Things Montanans Do That Don't Make Sense Part II : The Most Expensive Montana Hobby

If you're looking to spend a lot of money on a Montana hobby, you might try skiing or hunting.....or ranching!!?!  Most Montana ag "businesses" are actually very expensive hobbies.  "What?!" You say,  "Farmers and ranchers are the hardest working people I know.  Surely so many hard working people wouldn't be dedicated to an industry that isn't profitable?"  US ag producers are among the most productive in the world and Montanans are no exception, but that doesn't mean they're profitable.

Agriculture has been a huge industry in Montana since before it became a state. The State Department of Ag,touts it as Montana’s largest industry.  It indirectly employs over a hundred thousand people on farms, ranches and in ag related businesses and government agencies.  

But the big question is: do ag producers in Montana actually make a profit?  Some are hobby farmers and that isn’t their goal.  Many other producers will freely admit they don’t some years.  But of those who assert they are profitable, are they really considering all the costs?  What if ag producers had to pay themselves and their family members the salary they would have to pay someone else to do their job?  How many would make a profit then?  Statistically very few ag producers would be making a profit, even on a good year.  And if we take out government subsidies, below market land leases and low interest loans, we’d have even fewer profitable operations.  Unfair stipulations you say?  Can you really call a business profitable if you are paying yourself $3 an hour?

I am not saying there aren’t profitable ag businesses in Montana, nor that there couldn’t be a few more, but why are we protecting this industry when the businesses at the core are mostly unprofitable?!  Why does the government subsidize ag producers and not subsidize doughnut shops?  Why do we find it understandable when someone takes a second job to support the ranch, but we would find it strange if someone takes a second job to support their construction business?  Simple, in Montana ag is sacred.  It’s more than a hobby, more than a job and more than a business.  It is a way of life.

I grew up on a ranch and currently work in the industry.  I enjoy going back to the ranch, but I'm often baffled by how people idolize it, both from outside of the industry and inside.  When I was in college, I often had people want me to take them branding in the spring.  If my grandparent's had owned a plumbing business instead of a ranch I doubt they would have come with me for "drain field day".  However, I am thankful to have grown up on a ranch and am grateful for the way it shaped me.


Unfortunately good memories and the romance doesn't take away the realities of the situation.  It's hard to make a profit in ag these days.  We as a state have to adapt.  Most Montana producers are getting older and their kids aren’t coming back to the ranch for a reason.  The subsidies, both from the government and the free labor, won’t keep the industry afloat forever.  The ag businesses that can be profitable will have to make changes to become so.  The producers who can’t be profitable will have to admit it and may have to down-scale to a hobby ranch in order to continue in their passion.  Some ranches can remain profitable by including tourism as well as ranching in their enterprise mix.  Others might make it by turning to specialty crops or specialty livestock and embracing the organic, all-natural trend.  One thing is for sure, ag in Montana will look very different in 20 years.