Curiosities: 50 Years of Harvest Bowl

Experience NDSU’s annual celebration of agriculture and athletics, with archival photos and research dating back to 1974.

Story by Emily Erickson '15 | August 23, 2024

On a chilly November day in 1974, a scant crowd, their 50-cent tickets in hand, dotted the bleachers of Dacotah Field to watch the Bison take on the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in the inaugural Harvest Bowl football game.

The game was relatively unexciting (described by the NDSU Spectrum as “boring, until the Bison awoke the ones that stayed by almost giving away the game”), but nevertheless, the day proved successful — the Bison won 14-6, and more importantly, a concept came to life for the NDSU thought-leaders who envisioned a day of recognition for the region’s farmers, ranchers, and agriculturists.

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After the game, agricultural professionals, supporters, and representatives from each of North Dakota’s 53 counties, plus 10 from western Minnesota counties, filled a nearby auditorium for a dinner and awards ceremony, where an outstanding agriculturist was honored for their impact on agriculture in the state, region, or world.

What began the previous year as Agriculture Recognition Day, as imagined by NDSU professor and potato geneticist Bob Johansen ’49, ’56 and NDSU athletic director Ade Sponberg, has become Harvest Bowl, a weekend-long celebration of NDSU athletics and the University’s impact on agriculture for the past 50 years.

Ade Sponberg (right) served as NDSU’s athletic director from 1973 to 1986. (NDSU Athletics) — Ade Sponberg (right) served as NDSU’s athletic director from 1973 to 1986. *(NDSU Athletics)*

NDSU professor and potato geneticist Bob Johansen '49, '56 (right) received the Agribusiness Award at Harvest Bowl 1993.(NDSU Archives) — NDSU professor and potato geneticist Bob Johansen '49, '56 (right) received the Agribusiness Award at Harvest Bowl 1993.
*(NDSU Archives)*

In a guest column of a 1978 North Dakota Farm Research bulletin, Ade described the importance of providing public recognition to agriculture: “Contributions from agriculture to the quality of life in North Dakota and the Upper Midwest often go unheralded, and the excitement surrounding a football game, together with recognition of individuals who have made significant contributions toward a successful agriculture, provide an excellent combination to accomplish this purpose.”

In the half-century since its inception, Harvest Bowl has become a prominent annual NDSU tradition in which participants recognize and support scholarships for outstanding student-athletes who are majoring in agriculture or have agricultural backgrounds and continue to celebrate leaders in agriculture and agribusiness.

In November 2023, more than 550 attendees enjoyed a locally sourced meal and moving ceremony at the Harvest Bowl awards dinner, and the next afternoon, 14,191 fans packed the Fargodome for the Harvest Bowl football game — just feet away from the game’s original location.