ND Ag Hall Of Fame Inductees

Neal Fisher

As Administrator of the North Dakota Wheat Commission, Neal Fisher is responsible for implementing producer-funded programs aimed at increasing total use of North Dakota wheat. Fisher works directly in the areas of export market development, research, quality assurance, transportation, trade policy, and other issues to improve the global competitiveness of North Dakota producers of hard red spring, durum and other wheat classes.

His work for the Wheat Commission is a worldwide effort via U.S. Wheat Association and the Cooperator Programs of USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service. He has provided market development and technical assistance services to customers in more than 80 countries over a period spanning nearly four decades. Mr. Fisher coordinates North Dakota Wheat Commission policy positions and actions on issues affecting wheat producers, and serves on numerous national and local committees and boards involved in trade policy, market development and wheat research. He is a member of the Joint Trade Policy Committee of the National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates, and the Agricultural Trade Advisory committee of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.s Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., serving at the pleasure of the President and the Secretary of Agriculture.

Neal joined the Wheat Commission in 1978 as a marketing specialist, was appointed deputy administrator in 1983, and appointed administrator in 1998. As a graduate of North Dakota State University Neal earned his Bachelor's Degree in 1973 and Master's Degree in 1976, both in Agricultural Economics from the College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources.

Neal Fisher is a member of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute's (UGPTI) Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the North Dakota Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies (CAPTS). He previously served on the State Board of Agricultural Research and Education (SBARE) involved in prioritizing, budgeting, and policy-making associated with the major research projects and initiatives of the N.D. Agricultural Experiment Station and NDSU Extension Service; and also served on the NDSU Research Foundation Board of Directors. He is a member of numerous associations and membership organizations directly involved with and closely related to agriculture.

During his career, Neal has fostered national, state and regional partnerships that have helped coordinate research and promotion programs between commodity councils and commissions with NDSU, U.S. Wheat Associates, Wheat Quality Council, Northern Crops Institute, Wheat Marketing Center, and the International Grains Program. He is passionate about agriculture, wheat's prominent place in it, effective research programs, adoption of new technologies, and the power of market development and trade in the current environment and well into the future. He is frequently called on to help assess the value and economic generation capacity of North Dakota's number one industry, not only for agriculturalists, but policymakers, customers, and other stakeholders on a local, national, and global platform.

He provides expert testimony on agricultural policy matters and international trade issues before numerous Congressional committees, USDA, the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, and the North Dakota Legislature. He has also been called upon to present papers on critical trade matters before the WTO and the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, and testify before the International Court of World Trade in New York City.

Although his major career focus has been on the interests of wheat producers and the broader wheat industry, Fisher emphasizes today's more diversified and resilient North Dakota agriculture base, something earlier generations often wished for, is currently underpinned by four main pillars; wheat, com, soybeans, and livestock. These four statewide enterprises account for nearly 80 percent of the total value of North Dakota agriculture. High value specialty crops such as sugar beets, potatoes, barley, sunflower, canola, dry edible beans, peas, lentils, flax, and hay crops make up the remaining 20 percent. He emphasizes that over the past decade North Dakota agriculture has performed at higher levels and with greater consistency and resiliency than ever before; annually generating nearly $10 Billion in total value (simply Price X Production). He confidently adds that this farm gate or street value is multiplied several times over as those producer earnings turn over and over in the local and state economy, benefitting every citizen in every county of North Dakota and well beyond our borders.

Neal continues his interest in the family farming and ranching enterprise near Tappen, N.D, where his son Josh is the principal owner/operator. Neal and his wife Deborah have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Year Inducted: 2021