Eric Bergman, District 1, Fort Shaw Brett Dailey, District 4, Jordan William Downs, District 5, Molt Ben Peterson, At-Large director, Judith Gap Sig Rudie, Fairview, At-Large director Sarah Rachor, Sidney, District

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

IN THIS ISSUE

MONTANA FARMERS UNION

Member Recruited By

Hannah Nash, Miles City Matt Rains & Ben Peterson Mannix Brothers Ranch, LLC., Helmville MFU Office Andrew Anderson, Melville MFU Office Kierstin Schmitt, Corvallis MFU Office Old Medicine Ranch, Angela & Kaitlyn Campbell, MFU Office Clinton Alisha Burland-Taylor & Abraham Taylor, Hot Springs MFU Office Lisa Campbell, Moon River CSA, Clinton MFU Office William Klinkosh, Wyola MFU Office Kate Stephens, Dutton MFU Office Mark Stephens, Dutton MFU Office Randall & Dawn Stenvik, Whitewater Shane Anderson Yeska Land and Livestock, Saco Shane Anderson Murray Ranch Inc., Lambert Watts Agency Lori Vance, Forsyth Watts Agency William H Wright, Miles City Watts Agency R Double T Investments, Billings Jesse Fleming Dan & Wendy DeWitt, Wolf Point Jesse Fleming Martin & Sue Toavs, Wolf Point Jesse Fleming Suzzane & Dick Hardt, Billings KJ Fauth Brian Sindelar, Bozeman Craig Parker Bert & Yvonne Storlie, Dagmar JR Johnson Nissley-Link Family Trust, Hardin Melissa Wacker Walter Land and Livestock, Lodge Grass Melissa Wacker Lazy Double T LLC, Billings Judd Long Kara Hubbard, Bozeman Art Hoffart Jerry & Valerie Johnson, St Ignatius Andrew Luedtke Bonnie Krantz, Ronan Andrew Luedtke Mary Ann McKee, Helmville Andre Marcure Kick Up Your Heels for the 2021 State Convention! Page 4

Farmers Union Launches Fairness for Farmers Campaign; Update on the Montana Premium Processing Co-op Page 5

Member Profile Continued Page 6

Reflecting on MFU History Page 7

Convention Details Page 8-10

Messages from Senator Tester and Senator Daines Page 11

PO BOX 2447 300 RIVER DRIVE NORTH GREAT FALLS MT 59403

PHONE: (406) 452-6406 1-800-234-4071 FAX: (406) 727-8216

mfu@montanafarmersunion.com www.montanafarmersunion.com

Board of Directors:

Walter Schweitzer, President Rollie Schlepp, Vice President, Conrad Jan Tusick, Secretary/Treasuer, District 6, Ronan Erik Somerfeld, District 2, Power Jeff Bangs, At-Large Director District 1& 2, Inverness Eric Bergman, District 1, Fort Shaw Brett Dailey, District 4, Jordan William Downs, District 5, Molt Ben Peterson, At-Large director, Judith Gap Sig Rudie, Fairview, At-Large director Sarah Rachor, Sidney, District 3 State Office Staff:

Jan Johnson, Office Mgr., Assistant Secretary/ Treasurer Lyndsay Bruno, Communications Director/ Editor Justin Loch, Membership Director Rachel Prevost, Camp Advisor/Education Violet Green, Education Coordinator Audra Labert, Digital Marketing Specialist Matt Rains, Special Projects

Copyright © Montana Farmers Union, 2021. Montana Grassroots is the official publication of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America, Montana Division. MFU reserves the right to reject any advertisements. Third Class bulk postage paid at Great Falls MT 59401.

Membership: $50.00 per year

Montana Grassroots is published monthly. Article submissions are requested by the 15th of the month.

Copy Editor: Jan Johnson Editor/Designer: Lyndsay Bruno

SAVE THE DATE! 2022 MFU WOMEN’S CONFERENCE FEB 4-6, 2022 FAIRMONT HOT SPRINGS REGISTRATION OPENS IN NOVEMBER IN MEMORIAM

CONN HELLEBUST, HAVRE

MFU TRAVELS TO WESTERN MONTANA WITH THE “REBUILDING FOOD RESILIENCY WORKSHOP SERIES”

BY RACHEL PREVOST LOBBYIST/CAMP ADVISOR

Montana Farmers Union traveled throughout Western Montana on Sept. 22 and 23 for the next leg of the “Rebuilding Food Resiliency Workshop Series.” We visited Corvallis, Missoula, Ronan, and Whitefish, Montana. Attendees enjoyed a meal at no cost with each stop. At each visit, MFU staff and local experts discussed a wide array of topics, including food security and resiliency, farm food safety, the role of cooperatives in Montana, and an update on the Montana Premium Processing Co-op.

President Walter Schweitzer presented information about MFU, the current situation with our food systems, and what is happening at the federal level to address food resiliency and security through the Biden Administration’s executive order and directives to Promote Competition in the American Economy. This also included updates on where the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is at with right to repair and what’s being done to address the corporate food monopolies and help producers and consumers. For more information about food security, please visit www.foodsecurityforus.com.

A representative from the Montana Department of Agriculture, Bureau Chief Andy Fjeseth, was available at the stops via Zoom to present information about the Growth Through Agriculture Program, answer any questions, and discuss other grant and loan opportunities for producers in the state. MFU Board Member and Center Director of the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center, Jan Tusick, presented farm food safety and resources for navigating the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Matt Rains, Coordinator for Special Projects for MFU, provided an update on the Montana Premium Processing Co-op. For more information on the Montana Premium Processing Co-op, please visit https://www. mtpremiumprocessing.com/ or contact Matt Rains at 406.452.6406 or mrains@montanafarmersunion.com.

Tracy McIntyre, Executive Director of the Montana Cooperative Development Center(MCDC), presented the impact of cooperatives in Montana and forming a co-op. As the lobbyist and camp advisor for MFU, I provided a brief review of the organization’s legislative priorities and educational programs. This included a presentation on the youth summer camp program and Youth Leadership Councils. Finally, MFU Membership Director Justin Loch presented MFU membership opportunities, including all MFU has to offer to Montana’s producers, family farms, and ranches.

Thank you to all those who attended! For the slideshows and more information on the “Rebuilding Food Resiliency Workshop Series,” please visit montanafarmersunion. com. Please stay tuned for upcoming details on future “Rebuilding Food Resiliency” presentations.

EDUCATION DIRECTORS ATTEND ANNUAL MEETING

BY VIOLET GREEN EDUCATION COORDINATOR

September 28-29 Rachel Prevost and I, Violet Green, attended the Farmers Union Annual Education Directors Meeting. Originally planned to be held in Denver, the meeting, unfortunately, was moved online. During this meeting, education directors from other Farmers Union States come together to discuss their camp season, growing concerns for our programs, and All-States Camp (Farmers Union’s National Camp). The meeting included eye opening discussion on what each state is dealing with, such as staff issues, changes due to COVID, and the future of the All-States Program.

Most of the states (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) held their summer camp programs in the 2021 season. Still, unfortunately, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union was unable to have a summer camp due to restrictions in their state. When discussing what each state did differently for their camp this year due to COVID, it varied from doing drop-off/pickup registration, limiting numbers, hardships each state dealt with due to staff, and campers and staff staying in the same group for the duration of that week of camp. The biggest concern within each state was staffing issues. We discussed how we would deal with the increased employee shortage and lack in counselors’ interest next year and what we can do to combat that shortage as it’s only a seasonal position. This topic will continue to be discussed throughout the year, and we’ll try to figure out how to increase the interest for a counselor, cook, or nurse position at camps.

All-States Camp for the 2022 season will be held at Kamp Kenwood in Wisconsin. Everyone is excited to hopefully have this program back after a two-year gap due to COVID. Farmers Union Education Directors are still trying to figure out how to bridge the two-year gap for those campers who missed out on AllStates. A few ideas include setting up an Alumni program that would be an annual event to help build up the young adult program within Farmers Union. Although very tentative, we are excited to look at these new opportunities for young adults. Overall, the 2021 Education Directors Meeting was insightful to see how each camp handled the continuous changes in their programs and how the state is prospering through this challenging time in the camping world.

FARMERS UNION LAUNCHES FAIRNESS FOR FARMERS CAMPAIGN

“I think President Biden said it best when issuing his recent executive order, ‘This is not capitalism, it’s exploitation.” President Walter Schweitzer

In September National Farmers Union launched Fairness for Farmers. This campaign seeks to rally Americans to urge their Congressional leaders to support the Biden administration’s executive orders to take concrete steps to curtail consolidation in agriculture, which negatively impacts farmers, ranchers and consumers. At the press conference, NFU President Rob Larew, Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer, and Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish, were joined by Montana Senator Jon Tester and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. Both leaders are working to strengthen America’s antitrust laws, and protecting working families.

“Today, we launched the Fairness for Farmers campaign. This endeavor has clear goals: to curtail consolidation in agriculture and bust the monopolies, which hurts farmers, ranchers and consumers,” said Rob Larew, NFU President. He added: “We launched Fairness for Farmers because we have a President who is committed to taking on the challenge of fighting consolidation in agriculture. We are all buoyed by President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on ‘Promoting Competition in the Marketplace’ – a commitment from his Administration to restore fairness to our economy.”

Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer also spoke at the conference. "I think President Biden said it best when issuing his recent executive order, 'This is not capitalism, it's exploitation,'" Schweitzer said. "This cheap food policy that we've had for 70 years is more about corporate control of our food dollar than it is about providing us good, cheap food."

Fairness for Farmers is a national campaign that seeks to engage farmers and ranchers to fight for an economy that rewards hard work and ensures fair agricultural markets by:

• Encouraging farmers and ranchers to share videos of their stories online • Advertising campaigns, both digital and radio

• Working with NFU members across the nation to engage local media

• Building national coalitions to support lawmakers and regulators in the anti-trust space to fight for strengthening our procompetition laws.

• Educating lawmakers, the media and the American people about our broken food system that allows monopolies to cheat farmers and ranchers, and charge consumers higher prices at the grocery store

NFU is calling for these solutions:

MPPC CONTINED

Preferred stock is investment only with no ownership rights toward MPPC but will have a dividend rate set by the Board of Directors.

MPPC is offering discounts of up to $2000 for the first 50 Founding Members. The Common Stock is priced at $5000, but the first fifty memberships can join for $3000. If you’re interested in joining, please reach out soon to grab one of these early shares! The preferred stock is priced at $1000/share with unlimited purchase amounts per individual. Again, Preferred Stock does not allow ownership in the organization. Preferred shares support MPPC financially, and in return, MPPC will pay a dividend back to those stock owners.

• Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) reform • Improving price discovery and ensuring fair and accurate market information • Facilitating competition and more diverse market opportunities • Reinvigorated antitrust enforcement. For more information, please reach out to the Board of Directors or contact the MPPC through the website at www.mtpremiumprocessing.com

For membership questions or to join, contact either through the website or Matt Rains at (406)899-2644.