USDA ERS · DISASTER-HEAVY · HEAVY · MT

Montana farm subsidy data

Disaster-weighted ERS profile for FY2023; county NASS tables below are a separate 2022 Census population.

By ·Data year 2023·USDA ERS → ·USDA NASS Census →

Total payments
$305M
Conservation
$71M
Disaster aid
$210M
Net farm income (2023)
$2.1B
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Disaster share inside Montana's $305M ERS total

Exclusive partition of this state's fiscal-year 2023 USDA ERS total (DISASTER-HEAVY). Conservation and disaster are published line items; the residual is commodity / ARC-PLC / MFP and other program families in the same extract.

Montana: disaster aid dominates a heavy ERS book

Montana stamps DISASTER-HEAVY · HEAVY on USDA ERS FY2023: disaster aid $210M of $305M total (#14 of 50 by total).

Crop-insurance loss ratio 222% ($311M indemnities on $140M premiums) sits beside the disaster line; read them together, not as substitutes. A ratio above 100% means claims exceeded premiums in this reporting period; it is not, by itself, a measure of a state’s agricultural risk.

County farm-count and sales tables below are the separate 2022 NASS Census population and do not sum to this ERS state total. Figures follow USDA Economic Research Service Farm Income and Wealth Statistics.

Payment history behind Montana's disaster stamp

Latest release change: -25.2% · Montana's total government payments moved from $305M in FY2023 to $228M in FY2024, the change between the two most recent finalized USDA ERS years. USDA publishes each release on its own; the movement between them is computed here.

Year Total
2024 $228M
2023 $305M
2022 $649M
2021 $622M
2020 $771M
2019 $323M
2018 $341M
2017 $375M
2016 $235M
2015 $131M

Crop insurance beside Montana's disaster stamp

Premiums Paid
$140M
Indemnities
$311M
Loss Ratio
222%

Loss ratio = indemnities ÷ premiums. A ratio above 100% means claims exceeded premiums in this reporting period; it is not, by itself, a measure of a state’s agricultural risk.

Montana vs. every rankable state: what goes into crop insurance isn't what comes out

Each dot is a state that clears the $1M premiums floor, placed by what it pays IN (premiums, left to right) against what its indemnities return relative to that (loss ratio, bottom to top). Paying more into the program is not the same as getting more out of it, a state can sit in the small-payer / outsized-payout quadrant just as easily as the reverse.

Small payer, outsized payoutHeavy payer, heavy claimsLight footprintHeavy payer, net subsidizer$0M$206.8M$413.5M$620.3M$827.0M16.1%140.3%264.5%388.7%512.9%Premiums paid ($M) →← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums)Texas, Premiums paid ($M) →: $787.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 421.3%Oklahoma, Premiums paid ($M) →: $149.3M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 469.4%Kansas, Premiums paid ($M) →: $504.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 486.3%Iowa, Premiums paid ($M) →: $701.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 147.1%California, Premiums paid ($M) →: $363.6M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 342.3%Nebraska, Premiums paid ($M) →: $447.4M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 318.2%South Dakota, Premiums paid ($M) →: $410.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 212.5%Arkansas, Premiums paid ($M) →: $86.3M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 324.6%Minnesota, Premiums paid ($M) →: $445.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 193.9%Missouri, Premiums paid ($M) →: $212.2M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 200.2%Wisconsin, Premiums paid ($M) →: $163M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 180.8%Illinois, Premiums paid ($M) →: $467.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 54.7%North Dakota, Premiums paid ($M) →: $500M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 156.2%Mississippi, Premiums paid ($M) →: $56.3M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 374.1%Colorado, Premiums paid ($M) →: $149.1M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 283.8%Louisiana, Premiums paid ($M) →: $60.8M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 313.4%Ohio, Premiums paid ($M) →: $169.2M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 51.4%Washington, Premiums paid ($M) →: $184.5M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 341.8%Georgia, Premiums paid ($M) →: $108.8M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 364.7%Oregon, Premiums paid ($M) →: $83.6M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 257.3%Pennsylvania, Premiums paid ($M) →: $29.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 218.7%Florida, Premiums paid ($M) →: $133.8M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 432.8%New Mexico, Premiums paid ($M) →: $91.2M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 271.5%New York, Premiums paid ($M) →: $39.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 185.8%Kentucky, Premiums paid ($M) →: $84.4M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 172.7%North Carolina, Premiums paid ($M) →: $147.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 168%Michigan, Premiums paid ($M) →: $114.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 120.5%Indiana, Premiums paid ($M) →: $261.4M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 38.7%Tennessee, Premiums paid ($M) →: $48.3M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 222.4%Idaho, Premiums paid ($M) →: $98.5M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 200.8%Utah, Premiums paid ($M) →: $28.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 128.7%Wyoming, Premiums paid ($M) →: $27.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 119.1%Virginia, Premiums paid ($M) →: $38.2M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 190.6%Alabama, Premiums paid ($M) →: $39.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 271%South Carolina, Premiums paid ($M) →: $49.4M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 251.7%Arizona, Premiums paid ($M) →: $72.9M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 237.1%Vermont, Premiums paid ($M) →: $2.2M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 369.3%Maryland, Premiums paid ($M) →: $16.5M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 133.2%Nevada, Premiums paid ($M) →: $63M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 98.4%Hawaii, Premiums paid ($M) →: $1M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 402.8%West Virginia, Premiums paid ($M) →: $2.1M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 178.3%Maine, Premiums paid ($M) →: $5M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 169.5%Massachusetts, Premiums paid ($M) →: $2.6M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 486.5%New Jersey, Premiums paid ($M) →: $3.3M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 490.3%Connecticut, Premiums paid ($M) →: $3.7M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 481.9%Delaware, Premiums paid ($M) →: $5.6M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 78%Montana, Premiums paid ($M) →: $140.4M · ← Loss ratio (indemnities ÷ premiums): 221.6%
Montana pays $140M in crop-insurance premiums (#18 of 47 rankable states) against a 222% loss ratio (#24 by claims relative to premiums): a heavy payer, outsized payout state, not simply "pays a lot" or "pays a little."

47-state rankable cohort, national medians at the crosshair

Source: USDA ERS Farm Income and Wealth Statistics As of 2026-05-15

Top counties in Montana by commodity sales

Top 5 Montana counties, commodity sales Horizontal bar chart of the top 5 items by value (USD). Top 5 Montana counties, commodity sales 1. Chouteau $214M 2. Sheridan $194M 3. Hill $189M 4. Gallatin $163M 5. Fergus $160M Top 5 counties in Montana ranked by total commodity sales(USDA NASS Census of Agriculture). Source: USDA NASSCensus of Agriculture + USDA ERS Farm Income.

Counties in Montana (56)

County Farms
Missoula 606
Sanders 421
Lincoln 251
Deer Lodge 103
Silver Bow 156
Mineral 76

Showing 51-56 of 56 counties, ranked by commodity sales.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Farm Income and Wealth Statistics (1995-2024) County data: USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture

Income beside disaster stamp

Gross cash $5.9B · net cash $1.8B · net farm $2.1B · ARC $18M / PLC $1M

USDA ERS Farm Income · FY2023 · County: 2022 NASS Census

Nearest ERS payment peer (DISASTER-HEAVY · HEAVY): North Dakota · DISASTER-HEAVY · How disaster and program payments stack · Chouteau County NASS table

What to do with Montana's numbers

Montana ranks #14 of 50 states by total ERS farm payments. Three places to take that further:

  • See how Montana compares against the 4 closest West states by payment volume. Compare states
  • Drill into Chouteau County, Montana's top county by commodity sales in the 2022 NASS Census. County detail
  • How disaster and program payments stack for the program-level context behind these totals. Learn more

State payment totals (USDA ERS) and county figures (2022 NASS Census of Agriculture) are separate populations and must not be summed together.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details.
Compiled from official public sources by the publisher.