No Big Changes in Montana Ag Producer's Financial Sentiments from 2020 - AgEconMT

Financial Status of Operation

And expectations are that the farm and ranch financial situation will remain roughly the same into 2022.

Expected Profitability of Operation

The Montana NASS Office and the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee (MWBC) recently released the Montana Wheat and Barley Variety Survey. In previous years, MSU has helped MWBC run the survey. This year NASS administered the survey. Having NASS run the survey allows a larger sample size and better representation in the results. This year, the survey received 2,241 responses (1,885 usable). In comparison, we received 439 in 2020, the last year MSU administered the survey. We are still partnering with MWBC to incorporate a couple financial questions (above).

It’s a little harder to compare to previous years since the sample and administrator are now different. Last year and in 2019 respondents were more likely to expect they’d be worse off a year in the future. You can compare to a national version of these questions (and many others) by going the Ag Economy Barometer website.

One important caveat to all of this is that the survey was administered in the early summer. Since then, the drought situation has become significantly worse, although higher prices have made up for most of the difference. (Nick Hagerty’s post summarizes the current situation well.)