Montana Small Grain Guide History of Grain Production

Montana Small Grain Guide History of Grain Production in Montana

In the Beginning • Cereal Grains in 1860’s to feed mining boom towns • 1870 = 831 farms and 150, 000 acres of cultivated land • Homestead Boom 1900’s spawned by: advent of “Dry-Farming” methods, low price machinery, and Great Northern Campaign

Homesteaders • “Golden Triangle”, then the “Highline”, and “Eastern Mt” • 1910 Land Office processed 1000 to 1500 homestead filings per month • 13, 000 farms in 1900 • 16, ooo farms in 1910 • 58, 000 farms in 1920

Good Wheat Conditions • 1909 - 1916 lots of well-timed rain averaging 16” per year • 1915 & 1916 yields ranged from 35 -50 bushels per acre • World War I drove up prices • 1917 Lever Act set wheat prices to a $2 min

Bad Conditions • 1919 - 1225 20% of farms in MT went out of production – drought – locusts – wind – $1. 20 drop in price – 2. 4 bu/acre average • 1/2 of all farmers lost their land • Land prices cut in half • MT only state to lose population in 1920’s

Wheat & Barley • wheat cultivated as early as 15, 000 B. C. • Hard red winter wheat “Turkey Red” brought to US by Russian Mennonite immigrants to Kansas in 1873 • Wheat brought to Montana from Utah in 1864 – 14, 000 acres in 1874 – 100, 000 acres in 1900 – 435, 000 acres in 1910 • Marquis (spring wheat) from Canada in 1913 – 2 million acres in 1915 – 4. 4 million acres in 1929

Barley • originated in western Asia about 5, 000 B. C. • introduced in the Colonies to be used for brewing • popular near large cities • Wheat allotments in 1954 made 1, 000 acres in MT available for other uses, Barley was most attractive alternative • ranks 3 rd in importance in MT

Agriculture Today • by 1980’s, 60% of MT farmers have more than 20 years experience • Must balance levels of inputs to maximize PROFIT not yield