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THIS ISSUE:
Legislative Session Review
Bulls, Horses and 4-H Sales
Why We Calve When
MFB Foundation
Annual Report
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S P R I N G
Published by:
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502 S. 19th Ave, #104
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406-587-3153
www.mfbf.org
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Publisher
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Editor
Rebecca Colnar
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10
Cover Photo
MFBF members at the Council
of Presidents pose on the
state capitol lawn.
Photo by Rebecca Colnar.
Montana Farm
Bureau at Work
For Members
During the
64th Legislative
Session
© Copyright 2015. Montana Farm Bureau Federation
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A Look at
Livestock Sales
21
4Yes, We Have A
14 Meet MFBF Vice President,
Hans McPherson
5Advocating For A Cause
6Calving Stinks
16Being Involved Makes
All the Difference
8Mountain West Farm
Bureau Mutual Insurance
Company Agent Awards
Policy on That
12Why We Calve When
17MFB Foundation
Annual Report
28Ag Chat
34Book Review: Farming
Without the Bank
Printed 3/2015
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
3
EDITORIAL
Yes, We Have A
Policy on That
By Bob Hanson, President, Montana Farm Bureau Federation
T
here have been many comments of late on how Farm
Bureau policy is developed
and how that policy is adhered to
by Farm Bureau staff and volunteers. Farm Bureau is a true grassroots organization in that all policy
comes from the members. Policy
issues may be raised through various means including coffee shop
discussions, individual experiences,
or forums on specific issues. If they
are raised through Farm Bureau
forums, every effort is made to provide insight into all sides of an issue.
Resolutions are first introduced by
individual members at County Farm
Bureau meetings where they are
discussed on the local level. Those
policy ideas that apply statewide
and nationwide which are passed
at the county level are forwarded
to the Montana Farm Bureau where
they are reviewed by a committee
made up of members from each
district of the state. The committee determines whether or not an
issue is already covered by existing policy; if so a report is sent to
the county that submitted the resolution. They make a determination
of the placement of the policy in
the state or American Farm Bureau
policy book. Every resolution is forwarded to the county organizations
for them to review with their members to gain input as to whether or
not the county should support the
resolution. The counties then meet
with other counties in their area at
the state convention to review the
resolutions, once again, prior to debate and discussion on the delegate
4
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
I have witnessed very spirited
discussions at every level of the policy
development process and feel that the
end product is always what the
majority of the members feel is the
direction that Farm Bureau should go.
floor at the state convention. Neither Montana Farm Bureau staff nor
leadership is allowed to participate
in the discussion of the policy at any
of the four opportunities members
have to make their opinions known.
Resolutions dealing with statewide
issues that pass the delegate body
become a part of the Montana Farm
Bureau Policy Book which is distributed to all members through the
Winter Spokesman, the quarterly
publication mailed to all members of
the Montana Farm Bureau. Copies
of the book are available on request
from the state office. Resolutions
on national issues are forwarded to
AFBF where they go through essentially the same process only with the
state organizations reviewing the
resolutions and being voted on by
state Farm Bureau leaders.
I have witnessed very spirited discussions at every level of the policy
development process and feel that
the end product is always what the
majority of the members feel is the
direction that Farm Bureau should
go. If you disagree with the Farm
Bureau position, you have every opportunity to submit resolutions to
change that policy, keeping in mind
that you will have to convince more
•Spring 2015
than half of the delegates to support
your position.
I sometimes hear the comment that
if a policy is on a controversial issue
Farm Bureau should remain neutral.
I strongly disagree with that contention. If we don’t stand for something, we will cease to be relevant
on anything. Our organization will
continue to advocate on issues that
are important to our members. Farm
Bureau, like all organizations and
our country for that matter, is run
by those that show up.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
(ISSN 08863075)
Published quarterly by the Montana Farm Bureau
Federation at 502 S. 19th Ave., Suite 104, Bozeman,
MT 59718. Periodical postage paid at Bozeman,
MT and additional mailing offices. Subscription
rates $4 a year covered by annual dues to Montana
Farm Bureau Federation members. Non-member
subscription $25 per year. Advertising rates
available upon request. The Montana Farm Bureau
Federation Spokesman reserved the right
to reject any advertisements.
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
Montana Farm Bureau Federation Spokesman
502 S. 19th Ave., Suite 104, Bozeman, MT 59718
Montana Farm Bureau
Federation Officers
Bob Hanson – President
Hans McPherson – Vice President
John Youngberg – Executive VP
Diana Bailey – Exec Sec/CFO
Montana Farm Bureau Board
Troy Kurth – District 1
Harris Wheat – District 2
Jennifer Bergin – District 3
Ronda Johnston – District 4
Mack Cole – District 5
Wes Jensen – District 6
Tom Depuydt – District 7
Ed Bandel – District 8
Ken Johnson – District 9
Patti Davis – District 10
Jenny Stovall – YF&R
Gretchen Schubert – Women’s Leadership Comm.
EDITORIAL
Advocating For A Cause
By John Youngberg, Executive Vice President, Montana Farm Bureau Federation
W
hile at a recent American
Farm Bureau Advocacy
Conference in Washington
D.C. it struck me that the early
founders of Farm Bureau would
have been astounded at the level
of influence their grassroots efforts
have attained. In 1911 when the
farmers of Broome County New
York determined that their voices
would be better recognized if they
spoke as one, they couldn’t have
imagined the impact the 500 Farm
Bureau members from across the
country would have as they descended on our nation’s capitol in
late February. Those members having been updated on current issues
including immigration, Waters of
the U.S., the Endangered Species
Act and the over reach of the EPA
to name a few, swarmed the hill
espousing Farm Bureau policy and
encouraging Congressional votes in
support of that policy.
Advocacy is not something unique
to Farm Bureau. In Washington
D.C. there are anywhere from 12,000
to 15,000 registered lobbyists working every issue from A to Z. What
sets Farm Bureau apart from many
of those lobbyists is the backing of
the nearly 6 million members nationwide and the 21,000 Montana
members that provide policy and
support for the lobbying efforts on
their behalf.
In February, Montana Farm Bureau
members were well represented at
the capitol with eight individuals
visiting all of our Congressional offices. The Montana delegation was
It doesn’t take a trip to Washington
D.C. or to Helena to be an advocate
for Farm Bureau and agriculture.
In Montana we have a unique
opportunity to interact with our
Congressional delegation
and our legislators.
able to meet face to face with Representative Ryan Zinke and Senator
Steve Daines as well as spending
considerable time with the staff of
Senator Jon Tester. Issues of concern
to Montanans included the listing of
the Sage Grouse, the Keystone Pipeline and expansion of the definition
of the Waters of the United States.
Trade issues including the approval
of Fast Track Authority for the President, and unilateral trade agreements with the European Union,
South America and the Pacific Rim
were discussed with each office.
It doesn’t take a trip to Washington
D.C. or to Helena to be an advocate
for Farm Bureau and agriculture. In
Montana we have a unique opportunity to interact with our Congressional delegation and our legislators.
This is not the case for all states that
have large delegations and full-time
state legislators. Most of you know
your state senator and representatives and chances are you communicate with them regularly. Our Congressional delegation is very good
about having town hall meetings
around the state as well as staffing
regional offices that are accessible.
If you do plan to call or visit your lawmakers, keep a few points in mind:
• Their time is limited, keep it short
• Know the facts about the issues
•
You can represent yourself with
your opinions. However, you must
be selected by your county Farm
Bureau to speak on their behalf;
you can only testify for Montana
Farm Bureau if asked by our lobbyists. It’s always good to know Farm
Bureau policy
• B e respectful – tirades don’t accomplish anything
• Follow up; don’t let your issues
become “back burner” after your
contact
The American Farm Bureau Federation and the Montana Farm Bureau
are well respected organizations
with highly regarded staff members.
Please use their years of experience
to help you work with our Legislature or Congress. It is the responsibility of each of us to advocate for
agriculture in order to maintain the
freedoms we enjoy.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
5
CALVING STINKS
By Mariah Baumann Shammel
I
f you live agriculture, your life is ruled by seasons.
While every operation does things differently, the
majority of these major events are fairly standard
from place to place. Our calendar revolves around calving, branding, spring seeding, haying, harvest, fall seeding, and shipping. With calving winding down here,
we’re just beginning our year and I have to admit, I’m
pretty ready to move on.
The thing about calving is, it can really stink—in more
ways than one. There’s the stink that hits your nose: the
smell of cows calving in a barn, of afterbirth that has
somehow smeared its way onto every surface of your
coveralls, of over-used straw and the list goes on. There
are good smells, too, like freshly laid hay, spring-like air
wafting through a bunch of content cows as they watch
their calves tear around and fresh cookies in the oven,
made to bring your husband back to life after an actionpacked all-nighter…in the barn, that is.
The other stink about calving is the toll that three months
of sleep deprivation and spending too much time with
cows can take on a person. All it takes to tell how far
someone is into the calving season is a quick once-over.
There’s a game I like to play with myself where, after
running into someone at the vet’s office or the grocery
store (or in my own dining room), I guess how long a
person has been looking up the hind end of a cow by
judging them solely on three criteria: the pep in their
step, the look in their eye and their overall appearance.
At the start of calving, everyone is excited and ready to
get things rolling. They’re coming off of full nights of uninterrupted sleep, are eating at regular meal times, and
in most ways, life is as usual as it comes. This translates
to a bounce in their step, eyelids fully open and eyeballs
engaged, with a “put together” overall appearance.
About half way through, when both the cows and the
heifers have hit their peak, things have gone downhill.
Instead of picking up their feet to walk, the town-goer
just shuffles them on the ground so as not to waste any
more energy than necessary. And, as far as the eyes go,
it’s sometimes hard to tell if they’re open or closed because the term “bleary-eyed” is an understatement. The
overall appearance has taken a nosedive, making it unclear how long it has been since the shower was used.
The overwhelming odors of all the “stinks” I mentioned
earlier linger in a dense cloud above, following the comatose cowperson as they meander through the aisles
or attempt to have a conversation with something that
responds with actual words, not “moo”s.
By the time calving is nearing an end, a typical calver is
back on the up and up. The original bounce in their step
6
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
isn’t quite back yet but the shuffle has turned into more
of a one-legged drag and the eyes are clearly opened
with just a slight hint of glazed-over eyeballs. A haircut
has usually been had, showers are back on the agenda
and aside from the occasional “waft,” their overall aroma is quite pleasant.
As far as what happens in between these three milestones, well, you can use your imagination. And don’t
think this only applies to men—women (whether they’re
out in the barn or just trying to keep their husband well
fed, making sure he gets up for checks) and even kids can
show signs of “calving fatigue.” If you play this game,
though, you can never judge a person for how they look
(or smell) because you know you’ve been in their sloppy
mud boots, too, so all you can do is smile, nod and commiserate.
I have to laugh a lot about calving and what it does to
everyone involved, mostly because that’s the only way I
know to get through it with sanity intact. But truthfully,
for those of us who depend on cows to keep food on the
table and clothes on our backs, calving is the most important time of year.
Newborn calves and the soft lows of a mama cow greeting her baby for the first time never get old but being up
all night trying to deliver a backward calf, then having to
turn around first thing in the morning to get everything
fed can lose its appeal in a hurry. It takes a special (or
crazy) person to put the needs of bossy bovines ahead of
their own but they’re out there, and usually have a smile
on their face—no matter how much calving stinks.
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Recently, researchers from Montana State University reached out to
AMVAC in an effort to continue the search for an insecticide that would
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The new SLN label approved in Montana allows the use of THIMET
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Now, because of THIMET, Montana wheat growers have an extremely
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“We’re excited to be part of bringing solutions to Montana wheat
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ountain West Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company recently held its 57th Annual
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Russ Wolf,
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Sidney
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Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
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2/26/15 2:56 PM
ISSUES
Montana Farm Bureau at Work
For Members During the 64th
Legislative Session.
M
ontana Farm Bureau is
having a busy but successful 64th Legislative Session. This article was written before
the end of the session, so it won’t
contain specifics of bills that made it
into law, but is a general overview of
subjects and bills MFBF worked on.
WATER
Water, as always, was front and center for introduced legislation. The
most debated legislation of the ses-
sion was the CSKT water compact,
also known as the Montana water
compact, bill. This was an extremely
complicated as well as controversial
bill, with misunderstandings swirling around the state. MFBF supported the bill due to a strong belief
that without the compact, Montana’s water adjudication could be
held up for decades and cost farmers and ranchers millions of dollars.
It is estimated that this would cost
the state General Fund (taxpayers)
Representative Duane Ankney, RColstrip, visits with District 3 Director
Jennifer Bergin.
MFBF District Director Tom DePuydt
talk to Senator David Howard,
R-Park City during the St. Patrick’s
Day Legislative Dinner.
$73 million to cover DNRC and
Water Court costs. This does not
include the cost to individual water
right holders hiring attorneys. The
compact does not change regulatory
jurisdiction on any water off of the
reservation, and the Tribes won’t
have a new say over management of
water rights, water quality, wildlife
or anything off of the reservation.
All stock rights, municipal, domestic and commercial rights on and
off the reservation are 100 percent
protected. Montana Farm Bureau
policy, developed by its members,
supports a water compact which
creates certainty and prevents economic loss.
Participants in the Counties Calling on the Capitol.
10
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
Other water bills MFBF supported
included extending the deadline for
filing exempt water rights claims
(those used for instream, stock water and domestic ground water); a
bill that would allow for water users
to perfect their water rights if they
can prove they missed a filing deadline through no fault of their own;
ISSUES
ers and ranchers across Montana.
The plan allows farmers and ranchers to continue their farming and
ranching practices. Sixty-four percent of core Sage grouse habitat
is located on private acres. Many
agricultural practices benefit Sage
grouse populations and we need
our farmers and ranchers to continue providing viable habitat. The
Governor’s Executive Order provides vast exemptions for most agricultural practices and will allow us
to keep up business as usual.
Montana Farm Bureau members discuss international markets for Montana
products during the Counties’ COTC.
and a bill that says the Department
of Natural Resources provide a public notice on all water rights applications or change of permit.
BUDGET
Budget is always on everyone’s
mind, and Farm Bureau was especially concerned about the deficits
in the Department of Livestock budget. Farm Bureau actively worked
with industry groups and legislators
to develop a plan for the department
to move forward in a fiscally responsible manner and to secure funding
for the State Diagnostic Lab as well
as provide funding for the Designated Surveillance Area (DSA) around
Yellowstone National Park.
PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS
Private property is a priority issue
for Montana Farm Bureau. They opposed two bills which would have
been a threat to private property
rights. One bill stated that a road or
right-of-way with no proven legal
status that is used by the public or
appears to meet conditions necessary to qualify for a prescriptive
easement or other public road designation, could be categorized as a
“non-designated road or right-ofway.” A landowner would not be
able to close the road unless they
provide notice to the county commissioners of their intentions and
give proof that the road is a private
road. Another bad bill that didn’t
make it to the Floor would have
made it a misdemeanor subject to a
$500 fine for a landowner who leases
an isolated state section to allow an
outfitter to cross their private property to gain access to the state land.
WILDLIFE
The Montana Sage Grouse Stewardship Act has a diverse group of proponents including MFBF, oil, gas,
& coal development groups, and
numerous conservation groups. If it
passes the Legislature it will likely
mean less federal regulation and
restriction is handed down to farm-
Other wildlife bills included one
that would require authorization of
county commissioners before the
Department of Fish, Wildlife and
Parks can transplant, translocate or
release wild bison into that county.
MFBF supported the bill because
it provides local control by giving
locally elected officials the say in
whether or not wild bison can be established in their counties. MFBF is
opposed to the establishment of wild
or free roaming bison and believe
this bill will help protect landowners,
farmers and ranchers. Other legislation provides a statutory appropriation to reduce predation livestock
by wolves and grizzlies. This would
provide funding to livestock owners
to install fencing and other means to
prevent livestock and wolf/grizzly
bear predation on livestock, before it
becomes a problem.
Continued on page 13
The MFBF Women’s Leadership Committee served a delicious breakfast to
legislators at the Capitol Rotunda.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
11
Why We Calve When
“Why We” is a column that answers
common questions about agricultural
practices. The question recently was
asked, “Why do you calve in the
middle of winter when it’s so cold?”
Ranchers all plan their calving at specific times of year for a variety of reasons. In this month’s column, ranchers
share why.
M
Gary Burnham, Helena
January Calving
any purebred breeders begin
calving in January because
they have bull sales scheduled in
the spring and need to have bulls
ready to go to sale the following
year. At the Prickly Pear Simmental Ranch, we calve early (beginning in January and calving through
March) so our bulls will be ready
to breed in April of the following
year. Our sale is always the first
Saturday of February. We don’t like
to have to push them to be ready,
but we want them to be ready
naturally. This makes for healthier bulls with a better longevity.
(See Burnham’s sale story page 23.)
T
Casey Mott, Custer
Mid-February/March Calving
he primary reason we calve in
early to mid February is because
our summer pasture lease starts May
1. We want the calves old enough to
be branded in mid-April and ready
to travel by the end of that month.
This means we plan for a March 1
start for our cow herd to begin calving. As for the heifers, they start
calving two weeks earlier to give
them more time to catch up; that is, a
little more time to get over the stress
of calving when we turn out our
bulls around Memorial Day. We’ve
found that calves start showing up
about 10 days before the due date,
which means we will always have
calves on the ground by the second
week of February.
12
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
Calving in the winter requires extra diligence, including putting out straw for
the calves on snowy days.
There is a lot of talk about the bitter cold in February versus the wet
spring snow storms you can have in
March and April. No one can predict how the weather will be prior to
calving season, so it’s best to calve
when it works for each rancher’s
situation. We will always anticipate that February will be cold, so
the barn is set up with calving jugs
(stalls) and we put out a lot of straw.
One of the best things you can do if
you calve early is invest in a good
calf warmer. We have saved numerous calves because of this excellent idea. If you are going to calve
in February, particularly heifers,
you need to be very diligent during
storms and sub-zero weather. With
the dark days of late winter, we certainly go through a lot of flashlight
batteries, checking heifers as many
as six times per night during really
cold or snowy weather.
Weather should not be the sole criteria that a rancher bases the start of
calving on. I have read the optimum
time to calve is to determine when
the peak nutritional time for grass is.
•Spring 2015
Calves should be at least six-week old
by that peak. If calves are any younger, they won’t get the full benefit of
the increase in their mother’s milk
production. Certainly we welcome
warmer winters when one can just
put on a light jacket before wandering out into the dark to check heifers.
Forget the insulated coveralls!
C
Bonita Cremer, Melville
Mid-April/May Calving
alving the 1,600 head of mature
cows on Cremer Ranch gets
underway mid-April through May.
Typically, we are able to calve with
fewer harsh weather concerns and
are able to get them right onto green
grass. Prior to calving, our cows are
fed a high-protein cake and are able
to utilize winter grass forage; we do
not feed hay. The mature cows are
not given round-the-clock checks
like first-calf heifers receive – they
calve in large, open range pastures
with minimal labor required.
This is not to say we ignore our older
cows. After several very challenging
years calving heifers requiring way
too many C-sections and experiencing severe birthing difficulties,
we agreed that something had to
change. Over a decade ago we began
implementing changes with a priority on female herd management and
bull selection strategies. This included multiple years of pelvic measurements of yearling heifers to cull the
very small females and placing high
importance on introducing proven
genetics of low birth weight bulls.
Because of these changes to our herd
genetics, we have seen many calving
problems greatly reduced.
This calving plan has paid dividends
for us. Our mature cows rarely need
assistance and have great mothering
instincts. We are able to calve in relatively nice weather, with low stress to
the cow resulting in the cows maintaining good body condition post
calving and are able to breed back at
consistently high rates. All with minimal labor inputs to get us there. We
are fortunate to have the range pastures we do; if we had to move off of
our ranch to leased summer grazing
this would not be practical.
As the cattle market continues to
show consistent strength, we have
been able to wean 480-weight calves,
background feed them for a short
time using our own ground hay and
market a calf bringing on average
$1,200 plus per head without winter
weather stress and fatigue to both
man and beast.
Cliff Cox, Winston
Fall Calving
Calving in the fall works well for our
CX Ranch. My parents switched to
fall calving in the 1960s. Every ranch
is different and fall calving does not
work for every ranch. Some advantages are easy to understand. With
fourteen hours of daylight in late
August/early September, calving
season is relatively easy to handle.
I check my cows four times during
a given day, including right before
dark, but I don’t go out again until
early the next morning. There are
no middle of the night sojourns to
check cows. Generally I can eliminate worrying about frozen ears and
tails, or even scours. There are some
essentials to consider if you’d like to
fall calf. Summer forest permits generally do not work if you start calving in mid-August. Another factor:
the amount of hay your cow/calves
Montana Farm Bureau supported
two tax bills: one that would increase the exemption for the Business Equipment tax from $100,000
to $300,000 (one can very quickly hit
the $100,000 exemption limit with a
purchase of a combine). The other
bill we supported was HB 201 which
reduces statewide property taxes by
5 mills. It’s dead, but would have
provided moderate statewide relief.
will consume in the winter. With
a fall calving operation, you must
plan on having extra hay to get your
critters through the cold season. For
some operations, the extra hay required would be a deal breaker.
Another factor that makes fall calving attractive is the marketing of
these calves. In general, the fall
calves attract a completely different market than the calves born traditionally in the spring and sold in
the fall. More times than not, calves
available in early May are limited in
supply. My mother tracked the market for fall calves vs. spring calves
for a ten year period. She found the
market for the fall calves was higher
eight out of the ten years. This was
by no means a scientific study but
for anyone thinking of switching to
fall calving, it was one more thing
to consider. Besides, riding my motorcycle in shirt sleeves through the
cows to check them makes fall calving a no-brainer.
ISSUES
Continued from page 11
TAXES
No one can predict how the weather
will be prior to calving season, so it’s
best to calve when it works for each
rancher’s situation.
CALLING ON THE CAPITOL
T
he Montana Farm Bureau
held three events for members during the 64th Legislative Assembly. There was a Calling
on the Capitol for Young Farmers
& Ranchers, the Council of Presidents, and a combined Calling on
the Capitol with the MFBF Board
of Directors, Women’s Leadership
Committee and county Farm bureau
leaders. Members had the opportunity to meet with the Governor and
the Attorney General as well as with
officials at the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Livestock, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Montana State
Fund, the Montana Supreme Court
and more. Lunches at the Historical
Society were enjoyed, and of there
were breakfasts and dinners where
members could visit with their legislators to talk about issues of concern
to agriculture.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
13
Meet MFBF Vice President Hans McPherson
Everything from Cows to Potatoes
By Rebecca Colnar
A
t the Montana Farm Bureau
Annual Convention in Billings in November, Hans
McPherson was elected vice president. McPherson is no stranger to
Farm Bureau, having served as District 1 Director for six years with his
term ending in 2011. McPherson has
been involved in Ravalli County
Farm Bureau for many years and
has served on the MFBF’s Membership, Long Range Planning and
Convention committees.
The McPherson Farm in Stevensville is a multi-generational farm,
primarily raising beef and hay, but
also having 125 butcher hogs, chickens and two milks cows. They have
a “truck farm” which is handled by
McPherson’s younger sister along
with nieces and nephews.
“We grow sweet corn and potatoes,
have two hoop tunnels and another
greenhouse,” notes McPherson. “We
have a produce stand that uses the
honor system. If our yield exceeds our
expectations, we will sell it through
our local grocery stores, but mostly
we sell through our produce stand.”
The family is community oriented
and every fall host a fun day for the
community. “We have several acres
of potatoes that we grow and give
away. We take out some old potato
equipment that puts the potatoes on
top of the ground,” explains McPherson. “Every fall families come out
and pick free potatoes. We just ask
that any excess they pick (kids get
pretty enthusiastic) they dump into
bins and then we take those bins to
the food bank. Last year we shipped
15,300 pounds to the Montana Food
Bank Network in Missoula.
”I spend most of my time taking
care of the beef cattle and putting
up close to 4,000 tons of hay. We
14
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
start haying on the Summer Solstice
and stop when the snow flies. We
ship about 700 tons to Washington
State, sell a few hundred ton locally
and feed the rest. Our hay ground,
pastures and grain ground are all
irrigated. I still milk a couple of
cows for our own milk use and we
raise bum calves off the rest,” says
McPherson. As if that’s not enough,
they run a 600-head feedlot for backgrounding grass calves. The farmer
has been very involved in water
issues, from the Mitchell Ditch concerns several years ago to the recent
CSKT Water Compact debate.
The greatest challenge, McPherson
explains, is farming in an urban
landscape. “We have neighbors who
don’t understand what it takes to be
in agriculture. We have people buying 40 acres for a half million dollars;
that unrealistically drives up real estate prices and cuts up the land. We
can’t walk out the door and move
our cattle. We need to move them
all around with trucks and trailers which is very time-consuming
and a lot of extra work,” the farmer
laments. “We also deal with urban
elk and deer, and there have been
confirmed sightings of wolves and
big mountain lions. Still, the rewards of farming are great.”
FARM BUREAU RESPONSIBILITIES
McPherson explains that serving as
MFBF’s vice president takes adjustment because of the time demands.
There are more meetings, conferences and programs to attend, but
he is embracing it all. “I look forward to doing this role for as long
as the membership wants me to
serve them,” he says. “One of my
goals is to continue to build good
Farm Bureau relationships with our
legislators and governor to turn the
wishes of Farm Bureau into a reality.
•Spring 2015
Montana Farm Bureau Vice President
Hans McPherson at the MontanaFarm Bureau Delegate Session in
Billings. McPherson was elected as
vice president at the MFBF Convention in November 2014.
It’s good to be able to convey agriculture’s concerns and ambitions to
lawmakers so they can understand
where we are coming from. It’s very
important that we, instead of someone not involved in farming and
ranching, tell agriculture’s story.”
“My dad always told me that you
have to carry your own banner and
blow your own horn. If you don’t,
someone will dump crap in it,”
chuckles McPherson. “Agriculture in
our state and this country does
an amazing job and we need to be
proud of it. We need to make sure
it continues to be profitable to insure our farms and ranches can be
passed on to the next generation.
We need to provide ways for young
people to have the opportunities,
financing and knowledge they need.
As you can tell, my soft spot is for
young farmers and ranchers. I want
to see them excel. When I’m older,
I don’t want my food coming from
China or Brazil.”
He acknowledges that his other soft
spot is hunger. “It bothers me there
are people going to bed hungry in
It’s good to be able to convey
agriculture’s concerns and ambitions
to lawmakers so they can understand
where we are coming from. It’s very
important that we, instead of someone
not involved in farming and ranching,
tell agriculture’s story.”
Montana, across our country and in
this world. As farmers, if we break
even and have a little bit to carry us
into next year, we’re happy. The
thought someone is going to bed
hungry—that doesn’t make sense.”
McPherson looks forward to seeing
the Farm Bureau members travel
The public shows up to have some fun picking potatoes at the McPherson Farm.
Potatoes not picked are sent to the Montana Food Bank Network.
to Missoula in November for the
Annual MFBF Convention. “We will
have the bull show again, a terrific
trade show and a great convention,
so plan now to attend.”
Visit McPherson Produce on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/McPhersonProduce.
Growing Communities
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Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
15
Being Involved Makes All The Difference
The FFA and 4-H have left long lasting
impressions. As an employer, if a job
candidate has FFA or 4-H experience,
they go to the top of the pile.
Randy Bogden, MWFBMIC Agent
T
alk to folks involved in FFA
around Great Falls—combine
that with discussing good
insurance—and the name Randy
Bogden will be said time and time
again. He cares about his insureds,
he takes care of his family, he is involved in many community events
and he loves agriculture.
Bogden was born and raised on a
a ranch between Ulm and Cascade.
“I stayed away from farming and
spent time on the cattle end of the
ranch,” explained Bogden. “My dad
had a packing house and I grew up
in that business. I was very involved
in FFA, 4-H, sports and band. I was
an FFA officer and following high
school I attended MSU Bozeman
studying ag education. I came home
to work with Dad. He had a wholesale distribution company and the
packing house. I ended up running
our company until we sold out,
and then I ran the company for the
owner. Because of my experience in
business, I was hired by a food broker out of Billings, where I traveled
all over Montana and Idaho as their
protein specialist.”
However, in 2005, Bogden’s career
path changed. “Mountain West Agent
Dick Gannon visited with me. He
had just found out that his wife,
Teresa, who was also an agent, had
16
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
cancer. I had known the Gannons
since I was young. Dick asked me
if I wanted to get into insurance. He
had an agriculture background and
wanted someone to take over this insurance book of business. I had two
young kids, and it struck me that
this might be a good thing to try as it
wouldn’t require so much statewide
travel. I met with Dick, then Agency
Manager Kevin Gillaspie, and got
my license in 2006. I will celebrate
my 9th anniversary with Mountain
West Farm Bureau Mutual Company
August 1.”
Bogden remains involved with FFA
and 4-H. “I co-sponsor the state
convention, work with FFA at the
MAGIE, train FFA kids and put on
the FFA Extravaganza every year
with Jim Sargent of KMON. I was
on the state FFA board for a threeyear stint, but my challenge was
doing that and keeping up with my
12-year-old daughter and 9-yearold-son. Because of that, I left the
board after my term, but am a huge
believer in FFA.” The FFA and 4-H
have left long lasting impressions
on Bogden. As an employer, if a job
candidate has FFA or 4-H experience, they go to the top of the pile.
As for insurance concerns, Bogden
urges all insured to be in contact
with their agents. “It’s important to
do an annual policy review. Sit down
and make sure there is sufficient
coverage. For instance, if you buy a
$10,000 television, we don’t know
that. It’s not fair to expect an agent
to know everything,” says Bogden.
“People are worried that their premium will increase when they tell us
about additions, but the truth is, you
need to have coverage on those additions in case something happens.”
•Spring 2015
He cautions that insurance companies nationwide are having a tough
time due to increasing claims with
hail and storm damage. “Claims
are kicking our tails and it’s not
just Farm Bureau. These claims are
turning the insurance industry upside down,” says Bogden. “The one
thing I can’t say enough is that property owners need to make sure they
take care of their property properly.
Just because your roof blew off and
it’s been on there for 45 years, it’s
not the insurance company’s job to
replace your bad roof. Your insurance company is there to help you,
and we go above and beyond, but
it’s costing us.”
Despite the challenge Bogden just
mentioned, he loves the insurance
business. “It offers so much. I can
be with my kids, I have freedom,”
he says. “I can be involved with different groups like the 4-H and FFA,
I can be involved in my community
(he’s even a sports broadcaster on
KMON) and I can keep my ties to
agriculture. I handle most of the farm
and ranch policies out of this office.”
The fact that MWFBMIC has strong
ties to the Montana Farm Bureau
Federation is especially pleasing to
Bogden. “The Cascade County Farm
Bureau is the backbone of agriculture in our area and the Federation
is the backbone of agriculture in
Montana and the United States. I
do everything I can to support them
and they support me. I wouldn’t
have this great career or agency if it
weren’t for Farm Bureau.”
He stresses how important it is for
people to get involved. “There are always 10 percent of the members doing
90 percent of the work. That 90 percent are missing out on how to grow
and learn by being active with Farm
Bureau,” Bogden says. “I can’t say
enough good things about MFBF.”
Montana Farm Bureau Foundation
Annual Report
-
Board of Directors
Bob Hanson, President
White Sulphur Springs
Hans McPherson, Vice President
Stevensville
John Youngberg, Executive VP
Belgrade
Sky Anderson
Livingston
Ed Bandel
Floweree
Jim Bowman
Hinsdale
Tom Cunningham
Billings
Ronda Johnston
Melville
Wayne Lower
Dillon
Dave McClure
Lewistown
President’s Message
I am pleased to present you with our Montana Farm Bureau Foundation
2014 Annual Report which highlights our successes and programs during
the past year, as well as recognizes our essential donors. The mission of
the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation (MFBFo) is to support Montana
agriculture through education, research, and community support, with a
special emphasis for the development of our youth. I’m proud to say that
during the past 12 months we put more resources to work to meet that
mission than ever before.
Our expenditures for 2014 included increased support for a youth leadership development
through scholarships to the acclaimed national FUSION Conference. This conference featured
top-notch training and nationally recognized motivational speakers. Attendees came back to
Montana better prepared to become the next generation of leaders for agriculture in Montana.
The Foundation also increased funding for purchasing and distributing accurate agricultural information and educational tools statewide. Through these programs, the Foundation is supporting the industry of agriculture hand-in-hand with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF).
As President of the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, it brings me great joy to see the projects
and programs supported and run by our 501(c)(3) organization.
Our 2015 budget will include expansion in these and other programs, such as Mini-Grants, that
put funding into local communities for deserving agricultural education projects. The Montana
Farm Bureau Foundation is a worthy recipient for your charitable giving. Join me in supporting
Montana’s agricultural future, the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation.
Art Nelson
Lavina
Harris Wheat
Dillon
Lew Zimmer
Bozeman
Diana Bailey, Ex Officio
Three Forks
Scott Kulbeck, Coordinator
Belgrade
Our Mission
The mission of the Montana
Farm Bureau Foundation is to
support Montana agriculture
through education, research, and
community support, with a special
emphasis on the development of
our youth.
Bob Hanson, President
What is the Foundation and what it is doing for
Montana agriculture?
Assisting in Education: Whether it’s funding an adult agricultural education program or
providing materials to urban students, we realize that our support is fundamental in providing
future leaders with the knowledge and skills they need in order to be effective.
Building Leaders for Agriculture: Our industry is more than ever dependent on strong
leaders to guide us through the challenges that will face the next generation of farmers and
ranchers. MFBFo is dedicated to funding programs that will help current members and our
youth develop into those leaders.
Supporting Montana’s Rural Communities: Agriculture reaches every corner of the state
and is the main artery of rural Montana. In giving youth the opportunity for leadership and
offering educational programs, we work to broaden the impact of Montana agriculture and
ensure its future.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
17
Program of Work
Summer Conference Events
MFBFo hosts activities during the Summer
Conference in order to raise money for our
programs and awareness of the Foundation
within membership. Educational tours for
members included the Blue Bay Orchard,
Yellow Bay Gardens and Mission Mountain
Winery.
The Foundation Golf Scramble allows members to relax and enjoy some
sunshine (or rain) with their fellow Farm Bureau members and raised over
$1,500 that will help fund many Foundation programs.
During the Foundation Beach Bash
volunteers explained the Foundation’s many
programs and support to communities
and organizations involved in agricultural
education and leadership development
while members had fun and raised money
for the Foundation. A new record level of
donations was achieved
as members pledged over $6,500 to the Foudation dinner and auction.
Ag Education Materials
Never before has there been more of a need to make sure
accurate agricultural education is being taught in our
schools. Montana Farm Bureau Foundation provided
more than $5,000 worth of agricultural education materials to classrooms and organizations throughout Montana. We gave out
10,000+ Food and Farm Facts, Ag
Mags and pencils printed with farm facts. One example
is the Beef Ag Mag, which includes nutrition topics, food
handling safety, production information about branding,
why cattle eat grass, beef by products, and a section on careers. The Farm Facts feature interesting and educational
facts about food in America - how and where it is grown,
and who produces it.
Donate Now
Donate online with a credit card by clicking the “DONATE NOW” button
on the home page at www.mfbf.org. Check out
the Foundation tab for the latest information on
programs supported by the Foundation, Mini-Grant
opportunities and scholarships.
18
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
Mini-Grants
The following are an example of the
ten Mini-Grants of $500 each that
were awarded in 2014:
Valley County Poultry Project
Valley County 4-H - Participants of
this project incubated eggs, watched
them hatch and cared for them,
ulitmately raising them to the fryer
or pullet stage.
Cascade County ATV Safety Class
Cascade County Farm Bureau and
MAGIE - Central Montana 4th
and 5th grade students learned
ATV Safety. Cascade County Farm
Bureau trained over 300 students
with this project.
Denton FFA Livestock Facility
Denton FFA - MFBFo assisted the
Denton FFA chapter in paying
for the construction of a livestock
handling facility. The facility
allowed students to learn aspects
of animal husbandry, nutrition,
building construction, and
showmanship.
Healthy Snack Vending Machine
Hinsdale FFA - This Mini-Grant
helped to stock a vending machine
in the Hinsdale school offering
healthy snack alternatives to the
student body and teachers. Their
FFA chapter runs the vending
machine as a business in FFA’s
Supervised Agriculture Experience
(S.A.E.) program.
Ag Days Week - Townsend Schools This event, held on May 29, 2014,
focused on the fact that agriculture
plays an important role in things like
medication, toothpaste, hairbrushes.... and science of many kinds.
300 students and 100 staff, parents,
and presenters participated in this
year’s celebration of agriculture.
2014 Donor & Sponsor List
Gold Level ($1000 and up)
Montana Farm Bureau Federation
BNSF Railway
David McMillen
David Ryckman
Farm Bureau Financial Services/FBL
Financial Group
Gallatin County Farm Bureau
Jake and Janet Cummins
Meagher County Farm Bureau
Mountain West Farm Bureau MIC
Park County Farm Bureau
Sula Peak Ranch
Silver Level ($101-$999)
Betty Biggs
Big Horn County Farm Bureau
Bob and Helen Hanson
Bruce Wright
Broadwater County Farm Bureau
Carbon-Stillwater County Farm Bureau
Chouteau County Farm Bureau
Clint Peck
Darcia Patten
Ed and Kayla Bandel
Gene and Vickie Surber
Gretchen and Jim Schubert
Hertha Lund and Lund Law, PLLC
Hill-Liberty-Blaine County Farm
Bureau
John and Debe Youngberg
John and Gina Stevens
Judith Basin County Farm Bureau
Jules and Bonnie Marchesseault
Ken and Cyndi Johnson
Larry Bowman
Lee and Sarah Boyer
Lew and Sarah Zimmer
Lewis & Clark County Farm Bureau
Louis Beirwagen
Mary McHugh
Matt and Bonita Cremer
Montana Ag Safety Program
MSU Extension
Musselshell County Farm Bureau
Patrick and Nicole Hackley
Roger King
Scott and Casey Kulbeck
Sky Anderson
Tim and Carol Gill
Tom and Joy DePuydt
Tom and Lillian Ostendorf
Tom and Sherri Cunningham
Valley County Farm Bureau
Wayne and Jenifer Lower
William and Tina Rehbein
Copper Level (50-$100)
Albert and Anne Groskinsky
Bruce and Theo Yanzick
Carl and Janet Krob
Cascade County Farm Bureau
Chris and Vicki Kolstad
Chouteau County Farm Bureau
Diana Bailey
Doug Stephenson
Ed Malesich
Harris and Sharon Wheat
Harvey and Hazel Walter
James Kammerzell
John Grande
Leo Nichols
Larry and Tami Christianson
Lon and Vicki Reukauf
Randy Bogden
Richland County Farm Bureau
Robert and Ann Quinn
Roger King
Rosebud-Treasure County Farm Bureau
Sweet Grass County Farm Bureau
Turk and Jenny Stovall
Memorials
Broadwater County Farm Bureau
Ruth Christie
Chouteau County Farm Bureau
Brent Bliss
Charles and Frances McDonald
Linda Dallas
Lewis & Clark County Farm Bureau
Roger King
Sweet Grass County Farm Bureau
Kathleen Lindner
2014 Sponsors
BNSF Railway
Bowser Brewing
Butte Copper Company
District 3 County Farm Bureaus
District 4 County Farm Bureaus
District 6 County Farm Bureaus
District 7 County Farm Bureaus
District 10 County Farm Bureaus
Fairmont Hot Springs Resort
Galusha, Higgins, & Galusha
Hilton Garden Inn, Kalispell
Montana Farm Bureau Federation
Montana Ag Safety Program
MSU Alumni Association
Mountain West Farm Bureau MIC
Quinn Farms
Red Ants Pants
Riverbend Embroidery
Ryan’s Trophy
Sky Anderson
Southwest Counties Farm Bureau
Stacey’s Old Faithful Bar & Steakhouse
Stockman Bank
Tamarack Brewing Company
Wheat Montana Farms and Bakery
Yellowstone Cellars & Winery
Yellowstone County Farm Bureau
Special Thanks
A big thank you to the many
Farm Bureau members who
donated to the Foundation
with their membership renewal. Thanks also to those who
supported the Foundation by
contributing during the Foundation Dinner at the Summer
Conference We truly value your
support of our efforts.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
19
Program of Work cont.
YF&R Leadership Conference Scholarship
The Foundation awarded $6,500 in scholarships to Montana
young farmers and ranchers who attended the 2015 FUSION
Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN in February. The
conference brings together nearly 1,000 young Farm Bureau
members to network and learn about
issues impacting the future of their
industry. This year’s conference
featured a track of workshops for
agricultural advocates and included
training on communicating with
lawmakers and professional tactics
for giving interviews. Participants
enjoyed the opportunity to visit with
young farmers and ranchers from all
over the United States and heard from motivational speakers
such as Keni Thomas, a U.S. Army Ranger who survived the
firefight later recounted in the movie Blackhawk Down. Keni
talked about leading by example. Overall 37 young farmers
and ranchers from Montana participated.
Get Your Foundation License Plate!
All of these great educational opportunities, grants and
scholarships are funded in part by the proceeds the
Foundation receives from
its very own “Supporting
Montana Agriculture”
license plate. If you don’t
already have this plate
on your vehicle, please
consider upgrading the next time you renew your vehicle
registration. Your County Treasurer’s Office will have all the
details.
Supporting Ag Education
MFBFo supports youth
education and leadership
development by working
with organizations such as
Montana FFA Foundation,
Montana 4-H and Ag in
Montana Schools. Our
Foundation provided over
$10,000 in scholarships during 2014 so that Montana
youth can receive the training and education they need
to become leaders for the industry of agriculture.
Leadership Development
Montana Farm Bureau Foundation is in our second
year of providing tuition scholarships for members of
the REAL Montana program (Resource Education and
Agriculture Leadership). Participants analyze complex
issues associated with agriculture and natural resources
while receiving intensive leadership training
and exposure to a wide
range of experiences and
viewpoints.
Recently Class I participants completed an
international study seminar to China on January
8-18, 2015. Four days were spent in Beijing, where the
class met with Ambassador Max Baucus at the U.S. Embassy and received briefings on U.S./China agriculture
and energy issues.
Support Montana Agriculture!
Here is my contribution to the Foundation
Name______________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________
City___________________________State_________Zip_____________
MFBFo is a qualified
charity under IRS tax
code 501(c)3 making all
donations tax deductible
for our supporters.
Telephone_________________E-mail____________________________
This gift ___ in honor of, ___in memory of
is being made in the name of:
__________________________________
The address of the family/honoree:
__________________________________
Enclosed is my gift of:  $25  $50  $100  $250  $500 Other__________
Credit Card:
 Visa
 Mastercard
Card Number_____________________________________ Expiration Date___________
If making a donation by credit card, you can fax this form to (406) 587-0319. If making a donation by check, mail this form with your check to:
Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, 502 S. 19th Ave, Suite 104, Bozeman, MT 59718.
20
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
$ALES
A L O O K ATMontana Farm Bureau Foundation
LIVESTOCK
Annual Report
-LOVING THE PUREBRED LIFE:
Board Mountain
of Directors
Wheeler
Ranch
Bob Hanson, President
White Sulphur Springs
Hans McPherson, Vice President
Stevensville
John Youngberg, Executive VP
Belgrade
Sky Anderson
Livingston
Ed Bandel
Floweree
Jim Bowman
Angus rancher,
Ron Van Dyke.
Hinsdale
T
Cunningham
he Tom
Wheeler
Mountain Angus
Billings
Ranch lies
north of Whitehall
in southwestern Montana. VisRonda Johnston
it the ranch inMelville
February and calving
is well underway. Some of those twoWayne
Lower
week old bull
calves
racing around
Dillon
the pasture will
rise to the top in
the selection process to be in their
Dave McClure
Wheeler Mountain
Angus sale in late
Lewistown
March the following year. Wheeler
Art Nelson
Mountain Angus
is run by Ron and
Lavina
Kathy Van Dyke,
along with their
son David and his wife, Erin. DaughHarris Wheat
ters, Stacy andDillon
Jacquie and sons-inlaw Brett and Philip also help out on
Lew Zimmer
this family operated
ranch.
Bozeman
Ron Van Dyke is no stranger to the
seedstock
business,
growing
Diana
Bailey, Ex
Officio up on
Three
Forks
the venerable
Hyline
Angus Ranch.
“What’s interesting is when I was
Scott Kulbeck, Coordinator
growing up on
the ranch, my father
Belgrade
was all about performance testing
and selecting bulls that showed the
Our Mission
most growth. That’s where our herd
Thefrom.
mission
the Montana
came
Heofgave
me my first
Farmheifer
Bureau
is to
Angus
in Foundation
1969 as a graduation
support
Montana
agriculture
gift and our herd grew from there.”
through education, research, and
Ron
and Kathy
started
own
community
support,
with atheir
special
emphasis on
development
of the
operation
in the
1988,
continuing
youth. high perfortradition of our
breeding
In this issue, Spokesman Editor Rebecca Colnar has opted to focus on a
topic: Sales. Read
about how two purebred cattle ranchers handle their bull
President’s
Message
sales, find out how the college students are participating in the Top of the
West Horse Sale,I am
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2014 Annual Report which highlights our successes and programs during
4-H and breed shows.
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Farm Bureau Foundation is a worthy recipient for your charitable giving. Join me in supporting
bulls. Calves born with
recording
all of that.
Wethe
weigh
our Farmbecome
Montana’s
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future,
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Bureau sale
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a very high birth weight will becalves four times before the sale.
come steers. “Our first selection is
We want to have cows that calve
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Continued on page 22
Bob Hanson, President
What is the Foundation and what it is doing for
Montana agriculture?
Assisting in Education: Whether it’s funding an adult agricultural education program or
providing materials to urban students, we realize that our support is fundamental in providin
future leaders with the knowledge and skills they need in order to be effective.
Building Leaders for Agriculture: Our industry is more than ever dependent on strong
leaders to guide us through the challenges that will face the next generation of farmers and
ranchers. MFBFo is dedicated to funding programs that will help current members and our
youth develop into those leaders.
Supporting Montana’s Rural Communities: Agriculture reaches every corner of the state
and is the main artery of rural Montana. In giving youth the opportunity for leadership and
offering educational programs, we work to broaden the impact of Montana agriculture and
Will this one make next year’s sale? Van Dyke’s calves are evaluated
ensure
its future.
through out the year and only the best are placed in the production sale.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
21
Continued from page 21
$ALES
birth weight and how well they perform. I can sell a calf with a higher
birth weight if there is a lot of good
growth potential; however, we do
need to have some heifer bulls that
will throw much lower birth weight
calves,” Van Dyke says. “Throughout the year we just keep chipping
away at our selection. At branding, if
we see calves we don’t like, we will
castrate them. Then they go to the
forest for the summer; again, if there
are problems with those bull calves,
we will castrate them. Actually, the
environment serves as the best sorting stick as we range on 40,000 acres
of short-grass and sagebrush country at elevations of up to 7,500 ft.”
Sale Preparations
With the sale in late March (the
sale on March 24, 2015 offered 150
yearling Angus bulls and 200 fancy
commercial Angus heifers), the Van
Dyke’s start feeding the potential
bull calves in their feed lot from November until the sale. Bull clippers
are scheduled to trim the hair of the
bulls and give them a neat appearance in the sale ring. All of the performance data is compiled including weights.
“The latest technology we sometimes use is DNA testing - if there
is a question about the sire of a
bull, it helps us identify parentage
with certainty,” explains Van Dyke.
“Next we fertility test all of the bulls.
Then we send the weights in to the
American Angus Association and
take photos. (Believe it or not, bull
photography is a skill that requires
patience, knowledge of the right
light and angle, and how to get the
bull to pick his head up.) Finally, all
of the data on the animals is sent to
the program designer who puts together the final sale catalogue.”
To promote the sale, the Van Dykes
advertise in livestock publications
and utilize the American Angus As-
22
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
Potential buyers inspect the bulls at Wheeler Mountain Angus Ranch.
sociation mail service to distribute
their program to selected zip codes.
Zip codes aren’t just for the local
area, they can range from all over
Montana and surrounding states.
“We send a lot of bulls to Idaho,”
Van Dyke says. “We also use the
Superior Livestock video, so that requires someone coming out to video
our bulls. Probably the only thing
we have absolutely no control over
is the weather, and we just have
to hope the weather doesn’t screw
things up.”
Wheeler Mountain uses a Superior
Livestock video as a way to market
their cattle. The company will videotape the movement of the bulls
and that video is broadcast on television during the sale. During that
sale, those watching the video can
bid on bulls either over the phone or
on the internet.
Because many buyers arrive the day
before the sale to have time to examine the bulls in their pens, the Van
Dykes have a customer appreciation
dinner of prime rib that night. The
morning of the sale coffee and donuts are provided and the sale itself
is preceded by lunch at eleven for all
the attendees.
Van Dyke shakes his head when he
remembers their first sale. “We had
a blizzard and the road was closed
to Billings. Because it was a sudden
storm, we didn’t have any notice so
the sale had to go on. I think we had
30 people. Since then we have insulated the sale barn and built a wind
•Spring 2015
break.” Of course, having people bid
online certainly makes a difference,
as they can be sitting in a chair in the
warmth of their home office while
selecting bulls to purchase.
The former Montana Angus president loves the purebred business.
“One thing I enjoy is when we deliver bulls to our buyers. During the
sale, we are too busy to really visit,
so delivering the bulls gives us a
chance to be social.”
Van Dyke has a real passion for the
seed stock business. “It’s challenging because you have an idea of that
perfect animal and work to achieve
that goal,” he says. “It used to be
that your goal was to have an animal that would grow the fastest, but
then everyone began growing cattle
that the environment couldn’t support. Now we look for more functional attributes, such as disposition.
We don’t tolerate a bad disposition
in a cow. If a cow doesn’t mother her
calf, she gets sold. I don’t sell bulls
out of problem cows.”
Customers are the mainstay of the
business. “We have some people
who were first with my dad, and
now are with us, or their kids are
with us. Some have been with us for
50 years. We have some customers
who were buying our bulls before
we even started a auction bull sale.
It’s very satisfying to have these
people who have become good
friends. It’s one of those true assets
of being in the livestock business.”
LOVING THE PUREBRED LIFE:
Prickly Pear Simmental Ranch
H
olding a bull sale takes organizational, planning and social skills. Loretta and Gary
Burnham, Prickly Pear Simmental
Ranch, keep busy preparing for the
sale. Gary and his herd manager,
Troy Wheeler, make the breeding,
culling and selection decisions while
Loretta handles all the sale and bevy
of volunteers required for a successful bull sale.
For Loretta, sale prep starts the year
before. “I keep around 8-pages of
notes on our sale details. Immediately following each sale Gary, Troy
and I talk about what worked and
what didn’t, what went well and
what we’d like to change or duplicate the following year and that all
goes into my notes.” This makes it
so much easier and smoother for the
next sale.”
In October, she and Gary order promotional items such as ball caps and
The Burnham’s large sign make it easy to spot their sale barn.
in late December she examines her
previous notes and Gary begins his
work on the bull sale catalogue. The
catalogue has photos of bulls, Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs)
and notes on each bull. (As purebred
breeders they need to keep track of
dams, sires, birth weights and much
more, so they have a lot of notes).
Herd manager Troy makes the notes
on the bulls, and that takes quite a
while since they keep records from
birth. There is a lot of last-minute information for the catalogue so it’s tricky.
This in-depth publication needs to be
ready to be in the mail two weeks before the sale. “It is definitely a team effort to get the catalog put together and
in the mail,” says Burnham. They also
take a bunch of the catalogs for distribution at their booth at the MAGIE in
Great Falls in January.
Continued on page 24
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
23
Continued from page 23
$ALES
“We hire an experienced livestock
photographer to take the bull photos
and try to get it done in one day,”
she explains. “The bulls have to be
bathed, clipped and ready to go.
Catalogues are mailed the day before the Burnhams have their booth
at the MAGIE. “Our sale is always
the first Saturday of February, so
we want to send them far enough in
advance people will save the date,
but not so far in advance that they
get lost on tables/desks. We send
out postcards, advertise in the Trader’s Dispatch and in a few breed
publications and we now have a
new, comprehensive Prickly Pear
Simmental Ranch website that has
attracted a lot of attention.”
One advantage the Burnhams have
is name recognition. Gary’s father,
Don, bred the first polled black
Simmental bull in the world, the
first bull being born on the ranch in
Helena in 1979, putting Prickly Pear
Simmentals on the map.
Prior to the show sale, around 15
to 20 volunteers and food need to
be lined up and organized. “We’re
fortunate we have a lot of friends
who enjoy helping us,” explains
Burnham. “Gary and I belong to a
few classic car clubs in Helena, and
these friends are really excited to
do something with cattle. Several of
the ladies are very good at running
buyer registration/sales. They register buyers, update contact information and handle the final transaction
details for those who have bought
bulls. Early in January I check with
our friends Dave and Barb, who do
our catering, to ensure they are still
wanting to feed everyone again this
year. I have buyers who say they
come for the great food! This year
we fed 155 people the day of our
sale and we also do pre-sale dinner
feed the evening before the sale for
any buyers in town early and our
work crew.”
During the week leading up to the
sale the ranch crew works hard to
get the sale barn and feed lot area
in great shape and ready to go. On
sale day, the crew working with the
bulls needs to be well organized.
“You need a good team you trust to
keep the bulls moving into and out
of the indoor sale ring efficiently,
allowing the sale to progress without interruptions,” Burnham notes.
During the sale, Gary and Loretta
are seated next to the auctioneer.
Gary opens the sale with a brief talk
welcoming and introducing folks
and Loretta prepares each invoice
that lists the animal, buyer and
Buyers names are put in a hat and
following the sale a name is drawn
for a Prickly Pear Carhartt jacket.
sale price. Usually after every 10th
animal, she’ll have runners take the
paperwork over to the registration
table where the buyers can pay and
make arrangements for pick up that
day or later bull delivery.
After the bulls are purchased and
the crowd leaves, the place is quickly cleaned, and the remaining food
goes to Gary and Loretta’s house
where the whole helpful sale crew
enjoys dinner together. However,
typical to agriculture, nobody kicks
back for the rest of the evening. It’s
the middle of calving time and there
is lots of work to be done.
Most ranchers want their bulls delivered around the first of April, so
the next step after the sale is scheduling bull deliveries and how many
are going which direction. “We are
blessed to have many loyal customers, some who have been buying
since Don ran the ranch. Our most
important mission is to make sure
our buyers are happy with our product and we guarantee every bull so
that brings people back.”
The Burnhams were pleased with
the 2015 sale. “We generally sell
about 75 bulls. This year, we added
internet bidding and that went very
well,” Loretta says. “As much work
as it is, we sure have a lot of fun.”
This year, the Burnhams added another event to their busy week—
hosting dinner and a presentation
Gary, left, visits with potential buyers.
24
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
in their sale barn for legislators and
Farm Bureau members who were
in Helena attending the Montana
Farm Bureau Council of Presidents.
The event got the thumbs up from
everyone who attended and may
become a regular event during the
Legislative Session.
YOUTH EXCELS IN
JUNIOR SHOWS
Krista Callantine
N
othing prepares a young person for the future like being
involved with livestock. Programs such as 4-H teach responsibility and develop management and
business skills. Choosing to show
livestock takes dedication, hard work
and perseverance to succeed.
Krista Callantine grew up on her
family’s historic Timberline Ranch
north of Belgrade. She is the fifth
generation to raise cattle close to
the mountains, and has thoroughly
enjoyed being involved in 4-H and
Krista Callantine explains how she gets an animal ready for a show.
the Junior Angus program. Planning
for a 4-H show and sale follows the
same criteria as showing and selling
bulls or horses: select a quality animal, work to develop it best traits,
and market it well. It also includes
maintaining feed records and keeping their 4-H record book up to date.
animals I show we raise ourselves,”
explains Krista.”I breed cattle and
will keep those steers to market to
local businesses, as well as show
and sell them at the county fair. I
will also take steers to the Montana
Fair and sell my club calves to other
4-H kids at the NILE.”
“I have a small Angus herd and a
couple of mixed breed steers that I
keep for showing in 4-H. Most of the
You won’t see all black steers in Krista’s herd. Look around and you’ll see
Continued on page 26
50x80x16 $34,000 Installed
70x120x16 $67,000 Installed
60x100x16 $46,000 Installed
80x152x16 $94,000 Installed
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
25
Continued from page 25
$ALES
a few Speckle Park. “That’s a breed,
which originally came from Angus
developed in Canada,” the Belgrade
High School junior explains. “We
found them when we went to the
Canadian Western Agribition in
Regina and thought they’d be fun
to have. We bought some semen
and artificially inseminated a couple
cows. They are a good carcassing
breed with a very distinct color pattern.” (Carcassing is defined as “The
observed properties of a carcass that
may directly or indirectly influence
the palatability characteristics of the
edible meat.”)
“There is a set of criteria that makes
an animal win. The animal needs to
be structurally correct and sound, is
deep-bodied and has good spring
of rib. The want it even through the
top line and clean in the front end.
In other words, it needs to be a wellconformed animal.”
Krista and her sister, Catherine, who
is an animal science major at Colorado
State University, have enjoyed showing their animals together. “Most of
our shows begin in April and they are
staggered throughout in the summer.
It gets busy the end of June and July.
Planning for a 4-H show and sale
follows the same criteria as showing and selling bulls or horses: select
a quality animal, work to develop its
best traits, and market it well.
you can win buckles, ribbons and
money. When you sell your animal,
it’s good income to put towards college. A real plus to showing in my
case, is that I get to travel with my
family. My dad used to drive us
to the shows; once my sister could
drive, she would take us to shows.
Preparing To Show
Once Krista selects a certain calves
as show candidates, they are started
on feed and taught to lead and tie.
“We bring them in and get them
used to us, then put a halter on. It’s
a slow process with a lot of repetition,” Krista explains. “We will tie
them every day, brush them and
simply get them accustomed to having someone work around them.”
Then the process is feeding, getting
them used to be led around, and
finally get ready for a show.
“The first wash of the season is the
most difficult because they have
so much mud caked on them,” she
says. “There is a lot of repeated
washing to really get them clean.
Then you clip them and get their
hair ready. Just before a show you
want to make sure they’re clipped
the right way. Clipping can be used
as a grooming tool to enhance the
cattle’s good qualities.”
At the show, competitors do what’s
called “fitting” the animal, which
means making it look presentable.
“You put adhesive on their legs to
get them fluffy and brush the tails.
Right now I have four market steers
and two heifers,” says Krista who
also will show a few market hogs.
26
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
The Speckle Park breed intrigued Krista Callantine.
There are some around Montana, and
we go to one in Idaho and one in Riverton, Wyoming.”
Krista shows as both a 4-H and
Junior Angus competitor. “Showing
is rewarding. It’s great when you see
your hard work pay off. If you put a
lot of effort into it, you get a lot out
of it. It’s good to win shows where
•Spring 2015
Both my mother, Jane, and father,
Jake, have been very supportive.”
Krista chuckles when asked how attached gets to her show animals. “It
depends on the animal. Some have
been great and I hate to see them go.
Others… maybe not so much.”
“We work hard to keep these horses
gentle and try to prepare them for
everything they might encounter.
Everyone has a different style of riding,” says Brannaman. “Our duty is
to give the horse a good foundation
and have them gentle enough they
will be able to handle new situations. Still, people who buy horses at
this sale need to realize they are getting colts (i.e. young, inexperienced
horses), not older, trained horses.”
TOP OF THE WEST HORSE SALE
College and horses meld skills
for students
C
ollege is all about developing
a new set of skills and striving to be the best you can—
and that’s just regarding the horses.
Welcome to the colt training classes
at Montana State University and
University of Montana-Western.
Both schools will be showcasing and
selling 31 horses donated by more
than a dozen quarter horse breeders
April 11 during the Equine Boosters of MSU Top of the West Horse
Sale at Copper Spring Ranch in
Bozeman. This is a unique event as
money raised from selling donated
horses returns to help with equine
program improvements.
The horse sale was started by Montana Farm Bureau President Bob
Hanson, former chairman of the
boosters, to raise funds for the
equine science program in the MSU
College of Agriculture while fostering public understanding of MSU’s
equine program. UMW has similar
goals for the equine program on
their campus.
The autumn of 2013 was the first
year college freshman Reata Brannaman was selected to teach the coltstarting program at MSU, and in
turn, be instrumental in putting together the sale. Whether it’s the colt
classes or show, she explains safety
is paramount.
“We want to have a good and safe
learning environment for the horses
and the humans,” the student-instructor says. “The students put in
at least 14 hours a week, not only
riding but caring for the animals. It’s
pretty neat to see the horses reflecting the student, as horses do develop to their rider.”
Brannaman indicates the program is
grateful for donors in the past; however, she wanted to change the program to make the horses more in line
with what buyers wanted. “I was particular with what we took, knowing
One aspect of selling horses is putting together the sale catalog that
showcases the animal, highlighting
their best traits. The students are
responsible for writing a paragraph
for the catalog about the horse they
have started, as well as getting the
horse ready for the photographer
for the catalog photo.
Students at MSU can take an equine
marketing class where they learn what
assets make a horse saleable and how
to present a horse’s breeding.
that a quality horse will sell well.
You really do get what you put into
horses. It’s so generous for people to
donate a horse, as that’s a large asset
they are giving to us.”
“The horse flesh we have received
for the class and sale, including the
horses from then UM-W program, is
incredible. It’s a win-win situation as
not only do we get good horses, but
we can showcase the donors breeding
program.” It’s true. Someone might
buy a horse at the Top of the West
Sale, and decide to check out what
other horses a breeder has available.
Sales and marketing is important if
you’re going to be in the horse biz.
Students at MSU can take an equine
marketing class where they learn
what assets make a horse saleable
and how to present a horse’s breeding. Because the colt-training class
does just that—trains horses that
haven’t been worked—honesty is extremely important in the catalogue.
Whether buyers have the winning
bid on an MSU or UM-W colt means
one thing—they are getting horses
with a good foundation that have
been worked regularly by a caring
student. Neither Brannaman nor
Eric Hoffmann, equine studies instructor at UM-W, hear complaints
from the buyers.
“I’ve heard people just love them,”
Brannaman says with a smile. That
is an A-plus indeed.
(For more on the UM-W program, see
the Fall 2014 MFBF Spokesman.)
The colt starting competition between
MSU and UM-Western is April 10
at Copper Spring Ranch west of Bozeman at 9 a.m. Anyone who would like
to watch Friday’s competition are welcome to attend. The Equine Boosters
of MSU Top of the West Horse Sale
takes place Saturday, April 11, 2015,
also at Copper Spring Ranch. There
is a horse preview at 10:00, with the
sale beginning at 1:00. The sale catalog and other details are available on
the Copper Spring Ranch website at
www.copperspringranch.com and the
Headwaters Livestock site at www.
headwaterslivestock.com.
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
27
Ag Chat
FARMLAND MOVIE NOW AVAILABLE
THROUGH WALMART AND MORE
Academy Award -winning filmmaker James Moll’s
feature-length documentary, FARMLAND, is now
available on DVD
at Walmart and
Walmart.com. The
availability of the
documentary at
retail locations
across the country
and online, provides another opportunity for viewers to experience
the film, which
offers a firsthand
glimpse inside the
world of farming
by showcasing
the lives of six
y o u n g f a r m e r s and ranchers in their twenties.
FARMLAND premiered in theaters across the country in spring 2014, and can also be purchased or rented
on hard disk or purchased at Netflix, Amazon, select
retail outlets and via other platforms including iTunes,
Amazon Instant Video, Blockbuster On-Demand, Sony
PlayStation, Vudu.com, Xbox and YouTube.
“I’m thrilled by how wide the distribution has been
for Farmland.” said Moll. “There’s a lot of interest out
there in the lives of young farmers and ranchers. It
is a fascinating topic and I’m glad that there’s such a
demand for the film on DVD and online.”
®
28
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
GET REAL—REAL MONTANA, THAT IS
Are you committed to the future viability of natural resources in Montana? Do you want to become a
more effective leader in your community, industry,
and state?
If these themes resonate with you or someone you
know, an exciting opportunity is available. Applications are now open for Class II of REAL (Resource and
Education Leadership Management) Montana. Up to
20 applicants will be competitively selected to take part
in the two-year program focused on leadership development, natural resource education, professional
skill building, and networking.
Montana Farm Bureau had several members in the
inaugural class and the program has been met with
great enthusiasm. “REAL Montana will teach you
the skills you need to be a productive leader,” noted
MFBF member and Bozeman farmer Bruce Wright.
Cindy Denning, Cascade County Farm Bureau
Secretary. “REAL Montana has increased my
strengths in public speaking, awareness of issues and
the common thread within agriculture and the natural
resources industry.”
Complete information, including program
expectations, Class II dates, and the online application
form, is available at www.realmontana.org. All applications must be received by May 31, 2015.
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call 1-800-323-0620
• Sourcing for hard-to-find items
• FREE technical support
* Other freight charges will be incurred for services such as expedited delivery,
special handling by the carrier, sourcing orders and shipments outside the
continental United States.
**
In-stock orders placed directly with the branch or on Grainger.com by 5:00 p.m.
local time Monday through Friday will ship the same day within the continental
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USE YOUR AGREEMENT TODAY AND SAVE!
Place your order on Grainger.com® or find the number and address of the nearest branch
by clicking on “Find a Branch” at the top right of the home page.
•
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
Spring
2015
© 2013 W.W.
Grainger,
Inc. W-UMFC915
29 AFB
Ag Chat
COUNTY NEWS
If you live in Malta, Dodson, Saco or any other
town in Phillips County, you’ll be happy to know
that the Phillips County Farm Bureau is now in full
swing and is a legal entity. On March 2, more than
35 people showed up at the Great Northern Hotel in
Malta, including Representative Mike Lang who took
time to attend and update members on what was happening in the Montana Legislature. MFBF’s Diana
Bailey joined the meeting, along with former MFBF
board member Jim Bowman from Valley County.
Current MFBF District 7 Director Tom DePuydt helped
to get the Phillips County Farm Bureau established,
along with MFBF Eastern Regional Manager Nicole
Rolf. Elected to the board were Tom DePuydt, president; Mandy Sunfrord, vice president; Terri Robinson,
secretary/treasurer; Joy DePuydt, Women’s Leadership Committee chair; and Wendy White, YF&R Chair.
The Board of Directors includes Bill Rock, Pat Anderson
and Craig French.
Sweet Grass County breakfast, Pictured are: back row l to r:
Brian Engle, Tom Knoll, Ron Boe. Front row l to r: Bonita
Cremer, Jennie Anderson, Angela Green, Ronda Johnston.
Phillips County Farm Bureau had a booth at Phillips
County Ag Day at City Hall in Malta March 20.
Sweet Grass County Farm Bureau celebrated Agriculture Appreciation Week March 16 with a community breakfast in Big Timber. The officers and several
Continued on page 32
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30
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
T:8.75”
T:11”
No matter the season, you can reap this benefit.
To help members out and to show our appreciation, we’re extending a $500 private offer 1 toward the purchase or lease of any new
2014 Chevrolet vehicle. From Equinox to Traverse and more — a new vehicle can be exactly what a growing family needs to thrive.
1 Offer available through 4/1/17. Available on qualified 2014 and 2015 Chevrolet vehicles. This offer is not available with some other
offers. Only customers who have been active members of an eligible Farm Bureau for a minimum of 30 days will be eligible to
receive a certificate. Customers can obtain certificates at www.fbverify.com/gm. Farm Bureau and the FB logo are registered
service marks of the American Farm Bureau Federation and are used herein under license by General Motors.
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C
8/22/14 5:47 PM
Ag Chat
Continued from page 31
COUNTY NEWS, CONTINUED
members of the board of directors prepared and
served breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs
with sausage and bacon provided by Brian Engle
of Pioneer Meats. They provided information about
Accurate Ag Book classroom material available through
American Farm Bureau. They also provided teachers
in the Big Timber Grade School and Sweet Grass County
High School with these books and instructor guides
to further enhance classroom activities. They distributed membership information and discussed with several long-time members the benefits available to them
through Montana Farm Bureau.
Richland County Farm Bureau has received a
Montana Farm Bureau County Grant Program funding have an ag community outreach station at the
Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.
This station will feature a television that streams key
agriculture issues each week, highlight Farm Bureau
programs, feature area producers and Farm Bureau
events, and display photography provided by local
members. The county grant program provides up to
$20,000 in grants for partial funding of worthy county
Farm Bureau programs and activities. Recently the
MFBF County Program Grant has provided funding
to Phillips and Sweet Grass County Farm Bureaus.
For more information contact Scott Kulbeck, 406-5873153, [email protected].
Southwest Counties Farm Bureau sponsored tables for the UM Western Rodeo Banquet March 27 in
Dillon. MFBF President Bob Hanson presented a donation from MFBF to the UM-W Collegiate Young Farmers
and Ranchers .
Have county Farm Bureau news? Please email
Rebecca Colnar at [email protected].
Women’s Leadership Committee
2015
PHOTO
CONTEST
T
he Montana Farm Bureau Federation Women’s
Leadership Committee Photo Contest will be
held during the MFBF Annual Convention.
Photos will be on display and voted on by popular
vote. The winners (first, second, and third prize) will
be announced at the Awards Banquet, Tuesday, November 10. First prize is $75, second prize $50, and
third prize $25. The top three winning photographs
become the property of MFBF to be used for display and
publicity purposes.
The entry deadline is October 30, 2015
The contest theme for 2015 is:
“Traditions and Innovations”
The committee encourages members to enter
photos that capture what the theme means to them. The rules of the contest:
– The entrant must be a current MFBF member.
– Open to amateur photographers only.
– Photos must be taken by entrant.
– B&W or color photos, 3x5 or 5x7 or
panoramic 4x12.
– Name, address and membership number must
be on back.
– No more than three photos per entrant.
– No matting or framing.
Send photos to:
Beth Blevins
PO Box 735, Ronan, MT 59864
[email protected].
A bird’s eye-view of the Ag Day Luncheon featuring
Montana products in the Capitol Rotunda.
32
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
Include SASE for return of photos. For any questions
contact: Beth at (406) 676-2819 or [email protected].
2014 Winners Announced . . .
PHOTO CONTEST
“Faces of Agriculture”
014
2nd Place 2
at
Tamara Cho
14
1st Place 20
Jodi Minor
The entry
5
deadline for the 201 !
30
Contest is October
The theme is
vations
o
n
n
I
d
n
a
s
n
io
it
d
ra
T
Honorable Mention
2014
Tamara Choat
14
3rd Place 20
er
Andrea Kell
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
33
Book Review
Farming Without The Bank
Mary Jo Irmen, has written this interesting book,
Farming Without the Bank. She grew up on a farm and
understands the importance of sound financial management. One of her main mantras: “If you are borrowing money the bank is making money off the interest.”
Irmen goes into great detail of how much money
you lose paying interest. Considering the amount of
money being spent on the high loans of farming, the
amount lost is considerable. Irmen explains how the
Infinite Banking Concept® allows you to “be your own
banker and puts what would have been lost money
back in your pockets as well as giving you back the
control you lose to the bank.”
With this concept, Irmen
follows up with chapters that
cover Conditioned Thinking,
Use and Storage of Money,
Payments and Interest, Cash
Purchases and much more. She
even has a section on planning
death benefits and how planning can help young farmers.
One chapter of the book is dedicated to decreasing the tax load
and developing tax-free assets.
Irmen provides case studies
on financing operating expenses,
having multiple loans, supplementing retirement
and a policy for financial planning
for grandkids.
The information is presented
in a simple, understandable way.
This is the type of book that may
even give people not involved in
agriculture a basic concept—and
ideas—of money management and
preparing for the future. I’m not
sure what bankers will think of it,
and it might be interesting to show
it to your banker and see just what
he thinks.
For more information, to buy
the book or see a video, visit www.
farmingwithoutthebank.com.
MFB Summer Conference
Mark your calendars for another exciting Montana Farm Bureau Summer Conference to be
held this year June 9-11 in Sidney
Montana at the Microtel Inn and
Suites by Wyndham. There will
be committee meetings as well as
workshops and tours centering
around the effect of energy development on agriculture. Look for
more information and registration
in the May News Brief or call the
Montana Farm Bureau Federation,
406-587-3153.
34
Montana Farm Bureau Spokesman
•Spring 2015
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