WHEAT 



W 



-HEAT, the most important Montana crop, 

 is likewise one of the most important crops 

 in the United States and one of the most 

 important crops in the wor'd agriculture. 

 It is important in Montana because the 

 bulk of the crop average of the state is 

 devoted to its production and more than 

 eighty per cent of Montana farms have 

 wheat acreage. It is the most important 

 single export product of Montana farms, 

 contributing in 1926, $40,963,000 or more 

 than thirty per cent of the total crop and 

 livestock income. Similar reasons make 

 the wheat crop important in the United 

 States and the world. It is the national 

 and inter-national bread crop. 



Prices Montana farmers receive for 

 wheat are to a large extent based on world 

 market conditions, making it necessary 

 that Montana farmers give some consider- 

 ation to trends of wheat production both 

 in the United States and the World at 

 large. 



WHEAT PRODUCTION TRENDS 



Trends of production in the World, in the United States, and in Montana for 

 the past twenty-five years are shown on the opposite page. The general 

 trend of world production preceding the war was upward and with the elimina- 

 tion, of a large extent, of Russian surplus since the war, there has been a strong 

 increase in wheat production in Canada and the southern hemisphere, notably 

 Argentina. Should Russia return to 'pre;- war production, and there is a trend in 

 this direction, world production may be expected to continue an upward trend. 

 Production in the United States has had a slightly downward trend since the war, 

 due to adjustments made by wheat growers to the drop in wheat prices that imme- 

 diately followed the war. In Montana the trend of production of wheat has been 

 strongly upward since 1919. 



Compared with the older wheat growing areas of the nation, Montana has 

 had some advantage in lower priced wheat lands and premiums on the milling 

 quality of her spring wheat which represents the bulk of Montana wheat produc- 

 tion. These advantages have apparently enabled Montana farmers to continue 

 expansion during the post-war period. 



To what extent Montana will be able to continue expansion of wheat acreage 

 will depend upon the extent to which wheat will continue the first choice over 

 alternative crops, with wheat marketing conditions outside Montana tending to 

 become more influential factors as production increases. 



WHEAT IN MONTANA 



Montana's geographical position places her at some disadvantage with the 

 wheat areas further east in the matter of freight haul to milling centers and 

 deficit producing states. To a large extent the high milling quality of Montana 

 wheat offsets this disadvantage. Of the 71 per cent of Montana's wheat produc- 

 tion exported from the 1923 and 1924 production, 62 per cent went east and 9 per 

 cent west. Comparative data for earlier years is not available, but it is apparent 

 that there has been some increase in west bound wheat in recent years and with 

 the development of the west coast population, Montana will find a closer market 

 that will gradually increase its consumptive demand for Montana wheat. 



There has also been a steady increase in the amount of wheat milled in the 

 state of Montana during the past twenty years, until in 1924 nearly 20 per cent 

 of the state production was ground within the state. In 1925 about 22 per cent 

 was ground. 



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