Advocate for Farmers and Ranchers
I believe that it should be easy for Montanans to eat local food,
Montana should have systems that support the production and consumption of local products. Apparently, key legislators disagree.
Last year, HB 440 was introduced to the legislature that would have provided tax incentives for retailers to stock Montana foods on their shelves. This completely voluntary tax benefit would have supported local farmers, ranchers, growers, retailers, grocers, and entrepreneurs. It would have kept more consumer food dollars in our local economies. Unfortunately, while this bill passed in the House Taxation Committee and the House, it was tabled in the Republican-majority House Appropriations Committee. A similar bill, SB 371, was tabled after a tie in the Senate Taxation committee.
fix their own machinery,
SB 509 proposed to provide farmers, ranchers, and independent mechanics the tools and diagnostic software necessary to repair their own equipment by designated that all embedded software in agricultural equipment is considered sold to the owner, rather than just licensed. Without access to the necessary software and tools, farmers and ranchers can’t diagnose and repair their own equipment. This bill was tabled along party lines in the Senate Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation Committee — all votes to kill the bill were Republican. A similar bill met the same end in the House Business and Labor Committee.
and know where their beef and pork come from.
Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL)
In 2015, Congress caved to the multinational meat packing monopoly’s lobbyists and repealed Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for two products: beef and pork. The packing companies were then able to import foreign, cheaper, lower-quality products while still applying the USDA inspection label, which consumers often mistake as a country of origin label. Mandatory Country of Original Labeling gives credit to our beef and pork producers while providing consumers the opportunity to choose to support American producers
