Rising fertilizer prices are a concern for agricultural producers, according to Andrew Swanson, Montana State University Extension farm management specialist in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, who, along with MSU Extension soil fertility specialist Clain Jones, have provided some insight for managing fertilizer costs. “Even though the U.S. produces the majority of its

recommends several strategies to optimize dollars spent on fertilizer. With a range of available fertilizer products, including granular and liquid, it’s important to know the fertilizer cost per pound of nutrient. For example, the nitrogen cost per pound of urea could be compared to the cost per pound of nitrogen for liquid nitrogen, which is generally either 28 percent or 32 percent nitrogen.

Montana SDRP payments as of 4/24/26. Learn more at fsa.usda.gov/sdrp U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins in Missouri has announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is maximizing disaster assistance support for producers by issuing a second Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payment to eligible producers who have approved program applications for losses due to natural disasters

Across Montana, farm and ranch families carry a legacy that stretches beyond acreage, livestock, or financial worth. These operations are more than businesses. They represent a heartbeat of rural life, symbols of perseverance, and threads that tie generations together. Yet for many families, the dream of passing that legacy forward may remain tangled in silence due to uncertainty or fear. Transferring

By Tom Lutey, Montana Free Press Organic farmers like Bob Quinn don’t win many farm bill battles, so Thursday’s U.S. House vote thwarting a proposed ban on state-issued cancer warnings on pesticides hit him like a surprise forecast for two weeks of rain. The Kamut farmer from Big Sandy in north-central Montana had expected the pesticide industry to prevail. “They have so much power