Best Farmer programs in Montana, ranked by enrollment
Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments.
6 schools in Montana run programs that feed this job, graduating 147 people a year. The job pays a median of $110,250 in Montana across about 30 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Montana that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
9 programs in Montana that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Montana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Montana page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 01.1101In Montana → | 46 | 31.3% | 1 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 2 | CIP 01.0901In Montana → | 45 | 30.6% | 2 | $33,926 | $21,748 |
| 3 | CIP 01.0101In Montana → | 23 | 15.6% | 1 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 4 | CIP 01.1106In Montana → | 10 | 6.8% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 5 | CIP 01.0102In Montana → | 8 | 5.4% | 1 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 6 | Farm/Farm and Ranch Managementmain feeder CIP 01.0104In Montana → | 5 | 3.4% | 2 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 7 | CIP 01.0906In Montana → | 4 | 2.7% | 2 | $33,926 | $21,748 |
| 8 | Agricultural Production Operations, Generalmain feeder CIP 01.0301In Montana → | 3 | 2.0% | 1 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 9 | Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculturemain feeder CIP 01.0308In Montana → | 3 | 2.0% | 1 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
Top 6 schools in Montana
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 6 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montana State University Bozeman, MT Public · 5 feeder programs | 120 | Plant Sciences, General | $33,311 | 57% | — | 82% |
| 2 | Miles Community College Miles City, MT Public · 3 feeder programs | 11 | Range Science and Management | — | 62% | — | — |
| 3 | Montana State University - Northern Havre, MT Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations | — | 41% | — | — |
| 4 | Dawson Community College Glendive, MT Public · 2 feeder programs | 4 | Livestock Management | — | 45% | — | — |
| 5 | The University of Montana Missoula, MT Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture | — | 48% | — | 96% |
| 6 | The University of Montana - Western Dillon, MT Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Farm/Farm and Ranch Management | — | 51% | — | 100% |
All 6 schools in Montana
Every school in Montana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana State University | Bozeman | Public | 120 | 5 |
| Miles Community College | Miles City | Public | 11 | 3 |
| Montana State University - Northern | Havre | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Dawson Community College | Glendive | Public | 4 | 2 |
| The University of Montana | Missoula | Public | 3 | 1 |
| The University of Montana - Western | Dillon | Public | 1 | 1 |
What farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers earn in Montana
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $89,900. Montana pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Montana employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers page.
How to become a Farmer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Montana
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers23 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0101Agricultural Business and Management, General
- 01.0102Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
- 01.0104Farm/Farm and Ranch Management
- 01.0199Agricultural Business and Management, Other
- 01.0301Agricultural Production Operations, General
- 01.0302Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production
- 01.0303Aquaculture
- 01.0304Crop Production
- 01.0306Dairy Husbandry and Production
- 01.0307Horse Husbandry/Equine Science and Management
- 01.0308Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- 01.0310Apiculture(no graduates reported)
- 01.0399Agricultural Production Operations, Other
- 01.0601Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General
- 01.0603Ornamental Horticulture
- 01.0604Greenhouse Operations and Management
- 01.0606Plant Nursery Operations and Management
- 01.0609Public Horticulture(no graduates reported)
- 01.0610Urban and Community Horticulture
- 01.0901Animal Sciences, General
- 01.0902Agricultural Animal Breeding
- 01.0903Animal Health
- 01.0904Animal Nutrition
- 01.0905Dairy Science
- 01.0906Livestock Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers programs in Montana.
What degree do you need to become a Farmer?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Plant Sciences, General, which awarded 46 degrees in Montana in 2024-25, 31.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Farmer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Plant Sciences, Animal Sciences, Agricultural Business and Management, Agricultural Production Operations. Together they graduate about 147 people a year in Montana.
How much do farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers earn in Montana?+
The median is $110,250 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.6% above the U.S. median of $89,900. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers growing?+
BLS projects a -1.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 85,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Montana?+
6 institutions in Montana reported graduates from at least one of the 9 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Farm Manager, Ranch Manager, Greenhouse Manager, Aquaculture Director among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9013.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card