Montana has 28,000 farms and ranches of more than 60 million acres
total. That makes us the second largest state in the Union in acreage
devoted to agriculture. Montana agriculture brings in about two
billion dollars a year. We rank in the top ten nationally for producing
durum wheat, flaxseed, winter peas, lentils, wheat, barley, lambs,
honey, wool, sugar beets, pinto beans, beef cows, calf crop and
alfalfa hay.
Some of these products are produced sustainably. The Livingston-based
Corporation for the Northern Rockies defines sustainability as living
in ways that protect the integrity of the Earth’s biological
systems, while meeting human economic and social needs. Sustainable
agriculture recognizes our relationship to the world around us and
our responsibility to future generations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program says the primary goals of
sustainability include:
- Providing a more profitable farm income;
- Reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, such as fuel and
synthetic fertilizer and pesticides; and
- Promoting stable, prosperous farm families and communities.
There are thousands of ways to farm sustainably. Many involve integrated
pest management, rotational grazing, soil conservation, water quality/wetlands
stewardship, cover crops, crop and landscape diversity, nutrient
management, agro-forestry, agri-tourism, and alternative marketing.
Sustainable agriculture fits into and complements modern agriculture.
It recognizes the true values of farmers and their products. It
embraces and learns from “organic” agriculture, yet
it can involve even more diverse, low-impact techniques. It harnesses
new technologies to blur the lines between environmental concern
and agricultural productivity. It reclaims the best practices from
the past, while incorporating creativity to build strong agriculture
for the future.
Sustainable farmers and ranchers are renewing, recycling and renovating–all
with the goal of staying on the land, making a profit, protecting
our environment, and strengthening the communities in which we live.
Sustainable farming includes the simple basics of natural fertilizer
and conservation tillage. The Conservation Technology Information
Center estimates that conservation tillage, also called direct seeding,
reaches more than 103.1 million acres a year nationally, with 9.9
million of those acres in the West.
Through sustainable ranchlands training programs available in Montana,
ranchers learn stewardship techniques that create healthy rangelands
and riparian areas. Research shows that these same techniques can
increase profitability by an average of 22 percent.
Trees can generate revenue, serve as windbreaks, expand wildlife
habitats, improve water quality, and reduce reliance on commercial
fertilizers. I’ve planted 400 trees on my small acreage in
the Elkhorn Mountains, southeast of Helena. Those trees are magnets:
Each year, in addition to better soil from composting leaves, I
get more birds and critters. I mulch the trees and bushes heavily,
so they don’t need much supplemental watering.
Montana has marketing programs to help sustainable agriculture.
More than 30 Montana communities have Farmers’ Markets - Support
them! Other programs market local, sustainably-produced goods to
regional and national outlets. These niche markets pay much better
than mere commodity prices, particularly for sustainable ranch meat.
In addition to Farmers’ Markets, farmers can market directly
at options as diverse as roadside stands to the World Wide Web.
Many farmers and ranchers are now delivering to restaurants and
grocery stores. Others are involved with community-supported agriculture,
where members of nearby communities buy a certain percentage of
each year’s crops.
Profitable farms and ranches serve as the underpinning for a healthy
rural economy, culture and natural environment. And, sustainable
agriculture is the pathway to profitable farms and ranches.
Some of this information is from the Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education’s Western Region. They can be contacted by phone:
435-797-2257, via email: wsare@mendel.usu.edu,
or on the web:http://wsare.usu.edu.
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