Minnesota

The agriculture and food industry is the second largest employer in Minnesota. In the state of Minnesota, milk production dominates, but beef cattle and hog marketing are also important. The major crops are corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, sugar beets, oats, and barley. Hogs are the state’s top-producing livestock commodity.  The state is unique in the production of wild rice, both cultivated paddy wild rice and traditional Native American hand harvested wild rice is produced. Minnesota has sixteen ethanol plants and three bio diesel plants. The total ethanol production capacity is 550 million gallons annually. Due to its large volumes of ethanol, all gasoline sold in Minnesota contains 10% ethanol.