Agriculture

I come from generations of farmers and ranchers, so I know how the drought in recent years has hurt us. But drought is not the only problem. For generations, Montana farmers and ranchers have been the backbone of food source providers for our state, country and abroad. Why is it then that, for too many years, our farmers and ranchers have been hurting because of lower profits? It's not because of the quality of what we produce. Quite simply, our agricultural profits are shifting from the producer to the corporations. Making a living is getting harder and harder for our farmers and ranchers – to the point that it’s not economically viable to invest in agriculture. If this keeps up our beef will have a "Made in Brazil" label and our wheat will say "Made in China.” This should scare all Americans.

As a U.S. Congresswoman from Montana, I will work with representatives of other states to stand up for our farmers and ranchers and to make sure that the voices of those that produce our food are heard.

What We Can Do

• Listen to farmers and ranchers (see many of their recommendations below)

• Increase social value of U.S. raised meat products

• Reinstate mandatory Country of Origin labeling

• Ensure competitive practices in the meatpacking industry

• Develop/Incentivize cooperatives

• Increase number of [local] distributed meatpacking businesses

• Discourage meat product imports from nations without similar agriculture and environmental regulations

• Encourage meat product exports 

• Increase mental health resources to rural communities

• Address concentrated animal feeding practices

• Address Estate Taxes

• Address trucking regulations

• Address farm labor costs