STATISTICAL REPORTING SERVICE 



MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Tia 



MONTANA CROP AND LIVESTOCK REPORTING SERVICE 



P.O. BOX 4369 -- HELENA. MONTANA 

 (406) 449-5303 



59604 



FOREWORD 



Montana, known as "Big Sky County" and described as "Natural ly 

 Inviting" certainly has an abundance of natural beauty. But, to the 

 early settlers Montana's richest resources were the vast stretches of 

 grazing and farm land they found here. What was true over a century 

 ago Is sti I I true today. Montana farmers and ranchers produced pro- 

 ducts from this land in 1983 with a value of 1.7 bll lion do! lars--more 

 than any other Industry. Montana's 24 thousand farms and ranches were 

 valued at 19.5 bl I I ion dot lars In 1983. The average value, at 812 

 thousand dollars, was one of the highest values In the U.S. 



The purpose of this pub I Icatlon Is to present current, as we I I as 

 historic data about the state's agriculture. Crop and livestock pro- 

 duction is shown geographical ly by county and district. Other Infoi — 

 matlon such as farm Income, land use, weather, prices and exports pro- 

 vides data that aids in production planning and marketing. Most of 

 Montana's farm products are either sold out-of-state or exported. 

 Buyers and sel lers of agricultural products and supporting Industry 

 rely on data published In this bulletin to help them make sound busl- 

 ness dec I s Ions . 



Collection and publication of this Information wouldn't be pos- 

 sible without the voluntary cooperation of Montana's farmers, ranchers 

 and agri-bus Inessmen who provided basic Input data via survey ques- 

 1 1 onna I res . 



The bul letln includes special statistical data on wheat and bar- 

 ley, wheat utilization and grain movement. This information would not 

 be available without the funding support from the Montana Wheat Re- 

 search and Marketing Committee. 



We owe a sincere thanks to our staff of statisticians, support 

 personnel, and field and telephone enumerators who are responsible for 

 the collection and summarization of this Information. A special 

 thanks toCarol Jean Smith who had overall responsibility for bulletin 

 layout, charts, and computer processing. 



Vi'dtV 



'e H. Pratt, 

 State Statistician 



