摘要：Agriculture continues to play a vital role in North Dakota's economic base as it remains the most important sector generating new income in the state. However, falling farm numbers have resulted in declines in the level of direct farm employment and in small town retail trade. Despite declines in farm numbers, many alternative jobs have been created in the agriculture industry, including jobs in agricultural processing and marketing, agricultural input manufacturing, and farm related wholesale and retail trade (Leistritz and Coon 1994).
