I don't know of any coniferous what grow fast, my windbreak is from Colorado and white spruce grown from seeds
but you have to be patient for the first 10 years, once established it makes the best windbreak.
In fruits I can only think of Saskatoon berries, apples wouldn't work because they need maintenance, get eaten and
lost most by wildlife if left alone.

Konrad

I don't mind the maitenance of the apple trees I grew up on a farm with 20 acres of trees. I don't know varietys that would be suitable for my climate now.

Look at T+T seeds. You can access them on line. They have many varieties--including apples- developed for prairie gardeners that have about the same climate as you.

I don't know if they ship to the States but at least you can get an idea of what to get

Still...apples don't make good wind breaks, perhaps a little in summer when in leaf's, Willow, Poplar, Caragana and Lilacs planted close together would be better.
How many apples you had in mind?
If it's in the hundreds then you can do the same as me and doesn't kill your bank account, grow crab apple seeds and graft your desired apples a few years later. There are many verities to choose from. I can see crab apples planted close together but if it's bone dry and you can't water it could be a problem.
The best Crab for me and drought tolerant for zone 3 + is the Trailman, best eating, juicy and sweet, one of the best
juicing apples, I juice many hundreds of litres from this one every year.
The larger best 7apples for me are... Norkent, Collet, Lee 17, Carroll, Norland, September Ruby and Zaychuck # 1

{{gwi:108219}}

Konrad

Off topic a bit here Konrad, but are your trees painted white? Is it to protect from sunscald, and if so what kind of paint do you use, and how often?

Cercocarpus, I grow a few apples, Evans cherries and the U of S cherries, chokecherries, saskatoons, honeyberries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, and sea buckthorn. There's lots of varieties available. You could look at the DNA Gardens catalogue online - that's where I've gotten a lot of my plants. Unfortunately, they've retired from selling plants this year, but their catalogue is still there and has lots of information on good varieties of cold-hardy fruit.

Connie

Connie, correct, sunscald, also frost protection, the sun doesn't heat up the trunk as fast and it can delay the sap pull in spring for a few day's, making trees leaf out later and perhaps escape frost damage. It will protect a little against vole damage too. The paint is latex, about 1/3, 2/3 water added and I spray it on in the fall, sometimes you get away every 2 years, depending on how good it stays.

Konrad