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News you can use
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This is a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler reiterating his concerns that the agency’s proposed “climate disclosure rule” could lead to burdensome paperwork and bureaucracy for Montana family farmers and ranchers. Tester, who is running for re-election, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., emphasized in their letter that American farmers feed the world and should not have to waste thei...
BOZEMAN — U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Montana State Director Kathleen Williams announced investments of nearly $3.2. million in renewable energy and domestic fertilizer projects to help Montanans lower energy bills and make domestically produced fertilizer more accessible to farmers in Big Sky Country. “One way to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses retain more income for their families and communities is by helping them lower their operating costs, in these cases for fertilizer and...
Press release BOZEMAN, Montana, Jan. 12, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program signup. USDA’s Farm Service Agency encourages agricultural producers and landowners in Montana who are interested in conservation opportunities for their land in exchange for yearly rental payments to consider the enrollment options available through Continuous CRP, which also includes the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program — CREP — offered by FSA partner...
Press release HELENA — The Montana Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for over $3 million in federal funding available through the Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The purpose of the SCBG program is to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Montana. Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, peas, lentils, dried fruits, as well as horticulture, nursery crops, and floriculture. State and/or local organizations, government entities, producer associations, academia, community-based o...
Press release BOZEMAN — Although winter weather and some snow has come back to Montana, it is late in the season as far as snowpack is concerned. “Warm temperatures and lack of precipitation over the last couple months have resulted in a bleak start to the seasonal snowpack in Montana and northern Wyoming river basins,” said Eric Larson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service water supply specialist. Water year 2024 began with a mid-October snowstorm that brought about two to five inches of precipitation to part of no...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is hosting more than a dozen in-person and virtual workshops this winter for producers to learn about new and expanded livestock risk management products. The “Livestock Roadshow,” hosted by USDA’s Risk Management Agency, will highlight policy improvements based on feedback from America’s livestock producers as part of the agency’s broader outreach and education efforts. “Listening to farmers and ranchers, learning about their needs, and using feedback to m...
From https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Montana USDA in Montana reminds agricultural producers of important Farm Service Agency program dates. People can contact their local service center to apply and with any questions and visit online at https://farmers.gov and https://fsa.usda.gov/mt . Jan. 13, 2024: Inflation Reduction Act Assistance for Producers Who Experienced Discrimination in USDA Farm Loan Programs application period closes. Applications are due Jan. 13, 2024. To ensure timely processing, there will be no...
Press Release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminded farmers, ranchers and forest landowners Monday that Jan. 13, 2024, is the deadline to apply for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, or DFAP. The program is made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided $2.2 billion in funding. Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination by USDA in its farm loan programs prior to Jan. 1, 2021, and/or are currently debtors with assigned or assumed USDA farm loan debt t...
Press release Jan. 13, 2024, is the deadline for Montana farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to submit applications for assistance through the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program for those who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021. USDA Farm Service Agency is encouraging people who think they may be eligible to check out the program website at https://22007apply.gov. People will find there various assistance to help learn about the program and help them apply. Borrowers hav...
From https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Montana USDA in Montana reminds agricultural producers of important Farm Service Agency program dates. People can contact their local service center to apply and with any questions and visit online at https://farmers.gov and https://fsa.usda.gov/mt. Jan. 13, 2024: Inflation Reduction Act Assistance for Producers Who Experienced Discrimination in USDA Farm Loan Programs application period closes. Applications are due Jan. 13, 2024. To ensure timely processing, there will be no...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday loan interest rates for January 2024, which became effective Tuesday. USDA’s Farm Service Agency loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs. “I encourage our lenders and borrowers alike to work with our local offices and our cooperators to capitalize fully on the existing flexibilities in these important progr...
MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer Jonnie Jonckowski didn't meekly break down gender barriers in the ever dangerous sport of bull riding, she brazenly rode through obstacles en route to becoming a Hall of Fame pioneer in the male-dominated rodeo arena. Now, the retired Jonckowski wants to see more doors open in the sport for women, and her dream is being revived through athletes like Najiah Knight, the 17-year-old who is trying to make it to the highest level of the all-male...
Press release WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday that it is hiring 40 Climate Change Fellows to help with the record numbers of applications from farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses seeking funding for clean energy projects under the Rural Energy for America Program, or REA. The new positions are being funded by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest-ever investment in combatting the climate crisis, a key pillar of Bidenomics and part of the Investing in America...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that agricultural producers can now enroll in the Farm Service Agency’s Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2024 crop year. Producers can enroll and make election changes for the 2024 crop year starting Dec. 18, 2023. The deadline to complete enrollment and any election change is March 15, 2024. Nov. 16, 2023, President Biden signed into law H.R. 6363, the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminds specialty crop growers that assistance is available for producers who incur eligible on-farm food safety program expenses to obtain or renew a food safety certification through the Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops program. Producers can apply for assistance on their calendar year 2023 expenses through Jan. 31, 2024. “The Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops program is just one of the many ways USDA is helping support local and reg...
Press release USDA continues to accept applications for assistance through the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program for Montana farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021. The application process will close Jan. 13, 2024. Borrowers have the option to apply for assistance online via https://22007apply.gov or through a paper-based form. Details about the program, including an application and e-filing portal, are available at 22007apply.gov....
Press release Honeybee producers are required to file an initial report of colony inventory by January 2 each year and report any changes to inventory, including movement of colonies into or outside of the county, within 30 days. Beginning with the 2024 crop year, honeybee producers will need to use the new Honeybee Colony Inventory Reporting Form, CCC-771. The established crop year for honey is January 1 through December 31. An initial report of colonies on a CCC-771 must be submitted to your local FSA office for each unit...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy will host a series of listening sessions this winter. The agencies invite perspectives on the benefits and challenges of the rapidly increasing levels of clean energy located on agricultural lands and in rural communities. USDA and DoE seek feedback directly from a diverse set of stakeholders about what the agencies can do through their leadership, program guidance or research and information sharing to encourage locations p...
Press release DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States’ leadership in climate-smart agriculture and forestry took center stage at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference — COP28 — as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and other U.S. Department of Agriculture officials highlighted the U.S. commitment to investing in innovative climate solutions, quantifying and demonstrating results, and sharing resources and solutions with the world. “COP28 comes at a critical juncture, seven years after the Paris Agr...
Press release WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched an online application for Direct Loan customers. More than 26,000 customers who submit a Direct Loan application each year can now use an online, interactive, guided application that is paperless and provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to attach supporting documents such as tax returns, complete a balance sheet and build a farm operating plan. This tool is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Age...
Press release BOZEMAN — The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Montana is accepting applications for the Organic Transition Initiative. This is a USDA initiative that provides financial assistance and technical assistance for conservation practices that support organic production. NRCS accepts applications year-round, but applications for the current funding cycle must be submitted by Dec. 30, 2023. The Organic Transition Initiative furthers USDA’s objective of developing diverse food systems while enc...
Susan Shain High Country News via Montana Free Press This story also appeared in High Country News In a squat 1,100-square-foot building on the outskirts of Helena lies a pile of enormous tongues. They are thick and leaden, stacked on a steel table like fish out of water. The bovines from which they came hulk nearby, cold carcasses hanging from cold hooks. Bearded men, their white coats covered in blood, rhythmically chop livers, punctuating the hum of industrial refrigeration. This small meat-processing facility, which a...
Press release HELENA — The Montana Stockgrowers Foundation — MSF— Cattle Drive program has set out to do something no other cattle organization in the state has done — using a fundraiser to match Montana-born, -raised and -fed cattle with local restaurants and retailers. The “Montanans Feeding Montana Initiative” seeks to connect the Montana food service industry to the high-quality beef raised by Montana ranchers. The Cattle Drive program is in its sixth year, with this year launching the value-added focus that intentional...
Press release Blaine County is a contiguous county where ag producers are eligible to apply for assistance due to a disaster declaration declared due to flooding in June. The presidential disaster declaration allows the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock,...
The OFF Act is getting real traction and has a number of co-sponsors in both the House, in HR 1249, and the Senate, in S 557. What these bills aim to do is reorganize 22 commodity checkoff programs such that USDA has actual authority to oversee how the money is used. The aim is to ensure that the programs are accountable to the farmers and ranchers who pay the checkoff taxes. It appears that all of the checkoff programs are plagued by allegations that they are not effective or transparent. The big ones such as eggs, beef,...
