4 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS 



the severe drought years of the thirties, amounted to more than 50 percent. County- 

 values per acre for irrigated and non-irrigated crops, pages 12 and 13, vary greatly 

 because of soil productivity and length of season which limits the growing of some 

 high value crops. 



Montana Crops and Livestock during 1956 and 1957. pages 10 and 11, summarizes 

 situations affecting crop production and livestock marketings. Early drought in 



1956 cut crop production in eastern and central counties. Insufficient rainfall in 

 northeastern counties also hurt crop production in 1957. While the yields of some 

 dry land crops slipped below average, the irrigated crops turned out well in both 

 years. 



State Crop Tables, pages 14 to 24, contain total, irrigated and non -irrigated, data 

 for 10 years 1948-57. Crops grown principally or entirely on irrigated or non- 

 irrigated land are so indicated by appropriate sub-titles and footnotes. 



State Livestock Tables, pages 25-30, also cover the 1948-57 period. They con- 

 tinue the series in previous volumes relating to inventory numbers by age and sex 

 groups, disposition and value of the principal kinds of livestock and livestock 

 products. 



Barley Varieties and Disposition, page 31. lists the 1958 seeded acreage of the 

 principal varieties. The Compana variety is a strong leader even though others are 

 gaining. A new malting type, named Betzes, is expected to increase. Disposition 

 of barley during the nine months, July 1. 1956, and April 1, 1957, shows that in the 

 northcentral district which had more than half of the State's supply, about 48 per- 

 cent was stored on farms under government loans. This compared with 23 percent 

 for the northeast district which also is a prominent barley producing area. Only 1 

 percent was under loan in the southcentral district where most of the pen-fed cattle 

 are located. 



County Crop Tables, pages 32 to 61, contain 1956 and 1957 acres planted and 

 harvested, yield per acre, production and value for the total crop, acres harvested 

 and yield per acre separately for irrigated and non-irrigated land. Counties with 

 insignificant production are omitted from these tables. 



County Livestock Tables, pages 62 to 64, show the January 1 inventory nimibers 

 of the principal livestock and poultry for the years 1956, 1957 and 1958. The 1958 

 inventory is tentative and subject to revision but the county pattern will not change. 



Wheat Production by Protein Groups, pages 65 to 69, present tables, maps and a 

 chart of 1956 and 1957 spring wheat and winter wheat production by protein per- 

 centage groups. A table of base prices and protein premiums point up a significant 

 decrease in premiums offered in 1956 and 1957 as against those for several previous 

 years. The dot maps and county tables show a marked change in the amount of 

 wheat produced with 15.0 percent and more protein for northcentral counties in 



1957 compared with 1956. For this project State funds were matched with Federal 

 funds received from the Agricultural Marketing Service, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, under provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. 



County Barley Tables, pages 70 to 97, provide a twenty-year series of acreage, 

 yield and production data for irrigated and non-irrigated land covering the years 

 1938 to 1957. This information supplements a 1920 to 1943 series of harvested acres 

 in Volume III and a 1930 to 1949 series of irrigated and non-irrigated harvested acres 

 and yields per acre in Volume VI. Page 98 has similar data for the State from 

 1929 to 1957. 



County Cropland Maps, page 99, emphasize the great change in farming opera- 

 tions in northcentral and northeastern Montana during the thirty-year period 1924 

 to 1954. The tremendous increase in acres of cropland per farm for Liberty, Hill 

 and Toole Counties is due to a huge expansion of cropland and a moderate reduction 

 in farms. In Liberty County the 1954 cropland was 4.6 times the 1924 cropland and 

 farm numbers declined 24.5 percent. Garfield County to the east showed a sharp 

 drop in farms and only a small increase in cropland. The pattern for western 

 counties changed little during the period. 



County Census Tables, pages 100 to 103, present numbers of farms, land in 

 farms, average size of farm, cropland and cropland per farm taken from the five- 

 year census enumerations, 1925 to 1954. These data were used for the maps on page 99. 



