BISMARCK — The North Dakota Mill and Elevator Association reported Tuesday record profits of $20.7 million for the 2024 fiscal year — a 20.6% increase from $17.2 million reported in 2023, according to a North Dakota Industrial Commission release.

Located in Grand Forks, North Dakota’s Mill is the biggest and only state-owned milling facility in the country. It was established in 1922 and is overseen by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, consisting of Gov. Doug Burgum, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.

“The state’s capital investments into two new milling units have resulted in record shipment volume of 17.5 million hundredweights of North Dakota Mill product,” members of the Industrial Commission said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for the hard work of the outstanding team at the mill that resulted in new records in grain purchases, gross sales, product shipments and profits, all achieved with an exceptional safety record.”

The mill has transferred 52.5% of the profits — $9,877,704 — to the state’s general fund and $1,039,758 to the agricultural product utilization fund. The remaining profits are used for mill operations, according to the release.

“North Dakota farmers again provided high-quality spring wheat and durum to the mill this year, and we also saw a 10% increase in shipment volumes. Our dedicated employees stayed focused on providing consistent quality products delivered with a high level of customer service,” mill President and CEO Vance Taylor said in the release.

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Iowa State football head coach Matt Campbell talks to the media during the program’s football media day at Stark Performance Center on Friday, August 2, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.© NIrmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

 AMES — The excitement level spikes. The adrenaline flows more freely. Mistakes emerge that must be corrected.

 It’s finally game week for the Iowa State football team, and as the atmosphere changes, head coach Matt Campbell and his staff endeavor to ensure nothing else does in terms of his team’s preparedness and attention to detail.

 “That’s the whole mentality of this program,” Campbell said in advance of the Cyclones’ season-opener at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (FS1) against North Dakota at Jack Trice Stadium. “Your mindset day in and day out for the last six months should match what Tuesday practice in the fall looks like — week one, to week six, to week 12. The great teams that I’ve been around, they’ve had the same mindset every single day.”

 So there’s no mental shift for ISU as it transitions from fall camp to the regular season — except that now the players will be cheered on by 60,000-plus fans. 

 “The energy in the Jack — me personally, I love playing in Jack Trice (Stadium),” said junior defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim, one of six Cyclones whose 13 career starts all came last season. “It should be really fun, really exciting. I love the energy. Ready to go.”

 ISU and North Dakota have never met on the football field, but the Fighting Hawks’ rise though the FCS ranks over the past several years has been impressive. They reached the playoffs in 2023 and return skilled starters at key positions, but are less experienced on the offensive and defensive lines and at quarterback. And despite being prohibitive favorites this Saturday, Campbell and his staff know that danger and adversity often lurk in those on-paper mismatches in week one.

 Case in point: Last Saturday’s “week zero” game between No. 10 Florida State and Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. The Yellow Jackets were double-digit underdogs, but upset the Seminoles, 24-21, on a last-second field goal.

 “Football’s hard to replicate,” Campbell said of the inevitable rust often evident early in the season. “Eleven-on-eleven, it’s really hard to replicate the environment and game day experience. So, man, how you tackle in the first game, how you handle the pressure of some of these guys in new roles — and all of a sudden, now there (are nearly) 70,000 people here and there’s this great environment and great experience. I think all of those things are unknown.”

 North Dakota’s biggest unknown is its quarterback, Simon Romfo. He beat out last season’s backup during fall camp, but nearly all of his college football statistics are sandwiched into mop-up duty in one game. The 5-11, 190-pound junior completed both his passes and rushed for two touchdowns in last season’s 49-10 win over Western Illinois. 

 “He’s a skilled guy,” Cyclones veteran defensive coordinator Jon Heacock said. “He’s athletic. He’s tough. And those guys present problems, too. They run the football, you know, quarterback runs. It’s stuff we’ve prepped for and studied all summer, and we’re just trying to figure out the balance to where it’s all gonna be.”

 Therein lies the uncertainty in week one of any season. That’s why Campbell hopes nothing changes in how his players approach each practice — even as the cheers and hoopla will soon surround each Saturday as “the lights come on.”

 “Now there’s a result,” Campbell said. “A tangible result to the time, the effort, the energy that you spend into it. Not all results will be great, and how you respond to it is defining of who you are and who you’ll become.”

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Shari Glasser has been gardening for more than a decade. However, a few years ago, it became more than just a hobby. Despite the wind and winter, she’s successfully grown exotic flowers in North Dakota.

Just a few years ago, her land was empty. Over time, Glasser has filled a portion of it with exotic flowers that you wouldn’t normally find in North Dakota, like delphinium and lisianthus, which take seven months to grow from seed. That includes lupine, liatris, and dahlias.

Of course, Glasser grows more than just those flowers. For a long time, she just did it for fun, but a few years ago when she was struggling with infertility, gardening became so much more than just a pleasant pastime.

“It was a great way just to distract myself, and just seeing the beauty— I’ve always been an outdoors person,” Glasser said.

Glasser said she loves a challenge when it comes to gardening; growing the flowers she does in North Dakota isn’t easy. She fights against the wind using netting, and when it gets cold, a double-layered low-tunnel system. Glasser said over time, more and more people started asking her for flowers to include in their bouquets, which is what inspired her to make her business, Bogie’s Blooms, official.

Janelle Vaneckhot at Love Always Floral is one of those customers.

“It was brought to my attention that she grew wonderful dahlias, really beautiful varieties, novelty stems, a lot of things that I hadn’t seen any other woman growing in Bismarck,” Vaneckhot said.

She said customers go wild for Glasser’s flowers; she said they’re much better quality than what can be bought wholesale. Glasser is in the process of building a greenhouse so she can grow even more of her flowers.

You can buy Glasser’s flowers either at the Bismarck farmers’ market or through her website. If you want to buy them at the market, you’ll need to go early, because Glasser said she usually sells out within an hour or two of arriving.

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