The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

This time of year the State of Montana puts out an interesting book about agricultural statistics in Montana.

Let’s start with the basics. There are 27,500 farms and ranches in Montana. The average acreage is 2,171 acres. The average value of a Montana farm or ranch is around two million twenty-nine thousand dollars.

Of those farms and ranches 4 % is woodland, 1.4% is other, 28.5% is cropland and 65% is pasture and range.

In 2012 Chouteau County had 774 farms and ranches. Land was two million seventy one thousand dollars and the average farm size in 2012 was 2677 acres.

Comparing Montana agric...