Heat and Smoke Impact Local Produce As Montana Farmers Face Growing Challenges

BELGRADE, Mont. — Extreme heat and smoke in Montana have started to impact how some local fruits and vegetables grow and reach shoppers locally across the Treasure State. 

At Amaltheia Dairy Farm in Belgrade, Nathan Brown, a local farmer, says he has largely built the farm’s fruit and vegetable operation by using manure from the goats raised there to make compost for produce.  

Brown says that when the farm started in 2000, the family had 80 goats and now are up to over 200. 

"My parents started this goat dairy 26 years ago, in the fall of 2000" Brown said. "And eventually got into vegetables in 2012" 

Brown explained that some crops have struggled in the heat this summer due to a process called bolting, which makes produce inedible to eat due to being exposed to high temperatures for too long. 

He pointed to bok choy and lettuce as examples of crops affected by the weather.  

"We have seen it with like Bok Choy; Bok Choy will bolt on us. All of our Bok Choy bolted last week," Brown said. "Lettuce is slower to grow if it's really hot out or it can bolt as well" 

For produce, higher temperatures and smoke from wildfires can slow growth. The stunt in growth happens when crops do not have sufficient nutrients to take in. 

At the Downtown Bozeman Co-op, produce manager Andrew Berg says shoppers can still find what they need even with this summer’s conditions. 

"I think the heat is more of a big factor than say, the smoke. Some of the crops really like it when it's nice and cool, and some of them, it's been kind of limited or not very available lately, but we kind of expect that in the summer," Berg said.  

The Co-Op and Amaltheia dairy farm work together to provide local produce to community members. Berg told Nonstop Local that the local grocery store receives shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables from the family farm twice a week. 

People with questions about the quality of local produce can contact Amaltheia Organics.