THOMAS L JUDGE 



GOVERNOR 



STATK OF- MOXT.XXA 

 I>K1».VKXMKXX OK .VORIC^ULTURE 



I300 BLOCK CCOAR rTRECT 

 AIRPORT WAV BUILDING WEST 



TELEPHONE: 



AREA CODE 40« 



44S-3I44 



W. GORDON MCOMBER 

 DIRCCTON 



MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR 



Agriculture today is not what it used to be. Montana's agricultural 

 industry is a billion dollar business, fifty years ago the total 

 cash receipts from marketing of agricultural products was only 

 $135,000,000. This figure is now equivalent to roughly one fourth 

 of the cash receipts from livestock marketing today. 



Over the years technological advancements have contributed signifi- 

 cantly to the successes in agriculture. Let me cite some examples: 

 production yields have increased around 100% since the early 

 nineteen hundreds for wheat; the farmer today can complete his 

 field work in a fraction of the time that the same amount of work 

 took before the gasoline engine, when we relied on horses, as the 

 primary source of power. 



Exports have become a large consumer of our agricultural production, 

 while in the early stages of development we were our own major 

 consumer. Today nearly 60% of our wheat production enters the 

 export market . 



The data contained in this publication presents a very good 

 statistical picture of Montana's modern agricultural industry. The 

 decisions that have led us to our present day success in our 

 agricultural industry could not have been made without accurate 

 statistical data. For this reason I am pleased to present, 

 Montana Agricultural Statistics , Volume XVII. 



Sincerely , 



W. Gordon McOmber 



Director 



An Affirmative \ction/ Equal Employment Opportunity Employer 



