Economy

Service industries make up the largest portion of Minnesota's gross domestic product.   These industries include finance, insurance, real estate, community, business, and personal services, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels. Transportation, construction, tourism, and other service industries are also significant. In addition, the government employs many people in the state. Fishing, both commercial and recreational, is a major activity in Minnesota.

The state's leading manufactured product is computer and electronic products. These include medical devices, computer components, semiconductors, and other electrical equipment.

Minnesota is also a leading meat-packing state. Meat packing and diary manufacturing are the most important food processing activities for the state. Minnesota ranks high among states in cheese, milk, and flour production. Also corn, soybeans, sugar beets, barley, flaxseed, oats, peas, potatoes, sweet corn, and apples are important crops. The state also is a top producer of canned fruits and vegetables and frozen foods.

Fabricated metal products and machinery are important manufactured products in Minnesota. It leads the nation in iron ore production. Granite, limestone, sand, and gravel are produced throughout the state.

Grain and livestock account for about half of Minnesota's farm income. These include hogs and beef and dairy cattle. Minnesota also is a leading producer of eggs and turkeys.

is the leading source of income and employment in Minnesota. Usually, the state ranks nineteenth or twentieth among the 50 states in total value of output. Minnesota produces a wide variety of goods. A number of large corporations have their headquarters in the state.

The making of machinery is Minnesota's leading manufacturing activity. Included is the production of industrial, agricultural, electrical, and electronic machinery. Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of the chief centers of computer technology and manufacturing in the nation.

Food processing is the second-ranking manufacturing activity. Processing of dairy products, meat packing, grain milling, and vegetable canning and freezing are prominent. Most of the nation's grain-milling companies have their home offices in Minnesota.

Other manufacturing industries include the fabricating of metal products, including ordnance, and the making of paper and paper products, chemicals, adhesives, tapes, and scientific instruments. Automobile assembly, clothing manufacturing, and printing and publishing are also significant.

Most of the manufacturing facilities are in the southeastern part of the state, primarily in the Minneapolis—St. Paul area. Duluth has the second largest concentration of manufacturing industries in the state.

Minnesota is one of the chief farming states in the nation, usually ranking fifth or sixth in annual farm income. Roughly half the land is in farms. Most of the agricultural land is in the south and the west, where rich glacial soils exist.

Most of the farmland is used for dairying, raising livestock, and growing grains and other field crops. Minnesota is a leading dairy state, ranking near the top in the amount of milk, butter, and cheese produced. Beef cattle and hogs are marketed in large numbers. In turkey production Minnesota is normally first or second in the nation.

Corn and soybeans, grown mainly in the southern part of the state, are Minnesota's principal crops. The southern region is also a heavy producer of vegetables for processing, particularly sweet corn and peas. Wheat, once the state's leading crop, is still produced in large amounts, and Minnesota is one of the top-ranking wheat states. Other major crops include hay, oats, barley, and sugar beets.

Minnesota has more farm cooperatives than any other state and these organizations play an important role in Minnesota agriculture.

More than two-thirds of the nation's iron ore is mined in Minnesota. It comes primarily from open-pit mines, especially those in the Mesabi Range. Deposits of high-grade ore have been largely depleted; taconite, a low-grade ore, is abundant, however. After mining, the taconite is crushed, concentrated, and compacted into high-grade pellets, which account for most of the iron ore shipped from the state. The Hull-Rust-Mahoning mine, near Hibbing, is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Sand, gravel, and stone account for most of the remaining mineral production, by value.

Second-growth forests cover about a third of the state and provide wood for many pulp, paper, and plywood mills. Lumber, fuelwood, Christmas trees, and posts are also among the state's wood products.

Roughly a dozen trunk-line and regional railways serve Minnesota. Trackage is mainly in the southern part of the state, converging primarily on the Twin Cities. The port city of Duluth is also a railway hub.

Highways include three Interstate routes one running north-south and two east-west Among scenic routes are a highway along Lake Superior's shore and one following the Mississippi River.

More than a dozen cities have airports that provide commercial air service. The international airport at Minneapolis-St. Paul is the largest and busiest air terminal in the upper Midwest.

By tonnage Duluth is one of the nation's leading ports. Shipments are largely bulk commodities such as iron ore, grain, and coal. Minneapolis is the "head of navigation for barge traffic on the Mississippi River.