On the banks of the Red River at Grand Forks stands one of the most unusual industrial enterprises in the country: the only state-owned flour mill and elevator in the nation. Built a century ago by farmers determined to break the grip of the private grain trade, it grinds on to this day, turning the region's spring wheat and durum into flour shipped to bakeries and food makers across the continent.

Wheat Ground by the State Itself

The mill was the twin of the state bank, both born of the same prairie revolt and the same conviction that growers should own a share of the machinery that set their fortunes. Where once it was a radical experiment, it is now simply a large and capable milling operation, competing on quality and scale while remaining, remarkably, an asset of the state and its people.

From the almanac's reckoning:

• It is the only state-owned flour mill and elevator in the nation.
• Farmers built it a century ago to bypass the private grain trade.
• It mills plains spring wheat and durum for buyers across the continent.

That a public flour mill should survive and prosper for a century is a testament to both the durability of the idea and the quality of the plains wheat it grinds. The almanac counts the state mill among the region's most distinctive enterprises — a monument in working order to a bold prairie experiment in owning one's own economy.