U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MONTANA AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE 



152 



P.O. BOX 4369 " HELENA. MONTANA 59604 

 (406) 449-5303 



FOREWORD 



The service of tabulating and publishing agricultural statistics 

 began over a century ago to provide the nation's farmers and ranchers 

 with production and marketing information. This information was vital 

 to producers because it gave them statistical data comparable to that 

 obtained by buyers through their own surveys or other channels. The 

 rapid consolidation of food companies into large, integrated operations 

 means accurate, public information is even more critical today. 



Many Montana producers are recovering from the drouth and severe 

 financial stress we saw in 1983-86. They are paying off debts and are 

 acquiring less short term debt than in the past. But others are not so 

 lucky — continued foreclosures and debt restructuring indicate that, 

 for some, recovery was too late or insufficient to avoid the pain and 

 disruption of loss. 



This publication provides data users with a comprehensive summary 

 of state and county statistics for Montana. Agriculture remains the 

 most important industry in Montana. Sales from the state's 23,600 

 farms and ranches contributed 1.5 billion dollars to the economy in 

 1986. 



This year, we have responded to the demands of data users to 

 provide special statistics on wheat and barley varieties, farm 

 financial conditions, grain movement and wheat utilization. Most of 

 this information would not be available without funding support from 

 the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee. 



The information in this publication comes from the best source — 

 the producers and agri-businessmen in Montana. We appreciate the high 

 level of cooperation we receive from them in answering our survey 

 questionnaires . 



We also want to thank our dedicated staff of statisticians, 

 support personnel, and field and telephone interviewers who collect and 

 summarize this information. We also appreciate the many hours of hard 

 work by Wendy Bruski who had overall responsibility for the bulletin's 

 layout, design and computer processing. 



Viyfi^ 



H. Pratt 

 State Statistician 



