Washington—Last week Montana Farm Bureau leaders meeting in Washington, D.C. experienced plenty of excitement as both houses of Congress passed the Continuing Resolution and Montana Farm Bureau policy advanced with approval from American Farm Bureau Policy Committee.
“We were there in the final week of the 118th Congress at a very tumultuous time,” said MFBF Senior Director of Governmental Affairs Nicole Rolf. “Farm Bureau presidents from across the country had arrived in Washington to visit with their congressional delegations. As we did our visits, we were receiving minute-by-minute updates on what was happening with the Continuing Resolution—what was cut, what was still included.”
Joining Rolf were MFBF President Cyndi Johnson and Executive Vice President Scott Kulbeck. The three visited the Capitol Hill offices of Senator Steve Daines Representative Ryan Zinke, and outgoing Representative Matt Rosendale along with the staff of Senator-Elect Tim Sheehy and Representative-Elect Troy Downing.
“We shared a consistent message: our farmers cannot be left in a jam with an expired Farm Bill. We need the certainly of a five-year farm bill, which must be passed in the early months of 2025 and in the meantime, some assistance is needed for farmers who are operating on very slim margins. The farm bill ensures a stable food supply for our country,” said Rolf, “We need funding for repairs to the St. Mary’s Irrigation Project to help farmers get the water they need for irrigation and provide drinking water for those cities and small communities. We also need to see disaster funding to help people harmed by the hurricanes and in the West, by the wildfires. After the immediacy of these issues are handled, we ask Congress to turn their attention to renewing important tax provisions that are set to expire, such as small business deductions and a more modern estate tax exemption level.”
While visiting the offices, the MFBF delegation presented Senator Daines and Representative Ryan Zinke with the Friend of Farm Bureau Award. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Friend of Farm Bureau is given each Congress to individuals who have supported Farm Bureau policy as shown by their voting records, were nominated by their respective state Farm Bureau for the 118th Congress and were approved by the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors. The voting records are based on priority issues selected by the AFBF board. Senator Tester received his award in October.
Kulbeck agreed it was an excellent time to be sharing the MFBF message with lawmakers. “Everyone was working on the Continuing Resolution so we were able to talk to them about Farm Bureau priorities in that resolution, giving them examples of what was important. We primed them for our priorities in the next congress.”
Johnson said it was exciting to be the first agricultural group to visit D.C. and reach out to Montana’s new faces in Congress. “We made sure these elected officials heard about the entire realm of agriculture. Our Montana delegation wants to know what is important to our farmers and ranchers. We talked about risk management for livestock and crops, food safety and the meat industry, avian flu and more.”
At the American Farm Bureau Policy Resolutions Meeting, the MFBF leaders met with subcommittees regarding MFBF policy helping the subcommittees understand why irrigation systems are critical in semi-arid regions and why more livestock risk management tools are needed. MFBF resolutions accepted included increasing state and federal funding for agricultural irrigation, using science and consultant reviews when reviewing grazing permits, including cryptosporidiosis (severe scours) in the USDA Disaster Relief programs, ensuring dietary guidelines include the benefits of red meat and increasing the USDA Wool Marketing Rate.
“It was incredible being in Washington during the voting on the Continuing Resolution, meeting with our Montana Congressional Delegation, and explaining our MFBF policies to Farm Bureau presidents from across the country. This truly shows the value of Montana Farm Bureau,” Johnson said.
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