APRIL 2025 NEWSLETTER

CLICK HERE TO READ THE 2025 APRIL NEWSLETTER

**TOPICS OF APRIL 2025 NEWLETTER INCLUDE: MONTANA CATTLE COMMITTEE CHECK OFF BILL HB119, NOXIOUS WEEDS INFORMATION, RANCHING THE GOVERNMENT BY GILLES STOCKTON, DONT LOOK FOR THE GOLD LOOK FOR THE GRAVEL BY DAVID GANJE, 2025 GROWTH THROUGH AGRICULTURE AWARDEES, MCA BALLOT RESULTS, RANGE DAYS INFORMATION, NCBA DOES NOT OPPOSE FAKE BEEF, Governor Gianforte NATIONAL AG DAY AT THE CAPITAL, AND MORE!

From the Desk of MCA President Richard Liebert

I hope everyone is having a safe and prosperous calving season as we’re rolling into Spring. This February was the second coldest on record in Montana since 1936. Besides the weather, markets, and the usual challenges, the Montana legislature is in session and MCA has been very active with other agriculture organizations to advance bills that will help keep our family farms and ranches sustainable.

As of this writing, we can be proud of MCA’s active engagement to oppose House Bill 119, which was a bill to establish a Montana Cattle Committee that would have collected an additional dollar from producers on cattle sales. That bill has been thankfully tabled and unlikely to be brought to the floor for a vote – let’s hope not. I want to especially thank Ken Morris and Tim Brunner (Tim’s daughter also testified against HB119) and ALL the producers and citizens who fiercely opposed this bill. The Montana Cattle Committee goals were admirable but became very problematic about just ‘who’ would be on the new board and just ‘how’ producers would receive refunds. Another problem was just ‘how’ a fair and transparent referendum for all producers to vote on would be conducted.

I want to also thank Wally Congdon who has served on the Land Classification Committee contributing to two bills – HB27, SB4. These bills are designed to hopefully keep the uber-rich ‘carpetbaggers’ from getting unearned lower Ag valuations on their ‘investment’ properties, while also supporting smaller farms and Ag niche enterprises. Your MCA board and membership has also been active supporting Senate Joint Resolution 25 (SJ25) to encourage our federal delegation (Zinke, Daines, Sheehy, Downing) to vote for Senator John Thune’s (R-SD and Senate majority leader) bi partisan bill to reinstate the US Country of Origin Act with his American Beef Labeling Act. That’s certainly an ‘America First’ branding objective.

The Montana Senate voted for it 35-15 at second reading and we now need to get your House Ag and all representatives to also pass the bill. Finally, let’s all work to reach out and ‘enlist’ a new member or someone we know who has dropped from our ranks.

I am proud to say that thanks to the great sacrifice of all our volunteers, MCA ‘punches above our weight’. Our team can always use new ideas and volunteers to help with critical tasks, so please contact our board members with your thoughts and suggestions.

Richard Liebert President, Montana Cattlemen’s Association

AS ALWAYS THANK YOU TO THE MEMBERS OF THE MCA FOR MAKING THIS NEWSLETTER POSSIBLE.
A special thanks to Jan McDonald for organizing, creating and dispersing this newsletter! Hard work and dedication make MCA possible!