The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the 2017 Census of Agriculture, highlighting land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures of agriculture nationwide. The Census of Agriculture is a census conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) that provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the United States.
According to the Census, the average value of farms in Montana, land and buildings, was $916 per acre (up from $785 per acre, or 3.13% per year, since 2012). The average value per farm was $1,968,381 (up from $1,674,568). There were 27,048 farms in Montana (down 960 farms since 2012), and 58,122,878 acres in farmland (down 1,636,039 acres).
For more information, see the USDA Press Release, the Montana state level data, or the 2017 Census Full Report.