Montana
Buying Land in Sheridan County, Montana
Montana's far northeastern corner runs on wheat, lentils, and dry peas -- more than 99% of the county is classified as farmland -- with a real, if secondary, slice of Williston Basin oil-and-gas activity, and a joint county-city Planning Board whose own Growth Policy states plainly that it is not a regulatory document.
Wheat, lentils, and peas: a real production-agriculture county
Sheridan County sits in Montana's far northeastern corner, bordering both Canada and North Dakota, and its economy is built on small-grain and pulse-crop farming almost to the exclusion of everything else -- USDA data puts more than 99% of the county's land in farm use. It's Montana's leading county for durum wheat, dry edible peas, and lentils, with more than 400,000 acres of those crops harvested in a single recent year, alongside spring and winter wheat, canola, chickpeas, barley, and mustard. Average farm size runs over 1,600 acres, and agricultural production directly employs roughly a quarter of the county's labor force -- with farming as the primary occupation for a notably higher share of local producers (about 69%) than the Montana average (about 50%).
For a buyer, this means Sheridan County land is best understood through the lens of dryland small-grain and pulse-crop production economics -- soil type, crop rotation history, and existing farm infrastructure will matter more here than in a ranching or recreational county, and comparable sales should be benchmarked against working grain operations rather than recreational or lifestyle-property pricing.
Zoning: a growth policy that says it isn't regulatory
Sheridan County's planning function is a joint operation with the City of Plentywood -- the County/City Planner's office (100 W Laurel Ave, Plentywood) handles both. The county's Growth Policy, adopted by Commission Resolution #2013-04, is explicitly described in the policy itself as a blueprint for future development that is not regulatory -- a statement of intent rather than an enforceable code. Where this research found references to actual zoning ordinances and maps, they traced back to the City of Plentywood's own municipal zoning code rather than a Sheridan County-wide ordinance.
That pattern is consistent with the state hub's broader point that county-wide zoning is the exception in Montana, and Sheridan County appears to follow it: a real Growth Policy and a functioning Planning office for subdivision review, but no confirmed county-wide zoning ordinance reaching into rural farmland. As always, this should be confirmed for a specific parcel -- the Planning office can verify zoning status using the Growth Policy, any applicable zoning maps, ordinances, and subdivision regulations on file.
A real, secondary edge of Williston Basin oil and gas
Sheridan County sits at the northern edge of the Williston Basin, the geologic province whose Bakken and Three Forks formations have driven much of North Dakota's and eastern Montana's oil boom over the past two decades. The county has genuine, ongoing activity -- drilling-industry tracking shows roughly 59 active wells and 11 operators as of late 2025, with total monthly production in the tens of thousands of barrels, and more than 1,000 wells drilled in the county going back to 1986. That's enough to rank Sheridan among Montana's more productive oil counties.
That said, it's a real but secondary piece of the regional picture -- the Bakken's signature Montana field, Elm Coulee, sits in Richland County to the south, and Sheridan's activity has historically included exploration in other formations (such as the Red River) in addition to the Bakken/Three Forks. If a parcel's marketing emphasizes mineral value or leasing potential, verify the specific tract's drilling and lease history with a landman or title company rather than assuming basin-wide activity applies evenly across the county.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Sheridan County
No dedicated Sheridan County GIS office could be independently confirmed in this research; parcel-level GIS and cadastral data likely run through the statewide Montana Cadastral system, and the Planning office can confirm the best local resource. If mineral rights or oil-and-gas leasing history matter to your purchase, no county office tracks well-by-well leasing status -- that requires the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation's records or a private landman/title search.
Planning & Zoning
Sheridan County / City of Plentywood Planning Office
Growth Policy questions, subdivision review, and confirming current zoning status for a specific parcel (the county's Growth Policy is explicitly non-regulatory; any zoning found in research traces to City of Plentywood's municipal code).
Environmental Health
Sheridan County Health Department
Septic (wastewater) system permitting and environmental-health matters.
Assessor / Property Tax
Montana Department of Revenue -- Sheridan County Field Office
Property appraisal, classification, and assessed-value questions for a specific parcel.
Assessor / Property Tax
Sheridan County Treasurer
Property tax billing and payment (the Treasurer collects taxes; the Montana Department of Revenue sets the underlying valuation -- see above).
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Sheridan County Clerk & Recorder
Recorded deeds, mortgages, certificates of survey, and plat history for a specific parcel.
Agricultural Extension
Sheridan County MSU Extension
Local agricultural, soil, and crop-production guidance for farmland buyers.
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Sources
- Sheridan County Montana - Planning — Sheridan County, Montana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County - Health — Sheridan County, Montana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County - Clerk & Recorder — Sheridan County, Montana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County Montana - Treasurer — Sheridan County, Montana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Planning board approves Sheridan Growth Policy — The Madisonian (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County, Montana — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County (agricultural economic impact report) — Montana State University Extension (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County Montana (2017 Census of Agriculture county profile) — USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County, MT Oil & Gas Activity — MineralAnswers.com (accessed 2026-09)
- Sheridan County, MT Permits, Production, Wells & Operators — DrillingEdge (accessed 2026-09)
- Elm Coulee Oil Field — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09