Montana Crops: Past and Present

Changing markets have had a significant influence on what crops Montana producers grow. In the Pre-Prohibition Era, numerous local breweries in Montana depended on barley grown in Manhattan and Townsend. With Prohibition, new crops replaced barley, such as sugar beets grown for years in the Townsend Valley, spring wheat and alfalfa. Post-Prohibition saw the rise of major breweries, and barley reappeared as an important crop but in different areas of the state. Now with craft breweries in the picture, local specialty barleys are again being grown in the state. There are many other examples of markets driving what crops were grown in the state, including carrots and canning peas in the Gallatin Valley, flax in northeast Montana, mint and dill oil in northwest Montana, safflower in our eastern counties, and hemp, a World War II crop, has reappeared in central Montana. Those are just a few commercially grown crops that changing market needs have affected over the years.

Refreshments at 5:30 p.m.

This collaborative community event is presented by OLLI at MSU and the Belgrade Community Library, with sponsorship by Belgrade Community Library Foundation, and is free and open to the public.

There is a 50-person registration cap. Advance registration is recommended, but walk-ins are welcome.