1991 Montana Agricultural Statistics 



1 Cfntek 



ALTERNATIVE CROPS 



CmCKUNG VETCH 



Alternative crops are playing an increasingly 

 significant role in Montana's agricultural industry. As 

 producers look for options to diversify their operations 

 for increased profitability and to keep pace with the 

 changing market environment, crops such as buckwheat 

 reemerge as a viable option and new crops such as 

 canola become part of Montana's agricultural landscape. 

 A selection of some of these alternative crops are shown 

 below. 



BERSEEM CLOVER 



Berseem clover, or Egyptian clover, is an 

 upright-growing annual legume and a cool-season 

 forage crop. Egypt is the world's largest producer of 

 berseem where it serves as a winter forage crop. Bigbee 

 and Multicut are the two principal varieties of berseem 

 clover and have been grown successfully in tests as a 

 summer annual in Montana. 



Belonging to the legume family, chickling vetch 

 is a pea-like annual or perennial herb. The leafy, 

 climbing plant is grown for fodder and as a green 

 manure. The flowers are white, blue or violet. 



CHICKPEAS (QCER) 



Chickpeas are an annual plant belonging to the 

 legume family. They are sometimes cultivated in 

 vegetable gardens for the edible ripe seeds; the pods 

 usually contain two seeds each. The peas can be eaten 

 boiled or roasted, and are used in soup or as a 

 substitute for coffee; some kinds are also used for horse 

 feed. The chickpea plant is bushy and hairy and grows 

 about two feet high, yielding 500-1,000 pounds per 

 acre. 



FIELD PEAS 



BLACK MEDIC 



Research has been conducted at Montana State 

 University on the uses for black medic, "...Black Medic 

 has great potential for revegetation, nitrogen fixation, 

 cover crop, pasture renovation, and dryland agricultural 

 purposes." Other uses include agricultural crop 

 rotations, soil building, wildlife forage, roadside mix, 

 and seed sprouting for human consumption. 



BUCKWHEAT 



Buckwheat is a short season plant, maturing in 

 ten to twelve weeks. Buckwheat is grown for human 

 consumption, with worldwide applications in pancake 

 mixes, breakfast cereals, poultry dressing, breads and 

 ethnic dishes. 



CANOLA 



Canola, a variety of rapeseed in the mustard 

 family, is the fastest growing oilseed crop in the world. 

 Production of edible rapeseed grown in Montana is 

 increasing with market demand and availability of oil 

 seed crushers and local dealers. Canola contains the 

 lowest level of saturated fat and the highest level of 

 unsaturated fat of any edible vegetable oil. 



A member of the legume family, field peas are a 

 tall, annual herb grown for fodder, as a vegetable, and 

 for its seeds (used for split pea soup). Native to Europe. 



FLAX 



Flax is harvested for its seed and fiber products. 

 The straw fiber is used to make fine paper. Seeds are 

 processed into linseed oil (a high-quality drying agent), 

 and livestock feed cake, which is left after oil extraction. 

 Of the little flax that is grown in Montana, most is 

 transported to other areas for processing. 



KABOCHA SQUASH 



In Japanese, kabocha is a generic word for 

 pumpkin or squash. Like all vegetable crops, kabocha is 

 a heavy feeder and is more labor-intensive than grain 

 crops. It is easier to handle than more delicate 

 vegetables and can be effective against some weeds. 

 Much of the kabocha squash produced in Montana is 

 grown in the Yellowstone Valley. 



