Table 70. Summary by Tenure of Principal Operator and by Operators on Farm: 2012 (continued) 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
Tenure of principal operator 
Operators on farm 
Item 
Total 
Full owners 
Part owners 
Tenants 
One operator 
More than one 
operator 
PRINCIPAL OPERATOR CHARACTERISTICS 
Sex of operator: 
Male 
23,765 
14,722 
7,073 
1,970 
11,727 
12,038 
Female 
4,243 
3,421 
591 
231 
2,302 
1,941 
Primary occupation: 
Farming 
15,434 
8,210 
5,824 
1,400 
7,545 
7,889 
Other 
12,574 
9,933 
1,840 
801 
6,484 
6,090 
Place of residence: 
On farm operated 
22,057 
14,081 
6,630 
1,346 
10,331 
1 1 ,726 
Not on farm operated 
5,951 
4,062 
1,034 
855 
3,698 
2,253 
Days worked off farm: 
None 
12,116 
7,161 
4,104 
851 
6,079 
6,037 
Any 
15,892 
10,982 
3,560 
1,350 
7,950 
7,942 
1 to 49 days 
2,688 
1,703 
729 
256 
1,421 
1,267 
50 to 99 days 
1,232 
822 
304 
106 
601 
631 
100 to 199 days 
2,383 
1,564 
600 
219 
1,210 
1,173 
200 days or more 
9,589 
6,893 
1,927 
769 
4,718 
4,871 
Years on present farm: 
2 years or less 
962 
619 
152 
191 
548 
414 
3 or 4 years 
1,195 
695 
227 
273 
572 
623 
5 to 9 years 
3,851 
2,687 
749 
415 
1,861 
1,990 
10 years or more 
22,000 
14,142 
6,536 
1,322 
11,048 
10,952 
Average years on present farm 
23.3 
22.6 
27.1 
16.5 
23.4 
23.3 
Years operating any farm (see text): 
2 years or less 
690 
463 
95 
132 
410 
280 
3 or 4 years 
882 
546 
151 
185 
415 
467 
5 to 9 years 
3,141 
2,201 
571 
369 
1,531 
1,610 
10 years or more 
23,295 
14,933 
6,847 
1,515 
11,673 
1 1 ,622 
Average years operating any farm 
26.1 
25.3 
29.7 
20.0 
26.0 
26.1 
Age group: 
Under 25 years 
123 
49 
29 
45 
85 
38 
25 to 34 years 
1,264 
566 
317 
381 
681 
583 
35 to 44 years 
2,690 
1,476 
824 
390 
1,311 
1,379 
45 to 49 years 
2,226 
1,374 
636 
216 
1,051 
1,175 
50 to 54 years 
3,641 
2,197 
1,144 
300 
1,709 
1,932 
55 to 59 years 
4,371 
2,732 
1,358 
281 
2,062 
2,309 
60 to 64 years 
4,375 
2,897 
1,256 
222 
2,208 
2,167 
65 to 69 years 
3,354 
2,378 
847 
129 
1,640 
1,714 
70 years and over 
5,964 
4,474 
1,253 
237 
3,282 
2,682 
Average age 
58.9 
60.5 
57.6 
50.0 
59.4 
58.4 
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin (see text) 
246 
186 
28 
32 
112 
134 
Race: 
American Indian or Alaska Native 
1,318 
757 
420 
141 
837 
481 
Asian 
31 
20 
11 
- 
15 
16 
Black or African American 
10 
10 
- 
- 
7 
3 
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 
7 
4 
3 
- 
5 
2 
White 
26,494 
17,272 
7,176 
2,046 
13,091 
13,403 
More than one race reported 
148 
80 
54 
14 
74 
74 
Farms by number of persons living in 
operator's household: 
1 person 
4,773 
3,305 
1,035 
433 
3,930 
843 
2 people 
14,681 
9,821 
3,976 
884 
6,339 
8,342 
3 people 
3,310 
2,104 
952 
254 
1,447 
1,863 
4 people 
2,925 
1,634 
963 
328 
1,287 
1,638 
5 or more people 
2,319 
1,279 
738 
302 
1,026 
1,293 
Percent of operator's total 
household income from farming: 
Less than 25 percent 
16,877 
13,274 
2,508 
1,095 
8,623 
8,254 
25 to 49 percent 
2,158 
1,263 
665 
230 
1,079 
1,079 
50 to 74 percent 
3,062 
1,531 
1,260 
271 
1,536 
1,526 
75 to 99 percent 
3,446 
1,327 
1,793 
326 
1,562 
1,884 
1 00 percent 
2,465 
748 
1,438 
279 
1,229 
1,236 
Operator is a hired manager farms 
1,394 
691 
522 
181 
671 
723 
acres 
11,729,886 
5,462,850 
5,251,386 
1,015,650 
6,973,272 
4,756,614 
Farms with- 
Internet access 
20,884 
12,996 
6,138 
1,750 
9,463 
11,421 
Dial-up service 
1,854 
1,187 
551 
116 
820 
1,034 
DSL service 
9,435 
5,827 
2,819 
789 
4,303 
5,132 
Cable modem service 
1,730 
1,217 
365 
148 
840 
890 
Fiber-optic service 
2,210 
1,154 
803 
253 
994 
1,216 
Mobile broadband plan for a computer 
or cell phone 
2,896 
1,871 
728 
297 
1,195 
1,701 
Satellite service 
4,738 
2,869 
1,501 
368 
2,061 
2,677 
Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
359 
250 
92 
17 
170 
189 
Other Internet service 
452 
317 
104 
31 
166 
286 
Farms by number of households sharing 
in net income of operation: 
1 household 
22,265 
15,002 
5,541 
1,722 
12,161 
10,104 
2 households 
4,239 
2,335 
1,528 
376 
1,349 
2,890 
3 households 
928 
490 
380 
58 
273 
655 
4 households 
380 
200 
148 
32 
153 
227 
5 or more households 
196 
116 
67 
13 
93 
103 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
218 Montana 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
