Rick, I would like to bring to your attention the urban agriculture movement, which is growing in the US as of the last 5 years. It is quite big in Chicago and there are (in my opinion) other places, like Detroit, with vast amounts of unused warehouse space and lots of access to transportation, where this sort of industry can thrive. There is a very large greenhouse in St Paul (close to the State Capitol) that is operated by a local distributor of produce. There are smaller installations in Minneapolis as well. youtube has videos from a huge facility in Toronto. In my opinion, this is part of the future of agriculture in the northern plains. If combined with intelligent and sustainable energy production practices, lots of automation, etc, it can be key to the local economy and sustainability.