Top Montana Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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Montana agriculture is a significant contributor to the state economy, producing everything from beef to wheat and honey to peas. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 24,266 farms in Montana with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling more than $4.5 billion. (The 2022 Census of Agriculture data was released in February 2024 and is the most recent census data available.)
The number of farms in Montana has decreased by 10% since 2017 and by 13% since 2002. However, there are still more than 57 million acres of farm land in Montana, and the state’s average farm size is 2,374 acres.
The market value of crops grown in Montana, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled nearly $2.5 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to more than $2 billion.
What Are Montana’s Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), Montana’s top agricultural products include cattle and calves, wheat, hay, barley, and lentils, to name a few.
See More: Montana Agriculture
Who Owns Montana Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, Montana farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 18,476 family farms as of 2022, or about 76% of all farms in the state. Corporations accounted for 3,319 farms, or 13.7%, while partnerships own 1,935 farms, or 8%. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 2.2% of farms in Montana.
Montana farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 27,228 male farmers in Montana in 2022, making up 60% of the state’s total producers. Montana’s 17,830 women farmers accounted for 40% of the total.
See More: What’s in Season? Montana Produce Calendar
How Old Are Montana Farmers?
Out of 45,058 farmers in Montana, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of a Montana farmer is 59.3 years old, up from 58.2 years in 2017.
More than a quarter of Montana farmers (around 28.3%) fall into the age group of 65 to 74 years, and 23% of farmers are ages 55 to 64. Farmers aged 75 or older account for 15.1%, followed by farmers ages 45 to 54 years (13.2%), then farmers ages 35 to 44 (12.2%). Only 7% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 556 Montana farmers are under 25, or about 1.2%.
See More: Why Wheat and Barley Are Montana Gold
More Montana Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 45,000 agricultural producers, 49% of Montana farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 22,000 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers, as Montana has 4,065 farmers with current or past military service.
Montana is home to 263 USDA-certified organic farms, up from 193 in 2017.
Montana’s cattle and calf inventory totaled 2,118,284 across 9,533 farms in 2022. The state’s horse and pony inventory totaled 63,784 across 8,942 farms that year.
Montana is a top honey-producing state. There were 123,698 colonies of honeybees in Montana that produced a whopping 8.8 million pounds of honey in 2022.
See More: Montana’s Diverse Regions Promote Diverse Agriculture