Influencing Federal Agencies for Montana

Youth Labor - Sen. Tester pressed the Department of Labor to drop proposed rules restricting the work that youth may perform on farms, ultimately introducing legislation that would stop the rules from taking effect. Shortly afterward, the Department dropped the proposal.

EPA Farm Dust - Sen. Tester wrote to the EPA, successfully urging them not to increase regulation of agricultural dust.

CDLs for Farm Vehicles - Sen. Tester successfully pressed the Department of Transportation not to implement any new rules requiring farmers to obtain long-haul trucking licenses for operating farm vehicles on their local roads.

Meat Safety and Accountability Act - Sen. Tester introduced the Meat Safety and Accountability Act, requiring USDA to hold big meatpacking plants responsible for tainted meat, rather than the small butchers and processors who purchase it from them. The agency is now in the process of implementing traceback of contaminated meat to the source.

Funding for disaster assistance in 2011 flooding - Senator Tester fought for disaster declaration, and additional USDA funding for irrigation system repair and riverbank stabilization after the 2011 flooding.

Fighting for Farmers in the United States Senate

Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act - Sen. Tester introduced the BFROA to institute a broad spectrum of policies to help build local and regional food systems. Several of these policies were incorporated into the Farm Bill, including a crop insurance policy for small, diversified farms like those that often sell to farmers markets, and the creation of a local marketing promotion program.

Food Safety - Sen. Tester included an amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act to ensure that small, local farmers and food manufacturers continue to be regulated at the state and local level.

Sugar Program - Sen. Tester fought to defeat proposed amendments to the 2012 Farm Bill that would have dismantled assistance for Montana sugar producers.

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act - Sen. Tester introduced the BFROA to institute a broad spectrum of policies to help producers starting out in agriculture. Several of these policies were incorporated into the Farm Bill, including funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, and the creation of a Military Veterans' Agriculture Liaison.

ATTRA - Sen. Tester fought to restore funding for the Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) program after it was stripped out in a continuing resolution. The program provides critical technical assistance to family-scale producers, and is operated through a cooperative agreement with National Center for Appropriate Technology based in Butte, MT.

MF Global -Sen. Tester continues to fight to hold Wall Street accountable for MF Global's bankruptcy, and the resulting loss of money belonging to Montana farmers and ranchers. Sen. Tester successfully pushed to deny bonuses to former MF Global executives, and questioned JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on that firms involvement with the crisis.

Camelina Crop Insurance- Sen. Tester included a pilot crop insurance policy for camelina in the 2007 Farm Bill, which has now been implemented in most Montana counties.

High Fructose Corn Syrup - Sen. Tester successfully fought a proposal to rename high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar" on food labels.

Open Fields - Sen. Tester successfully introduced a bill authorizing assistance to producers who wish to make their land available to sportsmen, and fought to restore funding after it had been eliminated.

Value Added assistance - Sen. Tester introduced a bill to aid farmers who wish to transition to organic agriculture, and fought to keep funding available through the Organic Certification Cost-Share Program.

Biobased Manufacturing Bill - Sen. Tester introduced the "Grow It Here, Make It Here Biobased Manufacting Bill" to promote the renewable chemicals industry, which produces chemicals domestically from agricultural products. The majority of the bill was incorporated into the 2012 Farm Bill.

Renewable Fuels Standard - After voting for the Renewable Fuels Standard, Sen. Tester has consistently fought to ensure that government assistance is focused on fuels from emerging crops like camelina, and not the already mature markets for corn ethanol.

Fighting for Ranchers in the United States Senate

Wolf Kill Bill - Sen. Tester introduced and passed legislation to compensate ranchers for wolf-killed livestock, and to fund measures to prevent predation.

Wolves - Sen. Tester successfully fought to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species list and return it to state management.

Ban on Packer Ownership of Livestock - Sen. Tester co-sponsored an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill that would prohibit large meatpacking corporations from directly owning or controlling livestock. The amendment was intended to address pervasive market manipulation by meat companies who have used their own "captive supplies" of livestock to distort market prices, and pressure family ranchers.

Captive Supply Reform Act (2007) and Livestock Marketing Fairness Act(2011) - Sen. Tester sponsored legislation to require that when a large meatpacking corporation contracts with a rancher to buy livestock, the agreed upon price of the livestock must be able to be determined when the contract is signed. This is intended to address market manipulation by meat companies

Predator mitigation - Sen. Tester has consistently fought to maintain funding for USDA Wildlife Services, so that problem predators that habitually target livestock can be effectively removed.

Beef Checkoff Modernization Act - Sen. Tester sponsored legislation that would allow ranchers a vote on whether to continue the beef checkoff, and would allow checkoff funds to be used specifically to promote American beef. The provision of the legislation allowing new rancher organizations to compete to manage checkoff funds has since been implemented by USDA.

Country of Origin Labeling -Sen. Tester sponsored a measure in the 2007 Farm Bill to require grocery to label meat with the country of origin, so consumers can support domestic producers if they choose. He also successfully pushed the USTR to appeal the WTO ruling against the provision.

Animal ID - Sen. Tester fought to cancel the expensive and ineffective Animal ID program, which would have required ranchers to buy expensive radio tags to track each animal.

Livestock Forage Disaster Program - Sen. Tester sponsored an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill to ensure that when the Livestock Forage Disaster Program fails to trigger due to inaccuracies in the Drought Monitor, ranchers have an alternate metric to receive payments.

State Inspected Meat - Sen. Tester sponsored legislation that was included in the 2007 Farm Bill to allow interstate shipment of meat cleared by state inspectors, so that small meat producers can access markets.

FSA Offices - Sen. Tester successfully prevented the closure of seven FSA offices in Montana by introducing legislation to block the USDA initiative.

NBAF - Sen. Tester fought to keep Foot and Mouth disease research off the US mainland, and out of cattle country by restricting funds for the construction of the National Bio-Agro Defense facility until the National Academy of Sciences fully studied the risks. That study led to a reconsideration of the project which is ongoing.

Bringing Producers Together

Small Business Opportunity Workshops - Sen. Tester has held two Small Business Opportunity Workshops for Agriculture, which brought together hundreds of Montanans, representatives of industry, federal agencies, and universities to discuss the future of agriculture in Montana, and connect with each other.

Farm Bill Roundtables - Sen. Tester held roundtables across Montana to hear from producers about their priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill.

USDA Sec. Vilsack Tour of Montana - Sen. Tester brought the Secretary of Agriculture to Montana to meet producers, nutrition professionals and state officials, and to see Montana's largest industry first-hand.

FSA Administrator Nelson 2011 flood damage - In the aftermath of the historic 2011 flooding, Sen. Tester brought FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson to Montana to see the damage, and provide needed help to struggling farmers and ranchers.