Montana Farm Bureau Federation attends Council of Presidents

Press release

WASHINGTON-During the American Farm Bureau Council of Presidents in Washington, D.C. last week, Farm Bureau members heard firsthand that an acceptable farm bill remains elusive.

The group of Farm Bureau leaders heard from Senator John Boozman, R-Ariz., and Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-MIch., who reiterated that both parties remain committed to passing a Farm Bill. However, they have not yet come to an agreement that is likely to pass both chambers.

"It is going to be a heavy lift to see a farm bill passed this fiscal year,"said Montana Farm Bureau Federation President Cyndi Johnson, a Conrad wheat farmer who had the opportunity to shake hands with Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and thank him for the work he has done at getting a bill passed out of the House Ag Committee he chairs.

Johnson said the Council of Presidents brings together 50 state Farm Bureau presidents - and Puerto Rico - to hear guest speakers from the House and Senate, receive updates on programs and policy from the AFBF staff and do Capitol Hill visits.

Johnson and MFBF Senior Director of Governmental Affairs Nicole Rolf attended a meeting with the Congressional Western Caucus. The caucus is a non-profit organization that advocates for rural issues. Despite its name, it has members from Congress from other regions of the United States-not just the Western states.

"We heard about the current status of the farm bill and western states' concerns about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service potentially removing grazing, predator control and farming practices like weed spraying, on refuges lands. Montana Farm Bureau has submitted comments opposing that change in the rules," said Johnson. "We discussed that the Bureau of Land Management is working to put conservation on equal footing with every other Congressionally approved multiple use. We discussed grasshopper infestations and what can be done so states can receive funding to combat the insects. There was talk about the need to aggressively review wildfire issues and the mitigation that needs to happen with wildfire."

The visits to Montana's four congressional offices proved fruitful. Discussions covered the need to come together to pass a farm bill and the importance of immediate repairs and maintenance to the St. Mary's Canal/Milk River Irrigation Project.

The Montana Farm Bureau has submitted a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives leadership urging them to consider the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Settlement Act of 2024 (S.1987), which has already been passed by the Senate. This legislation settled the Fort Belknap Compact and provides needed funding for repairs and updates to the St. Mary's canal and Milk River Project. A hearing has been scheduled for July 23 in the House.

"We're urging the House to appropriate money to repair the St. Mary irrigation canal, which affects more than 120,000 acres of fertile land along Montana's highline. Passing this legislation would also finalize the last water compact we worked on, which is essential to getting through the final adjudication of water in the state," noted Rolf. All of the Congressional offices support repairing St. Mary's Canal and passing the legislation in the House.

"We talked with all of our elected officials about grasshoppers, and they realize there is a dire problem with grasshoppers and agricultural production in many parts of Montana," Rolf said. "There is no new appropriation for the APHIS Grasshopper Control Program in the FY 2025 Budget, but they plan to insert language to specify that the agency uses its dollars effectively, so we see that as a win."

Rolf added that, like with the Western Caucus conversations, the Montana Congressional offices are looking to push back on the USFWS regarding the removal of agricultural practices from refuge lands.

"We learned that the USFWS has received more than 200,000 comments and plans to give them a thoughtful and thorough review, which signal our victory in pushing back and refuting their report that removing grazing and farming on refuge lands wouldn't affect small business," Rolf said. "Removing agriculture from refuge lands would have a devastating impact."