Montana Land News

We often get requests at Montana Land Source for land market statistics and analysis.   We have a page on our website dedicated to land value trends and statistics - https://mtlandsource.com/montana-land-values-trends.  This page has links to the video and slideshow for the 20th Annual Presentation on Rural Montana Land Values & Trends, that took place in January 2019 in Bozeman, MT. A Broker...

The Northern Montana Farm Land Auction, held by Shobe Action & Realty, took place last Friday in Shelby, Montana.   The auction property is 1,863 +/- acres of dry cropland and CRP with organic certification history, located in Toole County, Montana, approximately 30 miles northwest of Shelby below the Kevin Rims. The auction was well attended, however the highest offer did not meet the seller...

Yet another national article on billionaire ranch owners in the west was published last week by Bloomberg.  While there can be no doubt that high-net-worth individuals play a role in the western land market, and that land values are such that only people with a high net worth can afford large holdings, articles like this perpetuate the myth that there are wealthy buyers out there with more money...

Andy Rahn from Montana Land Source will be giving a presentation on the Montana land market at a private event at the Horsethief Basin Ranch, southeast of Lewistown, Montana.  Western Ranch Brokers is now accepting a limited number of reservations for qualified parties to attend this private day-and-a-half event featuring an overnight stay in one of the guest cabins at the ranch, full driving...

The American Prairie Reserve, a non-profit organization that has set out to create a wildlife conservation area of over three million contiguous acres in northeastern Montana, has announced the purchase of the Blue Ridge Ranch located approximately 45 miles southeast of Malta in southern Phillips County. The 14,122-acre property is comprised of 9,695 deeded acres and 4,427 leased acres, and...

The demographics of land buyers are changing, as Baby Boomers age out and younger generations, with different values and lifestyles step into the marketplace. Historically, Montana land has been a good long-term investment, and ranch buyers could "play" cowboy while sitting on an appreciating asset. However, management of that asset can be a great deal of work and costly. While wealthy Baby...

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service has released it's 2019 Summary of Land Values. The data is based on USDA surveys of land owners and managers. Overall the 2019 Montana average farmland real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, was slightly down in 2019 from 2018 and 2017. Overall the average value of cropland...

Wildfire season has arrived to Montana.  The Montana Land Source map-app has active wildfire layers that show perimeters and details about current Montana wildfires.  Simply turn on the wildfire layers in the map-app to view mapped wildfire information.  Click the link below for a short YouTube tutorial video on using wildfire layers in the Montana Land Source map-app.  

Northwest Farm Credit Services has released it's 2nd quarterly Market Snapshots e-Newsletter, with updates on land values as well as multiple regional agricultural commodities. In general, land values in Montana are reported to be up slightly but volume is down.  

NOTICE - Due to the July 4th holiday, The Billings Farm & Ranch Brokers will not be holding thier regularly scheduled meeting. Once monthly, usually the first Thursday of each month, the Billings Farm & Ranch Brokers meet at 8:30 am at the Billings Association of Realtors office at 2021 Overland Avenue in Billings.  At the meetings, brokers and other rural real estate professionals get...