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Montana Top 10 Agricultural Commodities
1. Cattle and calves – Montana’s 2,550,000 cattle earned $1.5 billion in cash receipts. Beaverhead and Fergus County lead the state in the number of all calves and beef calves born, respectively.
2. Wheat – As the No. 3 wheat-producing state in the country, Montana earned $1.4 billion in cash receipts from wheat in 2013. This grain was planted on 5,400,000 acres.
3. Hay – With cash receipts totaling $753,480,000, hay production earned Montana the No. 4 spot in the country. Alfalfa was valued at $141 per ton.
4. Barley – With cash receipts of more than $283 million, barley was planted on 990,000 acres and used for malting or feed. In 2013, barley reached its highest production value in over a century.
5. Dry peas – This pulse crop earned almost $96 million in cash receipts, after harvesting a record high number of acres. After a record-setting 520,000 acres planted, 2014 is positioned to top the charts.
6. Sugar beets – Ranking No. 6 in U.S. production, Montana drew $92,895,000 in cash receipts for this sweet root. The 2013 growing season yielded 1,250,000 tons from the 42,800 harvested acres.
7. Hogs – Up from 2012, overall cash receipts totaled $64,109,000. An even more impressive feat is the decade-high value per head of $145, increasing the state’s income potential by more than $12 million.
8. Milk – Along with calcium and vitamin C, milk also brought in $55,165,000 in cash receipts. Consuming a total of 3 million pounds of feed, Montana dairy cows produced 21,286 pounds of milk each.
9. Potatoes – Tallying cash receipts of $44,389,000, Montana farmers grew more than 11,000 acres of potatoes, dominated by seed potatoes.
10. Honey – With nearly 160,000 bee colonies, Montana is the No. 2 producer of honey in the country. The 2013 production value was over $31 million, which is double from the previous year.