevators, rather than directly from area farmers, and paying a middleman fee.
Interestingly enough, the State Mill and Elevator became more successful once its proponent, the Nonpartisan League, was out of power. It is still in operation today, and the Industrial Commission, comprised of the Governor, Attorney General and Commissioner of Agriculture, has jurisdiction over the facility. The commission appoints a president and general manager to oversee operations.
The only state-owned mill and elevator in the U.S., it now has six milling units, a terminal elevator and a packing warehouse to prepare bagged products for shipment. It is the largest wheat flour mill in the country, with a profit of $6.2 million last year.
By Cathy A. Langemo, WritePlus Inc.