Montana has a total of 8.4 M acres of harvestable crop land of which 1.8 M ac are irrigated. While only 21% of total farmed area, annual irrigated production accounts for about $630M or about 60% all sales from all harvested cropland in the state. The highly productive lower Yellowstone and Missouri River area of eastern Montana and western North Dakota, commonly referred to as the MonDak region, accounts for a very large portion of the state's irrigated farm income. Present irrigated production along the lower Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers is dominated by two-year rotations of sugar beets alternating with malting barley.
Wallace Stegner once said that "water is the true wealth in a dry land." This is certainly the case in MonDak region, and the region has been truly blessed by the high quality, abundant flows of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. In fact, this is one of the few areas in the United States that still has unappropriated waters for irrigation development. There is potential to easily add at least 500,000 new acres of new irrigation in the MonDak region, which will likely utilize self-propelled center pivot and linear move irrigation systems.
The MonDak region, a highly productive food export producing area, is probably the last large area in the western USA that will see expanded irrigation development. Other irrigated areas in the West are static or declining in size with little chance for increased development due to endangered species regulations, urban encroachment, salinity and water quality issues. The currently underdeveloped irrigable areas in the MonDak region have all of the components that favor successful, sustainable irrigated farming enterprises, including the well-educated, dedicated and excellent producers. The favorable climatic conditions, high water quality, abundant water supplies and minimal problems with salination of soils make the MonDak region a very desirable area to expand irrigated production from a national and a world perspective.
By virtue of the dry climate, geographic isolation and the ability to control soil water levels throughout the season using precision irrigation management, there is a high potential for cultivation of specialty value-added/high value crops (e.g., plant-based pharmaceuticals, seed crops, herbs, oil seed crops, vegetables, chemical plant feedstocks, bio-fuels, bio-lubricants, etc.). The capability to implement exact water and agrochemical management allows growers to produce high quality value-added specialty crops for niche as well as world markets.
A well-developed infrastructure is in place to support large scale agriculture growth in the region, including transportation (excellent road and rail transport systems), strong electrical power network, service industries, and equipment retailers. A strong agricultural Aresearch triangle@ exists in the MonDak area with Montana State University-Sidney, North Dakota State University-Williston, and the large USDA-Agricultural Research Service Laboratory at Sidney. These and other partnerships are continually being strengthened to provide needed research/outreach products to growers and support new agricultural industries moving into the region.
