MPCA - Runoff Levels in the Red River Basin

Red River of the North Basin
Agricultural Information

rr-aerial4.jpg - 16.57 K Crop Acreage

About 57 percent of land cover in the Red River Basin in Minnesota is cultivated land. The fertile soils left behind by Glacial Lake Agassiz make the Basin prime agricultural land, and agriculture subsequently dominates the landscape. As the table below shows, the almost 5.5 million acres of crops in the Red River Basin accounts for large portions of the state's acreage of crops like wheat, barley, sugar beets, potatoes, sunflowers and dry beans. The Red River Basin accounts for more than one-fourth of the state's crop acreage.

The counties in the Red River Basin with the highest agricultural production are Clay, Marshall, Otter Tail and Polk Counties.
(Information Source: "Environmental Impact Statement of Flood Control Impoundments in Northwestern Minnesota," Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Planted Crop Acreage in Minnesota Subbasin and Minnesota
(1992)

Crop	Subbasin Acres Planted	Minnesota Acres Planted	Subbasin Percentage of State Acres
Wheat	2,432,700	2,860,000	85.1
Barley	644,900	700,000	92.1
Soybeans	637,900	5,500,000	11.6
Corn	521,900	7,200,000	7.2
Hay	502,600	2,150,000	23.4
Sugar Beets	282,700	372,000	76.0
Sunflowers	207,600	215,000	96.6
Oats	122,500	700,000	17.5
Dry beans	57,700	100,000	57.7
Potatoes	49,100	78,200	62.8
Other Crops	2,700	280,000	4.5
Subtotals	5,472,300	20,155,200	27.2

Source: Minnesota Agricultural Statistics Service, St. Paul, Minnesota Agricultural Statistics: 1993, July 1993

Farmland Value

The following table represents the value of farmland in the Red River Basin. The table indicates that counties in the southern part of the basin and those in the Red River Valley have higher assessed value.

Value of Farmland and Improvements
Minnesota Subbasin and Minnesota
(1993 Assessments)

County	State Assessed Farm Acres	Average Land Value/Acre	Average Improvements Value/Acre	Average Total Value/Acre
Becker	515,374	$321.19	$143.61	$464.80
Beltrami	353,941	168.39	110.05	278.44
Clay	615,413	617.14	91.58	708.72
Clearwater	309,049	168.57	98.56	266.83
Grant	327,970	605.35	79.66	685.01
Kittson	600,569	405.37	44.76	450.13
Mahnomen	241,828	327.41	56.34	383.75
Marshall	933,088	365.42	53.00	418.42
Norman	540,756	552.25	60.76	613.01
Otter Tail	1,102,813	300.77	132.27	433.04
Pennington	372,303	211.29	65.74	277.03
Polk	1,186,700	504.74	63.12	567.86
Red Lake	265,186	242.38	74.12	316.50
Roseau	711,442	225.20	79.46	304.66
Traverse	353,541	616.76	50.20	666.96
Wilkin	456,631	633.24	55.95	689.19
Subtotal	8,886,604	$400.47	$ 80.27	$480.74
Minnesota	31,186,674	$640.15	$172.47	$818.62

Source: County Assessors and Jim Benson of the Minnesota Department of Revenue, February 1993.

More Information

For questions about the Red River Basin information available on this page, contact Molly MacGregor at 218-846-0494.

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This document was last updated September 25, 1997
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