WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of Montana Farm Bureau members brought concerns of the organization’s farmers and ranchers on an action-packed visit to the nation’s capital last week as part of their Washington, D.C. Fly-In.
The group met with White House staff, Montana’s Congressional delegation, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as well as with the public policy team at the American Farm Bureau. They also had the opportunity to talk trade with the Agriculture, Food and Drink Attache from the British Embassy.
“The visits with our Congressional delegation and heads of the agencies went exceedingly well,” said MFBF Vice President Casey Mott, a rancher from Custer. “I believe the concerns we voiced were heard and understood, and I trust they will be acted upon. For example, during our meeting with BLM, we visited about wildfire coordination, including working with the Forest Service firefighters and local landowners. We also raised their awareness of coal seam fires which burn thousands of acres every summer in eastern Montana.
While meeting with the White House Public Liaison in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, we asked them to share with President Trump our need for a robust agricultural workforce including H-2A workers and the importance of international trade, especially wheat, beef and pulse crops, to Montana agriculture.”
Capitol Hill meetings were fruitful with in-person conversations in the offices of Representative Troy Downing and Senator Steve Daines. Ag liaisons and senior policy advisors from the staff of Senator Tim Sheehy and Representative Ryan Zinke took detailed notes regarding the priority issues surfaced by the Farm Bureau members.
“It is wonderful being from Montana that our Congressional Delegation either has an agricultural background or is at least sympathetic to agriculture’s concerns,” said Custer County Farm Bureau President Eric Moore. Moore, who has a diversified farm as well as a feedlot, noted, “Our Congressmen have such a full plate it is still good to remind them about agricultural issues. We talked about New World screwworm and how critical it is to keep our country’s herd safe from that invasive pest. We talked about labor and the need to streamline our H-2A worker program.”
Moore added that AFBF staff covered finding a solution to Water of the U.S. Regulation and Proposition 12 from California that sets a terrible precedent for interstate commerce.
“I’m amazed by the breadth of knowledge of the American Farm Bureau staff who not only need to have knowledge about beef and wheat issues in states like Montana but have to understand citrus issues in states like Florida,” Moore said.
This was the first time in D.C. for Ronan rancher and Northwest Counties Farm Bureau President Buddy Cheff who said it was great to see how congressmen, senators and federal agencies operate and how willing they are to listen and understand Farm Bureau members.
“This Fly-in was fantastic, with positive, uplifting meetings in many of these beautiful, historic buildings. It’s been very educational and well worth the trip to our nation’s capital,” said Cheff.
MFBF Senior Director of Governmental Affair Nicole Rolf, who organized the outstanding schedule, expressed thanks to the participants, the delegation and the agencies for taking time to spend with the members.
“Each member of our group talked about issues of importance to them and their neighbors, and I believe those working in this current administration heard our messages and will be acting upon our concerns,” said Rolf. “It was wonderful that our members could thank our delegation personally for their vote in support of the One Big Beautiful Bill which was signed into law recently. It includes important tax provision permanency, giving farmers and ranchers assurance that their farms and ranches can be passed down to the next generation, as well as many of our priority Farm Bill requests.”
