The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week announced the appointment of 20 new members to the Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, including Alexandria Moxley from Montana. This committee is part of USDA’s support for equitable access to USDA’s services and programs and creating...
The current U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of several previous Supreme Court rulings has changed precedence that lower courts used to rule on legal disputes. Of particular concern is the Court’s recent overturning of the Chevron deference, which will create uncertainties for farmers and increase lawsuits...
Last month, Montana Farmers Union hosted participants in the 2024 Farmers Union Enterprise Leadership cohort for their summer leadership training focused on advocacy and leadership. The 19 participants and five supporting staff hail from the five Farmers Union Enterprise states of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, South...
[gallery ids="4295,4296,4294"]Several Farmer’s Share Days sponsored by Montana Farmers Union in the coming weeks will educate consumers about their food dollar and how decades of mergers and acquisitions have resulted in uncompetitive, fragile food supply chains that don’t fairly compensate farmers.“The Farmer’s Share shines the...
Glacier Processing Cooperative will modernize its meat processing facility, increase efficiencies, and position the co-op for long-term growth through a $250,000 USDA Local Meat Capacity Grant. The co-op received one of 33 Local MCap grants totaling nearly $26.9 million announced by the USDA in July. The...
Twenty four community projects centered on agriculture have received a total of more than $33,000 in grants from the Montana Farmers Union Foundation.“This year was harder than ever to select the grant awardees. For every grant we awarded, there were two great projects that we were...
As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day with family gatherings and festive cookouts, National Farmers Union released the updated “Farmer’s Share of the Food Dollar” for items typically enjoyed during a Fourth of July cookout. These figures reveal how much family farmers earn compared to...
In June, the USDA announced $50 million in Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program Grants to 141 recipients, including $100,000 to Vilicus Farms to help with creating an employee handbook and implementing incentives such as bonus pay and sick leave programs.Goals of the voluntary...
The EPA’s recent warning to John Deere that the equipment manufacturing company’s equipment manuals prohibiting the repair of emissions control systems by anyone other than Deere authorized dealers may have violated the law is another victory in Farmers Union’s fight for farmers' right to repair,...
By Walter Schweitzer, Montana Farmers Union PresidentRecently, I joined other National Farmers Union leaders in meetings with the House Ag and Senate Ag committees about each of their versions of the 2024 Farm Bill. Based on those discussions, a tight timeline, and the need for...