Arnold Anderson hoped to be in the field hunting deer in November. Instead, he found himself still in the corn field, driving a combine instead of a pickup truck.

"It'd sure be nice to take something off (the field) in July, August, instead of September, October and November," the Hankinson farmer said. "It was a struggle this year. But you can't complain because there's always somebody worse off than you."

This year, some corn and sunflower growers were still harvesting in December. Some durum farmers in the north central part of the state had little to harvest because of flooding in the spring while some southwestern North Dakota producers had poor small grains crops because of prolonged drought.

But the year also saw plenty of positives, including good cattle prices, a federal agriculture secretary nominee many believe will be more friendly to the Midwest, and record production for some crops.

With the extremes, "you could almost describe it as a normal year," Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said.

Some of the ag-related news was anything but normal.

The former head of two prominent wheat groups stepped down and later was prosecuted on charges that he stole from the North Dakota Grain Growers and U.S. Durum Growers. Officials searched for days in the fall before finding a missing drum of a deadly chemical illegally used by beekeepers.

A new insect was introduced into North Dakota fields to control one of the state's worst weeds. And federal wildlife officials who once wanted to poison blackbirds launched a program to feed them - in the hope the "decoy" plots would reduce damage to farmers' sunflower fields.

Two groups on separate sides of the state planning ethanol plants extended their drives to raise investor capital - again and again and again.

Wheat farmers for the second straight year grew bumper crops. Production, at nearly 307 million bushels, nearly equaled the 2003 crop. Johnson said that even though quality this year was not as good, relatively good market prices for the wheat crop helped farmers who had problems with oilseeds such as soybeans.

In years past, the situation has been the opposite, with oilseeds bailing out grain farmers.

Joe Ransom, an extension agronomist at North Dakota State University, said some farmers have moved away from small grain and will not have anything to balance out a poor year for other crops.

Farmers who raise cows, either for milk or meat, enjoyed a good year.

Jeff Dahl, a Gackle rancher, said the cattle market took a hit after a case of mad cow disease late last year in Washington state. Now, he said, "Cattlemen are enjoying prices that are ahead of inflation pace, for a change."

Heading into 2005, ranchers are nervous about when the federal government will lift the mad cow-induced ban on Canadian beef imports, Dahl said.