Interestingly, the majority of the economy of North Dakota is centered around agriculture. However, a very small percentage of the people living in the state actually work on farms. This is much different than in the North Dakota of days gone by. With the advent of farm equipment, there is a much lower requirement for manpower than there was in the past.
North Dakota is the number one grower of sunflowers, and therefore the largest producer of sunflower seeds. Other crops that are prolific in the state include wheat and barley. In addition, turkey farming is quite common in North Dakota and the state produces many of the turkeys enjoyed on Thanksgiving Day.
Mining is also quite common in North Dakota and there are many very rich coal deposits. Because of the abundance of coal, North Dakota's electricity is almost entirely generated from coal. In the near future, this may actually change as a result of the large amount of wind farms popping up across the state. Right now, wind farms are being utilized to generate a small percentage of the state's electricity but as technology advances, so too will the use of this clean energy source.
In the past century, large deposits of oil have also been discovered in the state, and North Dakota oil fields and refineries are currently generating around fifty billion barrels of oil each year. It is not commonly known that the reserves in North Dakota actually contain a significantly larger amount of oil than the protected reserves in Alaska, but the oil in North Dakota is not a protected resource and has definitely helped to increase the wealth and economy of the state.