The Montana Stockgrowers Association, a non-profit membership organization, has worked on behalf of Montana’s cattle ranching families since 1884. Our mission is to protect and enhance Montana ranch families’ ability to grow and deliver safe, healthy, environmentally wholesome beef to the world.
Counties, conservation districts, local communities, tribes, researchers and educators across Montana will have more resources in the battle against noxious weeds after the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) awarded over $1.6 million in grants from the Noxious Weed Trust Fund.
The Noxious Weed Management Advisory Council reviewed 74 Noxious Weed Trust Fund grant applications requesting more than $1.7 million and recommended awards totaling more than $1.6 million for education, research, and cooperative noxious weed management projects. In total, 70 grant proposals were approved for funding awards, including 49 local cooperative projects, 10 research projects, and 11 education projects.
“Noxious weeds are one of the biggest threats facing Montana’s lands today,” said MDA Director, Ben Thomas. “The importance of these grants can’t be understated; these groups are the boots on the ground in the war against noxious weeds and we will continue to make these efforts a priority.”
In addition to the $1.6 million grant hearing awards, each of the 56 counties and 7 reservations in the state are eligible to receive $7,500 per year, bringing the 2017 awards to more than $2 million. A compiled list of award recipients is available at http://agr.mt.gov/Noxious-Weed-Trust-Fund-Grants.
The Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund grant program was established by the Montana Legislature in 1985. The advisory council reviews applications, hears applicant testimony, and provides funding recommendations to the director for final approval. Funding is typically passed through a governmental organization, local weed district, conservation district, extension office, or university.
The Montana Department of Agriculture’s mission is to protect producers and consumers, and to enhance and develop agriculture and allied industries. For more information on the Montana Department of Agriculture, visit agr.mt.gov.
–Montana Department of Agriculture
From David Murray and the Great Falls Tribune:
It has now been two and half months since Donald Trump was elected President, and the U.S. Senate has not yet scheduled a full vote to confirm former Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue, as the next Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
On Wednesday, Montana’s senior senator Jon Tester, publicly endorsed Perdue for ag secretary and urged Senate leaders to speed up the confirmation process.
“As a farmer and as Montana’s senator, I am honored to support Gov. Perdue so we can work together to support family farms and ranches across Montana,” Tester said in a prepared statement. “With planting season upon us, producers need the certainty of having a secretary responsible for strengthening our state’s number one industry.”
Perdue, 70, was the last Cabinet member nominated by President Trump. Unlike more controversial nominations, such as Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and Amway billionaire Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary, Perdue’s nomination has received broad support from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Perdue grew up on a Georgia farm and worked as a veterinarian before beginning his political career in the 1990s. He is viewed as both a fiscal conservative and an immigration hawk, who shepherded passage of some of the nation’s toughest measures against illegal immigration during his two terms as the governor of Georgia.
During hearings before the Senate Agriculture Committee on March 23, Perdue enjoyed praise from the senators of both parties, including an endorsement from the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan)
“After a thorough review of his qualifications and priorities, I support the nomination of Gov. Perdue to serve as Agriculture Secretary,” Stabenow said one week after closure of the ag committee hearings. “Although we have some differences on policy, we share a commitment to support American agriculture and strengthen our small towns and rural communities.”
Perdue’s ultimate confirmation seems all but guaranteed, but the real question lies in when the Senate will make time for a full floor vote. The fight over confirmation of nominee for Supreme Court Justice, Neil Gorsuch has clogged the Senate schedule. At this point it appears that a vote on Perdue’s nomination could be delayed until sometime in May.
On Tuesday, Sen. Tester submitted a letter to both the Democratic and Republican leadership in the Senate, urging a speedy resolution to the delay.
“There are numerous challenges facing our agricultural communities in Montana and across rural America,” Tester said in addressing both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Commodity prices are nearing historic lows, the demand for public infrastructure improvements are mounting and the importance of expanding access to new markets is growing. It is vital for there to be strong leadership in place at the United States Department of Agriculture to tackle these challenges.”
Whoever ultimately assumes leadership of the Department of Agriculture will face near immediate controversy. President Trump has proposed a 21-percent reduction in the department’s budget, and his aggressive stance on halting illegal immigration has caused anxiety within some segments of the ag economy, which relies heavily upon foreign labor to get the crops planted, cared for and harvested.
The biggest hurdle for U.S. agriculture on the near horizon is the next Farm Bill. The 2014 Farm Bill took over three years to hammer out, leaving the country without federal legislation on agriculture and food subsidy programs for more than a year and a half.
If anything, the membership of the 2017 Congress is even more widely divided than when the last Farm Bill was presented in 2012. Passage of the mammoth Farm Bill appropriations will require time, patience and subtle bargaining on both sides of the political divide, all of which are commodities Perdue could find in short supply.
The public is invited to attend free annual field days across Montana to tour and learn about the people, places and projects involved with agricultural research at Montana State University’s College of Agriculture and Montana Agricultural Experiment Station or MAES. Five research stations across the state and a local Bozeman campus farm will each host a field day this summer.
“Statewide field days are a longstanding tradition where we invite the public to tour our facilities, meet our faculty and staff and learn about trends and progress in agriculture research that hopefully makes a difference in their lives,” said Barry Jacobsen, associate director of MAES. “What’s most important about field days is that they serve as an opportunity for statewide producers, farmers, ranchers and agribusiness to share successes and challenges face-to-face with faculty scientists and learn about what the university is doing in response to those challenges and needs. It’s a chance for faculty and stakeholders to engage as an agricultural community and for the university to get feedback on what we need to be focusing on.”
Field days include facility tours, explanations of research projects and results and a chance for citizens, producers, legislators and agribusiness representatives to speak with MSU scientists and Extension agents.
Summer 2017 field days include:
MAES comprises agricultural research of on and off-campus MSU faculty. The research centers are strategically located across Montana to allow research with different soil types, elevations, climate zones and landscapes, and a local advisory council guides the research at each station. The federal Hatch Act of 1887 authorized every national land-grant university to establish an agricultural experiment station, with research reflecting the university’s curriculum and state needs. The Smith-Lever Act authorized the Extension Service in 1914. MSU College of Agriculture, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and MSU Extension have been cooperatively serving the land-grant mission and the Montana public for the past 100 years.
For more information about the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, visit http://agresearch.montana.edu/maes.html. For more information about the station’s research centers, visit http://agresearch.montana.edu/researchcenters.html.
U.S. SENATE —U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester today led 37 Senators in a letter to President Donald J. Trump asking him to prioritize reopening China’s market to U.S. beef in his discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
“Opening this market to U.S. producers would create substantial opportunities for farmers and ranchers across the country as China has an import market in excess of $2.5 billion and is the second largest importer of beef in the world,” the Senators wrote. “The current environment of low commodity prices further emphasizes the significance of trade to U.S. farmers and ranchers and the beef industry overall.”
The Senators also underscored the quality of U.S. beef and the importance of expanding trade opportunities to increase economic opportunity for farmers and ranchers.
“We are confident that given a level-playing field, U.S. farmers and ranchers can compete successfully and increase exports in any foreign market,” the Senators continued.
The letter is also signed by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Todd Young (R-IN), Al Franken (D-MN), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Mike Enzi (R-WY), John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Michael Rounds (R-SD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Boozman (R-AR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rob Portman (R-OH), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Joni K. Ernst (R-IA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Risch (R-ID), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Thune (R-SD), John Hoeven (R-ND), Luther Strange (R-AL), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), James Inhofe (R-OK) and James Lankford (R-OK).
The Senators’ letter was applauded by farmers and ranchers:
Errol Rice, Executive Vice President, Montana Stockgrowers Association: “The Montana Stockgrowers Association applauds the efforts being led, by Senator Daines and Senator Tester, urging President Trump to quickly resolve all hurdles, currently preventing Montana’s ranchers from shipping the nation’s highest quality beef to China’s 1.3 billion consumers.”
Nicole Rolf, National Affairs Director, Montana Farm Bureau Federation: “When China announced that they would lift their ban on U.S. beef, Montana ranchers were elated by what we hoped would lead to expanded export markets and corresponding price increases. However, these potential opportunities are yet to be realized. We thank the Senators for sending this letter and hope President Trump will take the opportunity to raise this important issue with President Xi.”
United States Cattlemen’s Association President Kenny Graner: “The United States Cattlemen’s Association appreciates the leadership of Senator Daines and Senator Tester in urging the reopening of China’s market to U.S. beef. Success in this arena is critical for U.S. cattle producers, as it will drive increased optimism in the cattle market.”
The Senators’ letter is available for download HERE.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2017 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), acting in response to a directive from President Donald J. Trump, today authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands located in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas – the three states which were most heavily impacted by ongoing wildfires which began on March 6, 2017. USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael L. Young issued a memorandum authorizing the emergency grazing of cattle by ranchers, who are facing the ruination of their herds due to lack of sufficient grazing land. The authorization is pursuant to appropriate restrictions and conservation measures, which can be found in the Acting Deputy Secretary’s memorandum.
“Ranchers are facing devastating conditions and economic calamity because of these wildfires and they need some relief, or else they face the total loss of their herds in many cases,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Young. “These measures will allow them to salvage what remains of their cattle and return to the important business of feeding Americans and the rest of the world. I commend and thank President Trump for acting decisively in response to this dire situation.”
The USDA action is required to direct the Farm Service Agency to permit the grazing on lands covered by the CRP, which exists to conserve and improve wildlife resources. In this case, the grazing will overlap with the primary nesting season of the lesser prairie chicken. CRP has procedures in place, already developed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to permit emergency grazing on protected lands during nesting season. Lesser prairie chicken nesting season runs in Texas from March 1 to June 1, in Kansas from April 15 to July 15, and in Oklahoma from May 1 to July 1.
Ranchers and farmers are only now able to begin to estimate losses, since the fires are still burning in some places and access to the lands to survey the damage has been limited. Damages in the states are expected to grow, but are now estimated as follows:
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
The Acting Deputy Secretary’s memorandum can be found on the USDA website (PDF, 387 KB).
Source: USDA
This week Jay and Kori sit down to discuss the Public Lands Council & National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Legislative Conferences held last week in Washington D.C. Jay along with MSGA Executive Vice President Errol Rice, MSGA President Bryan Mussard, First VP Fred Wacker, and Second VP Jim Steinbeisser, traveled to D.C. to engage with federal agencies and Montana’s Senators. They were joined by Montana PLC Chair, Vicki Olson and American National CattleWomen Vice President Wanda Pinnow (past MT CattleWomen President).
Montana’s ranchers, conservationists, wildlife biologists, water quality experts, range scientists and hunting advocates share an incredible common bond: they each love the land and care about the animals and natural resources that depend on it.
“There’s no doubt we have more in common than most of us think,” Jesse Tufte, the program officer for World Wildlife Fund’s Sustainable Ranching Initiative said. She’s especially keen on the state’s cattlemen and women who put in much of the legwork to conserve and steward the health of grasslands. “We need to learn from, listen to and understand how we can keep ranchers ranching, because they contribute so much to conservation.”
For more than 25 years, the Montana Stockgrowers Association has proudly sponsored and honored ranchers across the state with the Environmental Stewardship Award Program. Today, they partner with the Montana Beef Checkoff and conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund to share the full picture of the impact ranchers have with their environmental stewardship practices.
The program recognizes the role ranchers and private landowners play in the stewardship and conservation of healthy ecosystems in the state. Nominations for the award are now open.
Lon and Vicki Reukauf, from Terry, Montana, were one of seven ranches in the nation recently recognized in the award program at the National Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville. They were the 2016 Montana Environmental Stewardship Award Program honorees and 2017 Region IV winners.
“We don’t have a show place for a ranch,” Vicki said. “We’re just doing what we’ve always done to take care of the land and make sure this place is better for the next generation. We just realized that if we didn’t step forward to share our story about stewardship and conservation, someone else would tell that story for us, and it might not be accurate.”
The Environmental Stewardship Program is an opportunity to honor and showcase those ranchers who go the extra mile in the conservation, preservation and enhancement of the natural resources on their land. Ranches can be nominated for the award before May 15 at www.mtbeef.org.
The Reukauf’s Cherry Creek Ranch was recommended for the award by their Prairie County District Conservationist, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks coordinator of landowners/sportsman relations and their local Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist.
Sidney, Montana rancher Jim Steinbeisser chairs the state’s Environmental Stewardship Award Program committee. The committee consists of a team of ranchers with the Montana Stockgrowers Association who are focused on showcasing how innovative stewardship and good business go hand-in-hand. He says the award program is a place to start an open, honest dialogue in ranching communities and Montana cities about how ranchers care for their land and livestock.
“Ranchers in general are just humble people. We don’t want to brag or pat ourselves on the back, but that’s not what this award is about,” he said. “It’s about sharing the facts of environmental stewardship and the story behind why it matters so much to us. We know it’s imperative to our livelihoods that we reach out to our customers and show them what we do and how we do it, and to encourage our fellow ranchers to do the same.”
The award nomination process is an opportunity for county conservation districts, water districts, wildlife organizations or other local and state agencies focused on conservation and multiple land use to recognize partnerships with ranchers who help them accomplish mutual goals. Any Montana Stockgrowers Association member who is actively working to leave the land better for the next generation would be an ideal candidate.
“The Environmental Stewardship Program has now gone far beyond encouraging fellow ranchers to improve the management of our resources,” Steinbeisser said. “Now we want to focus on reaching out to our customers and consumers so we can share what we do on our ranches and how we manage our resources to provide safe, healthy food while caring for the land.”
Nominations may be submitted online at www.mtbeef.org before May 15. The winning ranch will then have the assistance of a professional writer and photographer to capture their ranch’s story – their family’s legacy of caring for the land and livestock – to represent Montana in the regional Environmental Stewardship Award Program. The winner will be recognized at the Montana Stockgrowers Annual Convention and Trade Show in Billings this December.
To learn more, visit www.mtbeef.org, or contact Kori Anderson at [email protected] or call (406) 603-4024.
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Pictured above (top left) is 2016 Montana Environmental Stewardship Award and 2017 Region IV winners Lon and Vicki Reukauf of the Cherry Creek Ranch near Terry, Montana.
Pictured above (right) Jim Steinbeisser, Sidney, Montana rancher, Montana Environmental Stewardship Award Program committee chair and Montana Stockgrowers Foundation board member.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association today sent a coalition letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to raise the restoration of U.S. beef access to China when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April. Leaders from the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the North American Meat Institute also signed the letter.
American beef producers have been denied access to China – a $2.6 billion import market — since 2003. Last fall China announced that it had lifted its ban on imports of U.S. beef, but attempts since then to negotiate the technical terms of access have been unsuccessful.
“We believe that access to the large and growing Chinese beef market is essential to the future health of the U.S. beef industry,” read the letter, which was signed by NCBA’s CEO, Kendal Frazier. “We understand that you have many important issues to discuss with President Xi, but we strongly encourage you to take this important opportunity to convey the urgent need for China to reopen its market to U.S. beef.”
In 2016, American beef producers sold $6.3 billion worth of U.S. beef to customers around the world, with three of the industry’s top foreign markets located in Asia.
Click here to view the full letter.
Source: NCBA
U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke addressed the livestock grazing industry today during the annual Public Lands Council’s legislative fly-in, in Washington D.C. Secretary Zinke said the agency hasn’t been the best neighbor, but he will be holding the agency accountable and will restore trust in the department.
“We’re going to manage our properties just like you (ranchers) would manage your private lands,” said Zinke. “ Washington D.C. needs to understand that we work for the people, not the other way around.”
The Public Lands Council represents the 22,000 ranchers that utilize grazing permits on federal lands. PLC President Dave Eliason said Zinke was a welcomed addition to the conference and that the ranchers are looking forward to his tenure with the Interior Department.
“Secretary Zinke has consistently been an advocate for western communities that depend on the ranching industry,” said Eliason. “Ranchers have been marginalized and overlooked during planning processes for far too long. We believe Secretary Zinke will bring stakeholders back to table and stand up for those that have invested their time and livelihoods into the management and improvement of our federal lands. We look forward to working with him in his new role and restoring balance to the management of our Western Lands.”
Source: Public Lands Council