The road veered right, went down the hill and turned sharply left. We took Whitefish Stage to Birch Grove, driving through the heart of the valley. Fields and barns were visible on the side of the road to the event.
Driving up to the Fritz Corn Maze, we saw rigs everywhere. As we parked, a farmer stood by his pickup and was training his two cow puppies to wait in the back of his flatbed.
The Montana Farmers Union always puts on a good spread, and we were ready for some good old-fashioned food, fellowship, and community at the event hosted by the Flathead chapter.
There was a line to get in. A line, I thought, something’s up. A hundred people were inside eating and talking. I was surprised. We’ve been co-op members for a long time, but the last meetings I attended had enough people to fit in a farm kitchen in Creston.
Co-ops are businesses run and owned by members. Born over a hundred years ago, the Farmers Union has become a strong advocate for growers and producers. The union focuses on its members and holds firm to its pledge of cooperation, education and legislation.
I was hoping to see Walt Schweitzer, the president of the cooperative, but heard he’s in Washington, D.C., on a member’s fly-in to talk with Congress about keeping farming alive and looking out for rural agriculture in faraway places like Montana.
Farmers are suddenly mired in another trade war that’s spiked the cost of inputs like fertilizer and fuel while long-established markets have become very unstable. This kind of volatility and unpredictability is bad news for growers. $6 diesel put some real hurt on farmers.
It’s no surprise that farm bankruptcies are at historic highs. Corporate farms are doing fine; to them, the consolidation seems reasonable. The small family farms, which make up most of Montana growers and producers, are suffering under economic pressure.
The 661 million pounds of beef trimmings imported from Argentina has dimmed the economic prospects of American ranchers and caused commodity futures to crater, right as small farmers seek to increase herd sizes. Supermarket prices for consumers remain unchanged.
It wasn’t that long ago when the law of the land was to label the origin of the meat Americans ate. Congress repealed mandatory County of Origin meat labeling a decade ago with Rep. Ryan Zinke as the only member of the Montana Congressional Delegation to support repeal. Zinke reportedly changed his mind, but getting our current do-nothing Congress to act and overcome the lobbying power of multinational meatpackers seems like a Herculean task.
Never say never. Maybe next year is better. Farmers Union did get some movement on the right to repair tractors and farm implements that we currently own and purchased outright. Yet we still have to haul to the faraway equipment dealers to decode the onboard computer error codes.
As the longtime owners of the meat processing business on Trap Road in Columbia Falls sought to retire, local ranchers and farmers stepped in and purchased the operation. The Glacier Processing Co-op is now owned by member producers under the cooperative business model.
Local co-op members like Mark Siderius and Chris Fritz remain instrumental in the success of the processing operation. The business hopes to expand and offer ever more locally sourced meat to Flathead consumers.
I bit down on the burger produced by the co-op. It was juicy, tender. Good flavor. The side corn was sweet. And vanilla ice cream, wow. I didn’t get a dog, but they were beef with the casing twisted at the top. Good stuff, I thought to myself as I watched the hundred attendees clean their plates while listening to annual updates from leadership.
There, sitting at the table in front of us, was Ron de Yong, a co-op member and the man who ran the agriculture department in Montana under two governors. He had several things to say about the damage tariffs were doing to producers worldwide. What a mess, I thought. Lucky we got advocates like the Farmers Union.
The Montana Farmers Union is hosting a free concert with Jason DeShaw at the Kalispell fairgrounds on September 22. Doors open at 5 p.m., but see their website for the details. I turned one of his songs on the radio as DeShaw sang, “Get me a truck and it better be a Chevy …”
It feels like fall. The hungry birds and bears seem to agree. And the deer are suddenly everywhere with fawns. The heavy rains have cooled the ground. It’s nice and wet for fall seeding. Time to plan for next year.
The last couple years have been very difficult for farmers. No one I know seems to be much enjoying the ride. And nobody can afford anything. These are those times. Farmers know tough. We lived it. Seen it on the land and family. We’re ready for change.
If you want to be a part of it, become a consumer or producer member of the Montana Farmers Union and enjoy ownership into the future.