Foundation

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.

How does the MFB Foundation carry out its mission? 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. Encouraging Research: Recent improvements in technology have made agriculture both more efficient and more productive. In order to ensure and continue this current progression and to give Montana’s producers the most up-do-date information, we work closely with similarly-interested groups such as the College of Agriculture at MSU-Bozeman. 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.

With continued support, the MFB Foundation is able to offer yearly programs in an effort to promote youth education in agriculture, including: the annual Youth Speech Contest in November, Mini Grants throughout the year, the Bernard Greufe Honorary Scholarship, the Young Farmer and Rancher (YF&R) Scholarship to the American Farm Bureau Federation national YF&R leadership conference in February. Many other programs and funding opportunities support groups such as Agriculture in Montana Schools, Montana 4-H, Montana FFA and the Montana State University College of Agriculture.

MFBFo is a qualified charity under IRS tax code 501 (c) (3) making all donations tax deductible for our supporters.

Download our Foundation Gift Information Form

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Available at your local treasurer’s office.

NEWS

Young farmers, ranchers learn new views on agriculture at national YF&R Conference

The Foundation awarded $1500 in scholarships to Ben Johnson, Dawnita Deichmann, Gilmen Gasper, and Lane Nordlund to attend AFBF’s YF&R Leadership Conference in Grand Rapids, MI this past February.

Tours of an ethanol plant, a Collegiate Discussion Meet and new farming ideas were all on the agenda at the American Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Leadership Conference February 18-20 in Grand Rapids, MI. The conference, titled “Your Voice, Our Future,” covered an array of topics and issues pertinent to young people in agriculture.
One of the highlights was the Montana Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Committee receiving $500 for “Most Innovative” for their “Hoofin’ It For Hunger 5K Run” prior to the 2011 MFBF Annual Convention in Missoula. The event raised $5000 for the Montana Food Bank Network. Because the MFBF YF&R won the award, an additional $500 will be donated to the MFBF.

Peter Taylor, chair of the MFBF YF&R Committee, said it was a great feeling for Montana’s YF&R Committee to be recognized on the national level for Hoofin’ It For Hunger. “When you see all the power Farm Bureau has, and know you’ve been recognized by your peers and national membership, it’s impressive,” the Kirby rancher says. “It was inspiring to see what the other winning YF&R committees had done to receive awards for their worthy work with Harvest For All.”

Taylor was one of 13 young people from Montana to attend the event; three staff, eight MSU Collegiate Farm Bureau members and two members of the MFBF Young Farmer and Rancher Committee. One reality that stood out was that Montana Farm Bureau is so progressive. “We’re fortunate to have a state where our young farmers can easily advance in Farm Bureau leadership. They have a good chance in getting elected to their county Farm Bureau board or even the state board. In other states, it’s not so open to young people,” he noted.

Taylor praised a workshop by Kim Essex of the U.S. Farmer and Rancher Alliance. “Her message was to talk with consumer, not to consumers,” he noted. “She talked about what’s called the ‘Conversation Conversion’ and explained that farmers and ranchers need to acknowledge consumer concerns and get a dialogue going about food.”

Monday’s tours provided a wealth of choices. Taylor’s tour included a visit to a fabrication place that make yachts and wind turbines; another stop was a winery and the third was an agricultural trucking service with several agricultural project divisions that include a soybean processing plant and a soybean oil refinery.

MSU Collegiate President Fred Granger had praise for the trip. “I enjoyed one workshop that discussed how new producers or young producers could try new methods of farming,” Granger said. “In Montana, we don’t hear much about organic, but it was interesting to hear some different views on ways to learn from organic corn farmers.”

Granger’s tour included a visit to a General Motors assembly plant (General Motors is a sponsor of the national YF&R Awards program.) and a tour of Carbon Green Bioenergy Ethanol plant. “On the GM tour it was fascinating to see how much was automated. Their assembly building was huge,” Granger said. He said the other interesting stop on the tour was a visit to Heffron Farms Market, a family farm that has ventured into the meat retail business.

“Living in Montana, we get accustomed to beef cattle and crops like wheat, barley and sugar beets, but a conference like this lets you meet a lot of good people and hear about different operations,” Granger, who hails from Highwood, said.

As a winner of MSU’s Collegiate Meet, Karli Clark had the opportunity to participate in the Collegiate Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet. She had high praise for the competition. “It provided an interesting opportunity to hear a wide perspective on national issues,” Clark said. “The two subjects we discussed were what role agriculture should play in health and obesity, and how animal agriculture can show consumers how to balance efficient production and safety.”

The ag business student said one of the breakout sessions emphasized talking to kids in the classroom, and gave her insight into educating students on her college campus—an idea she plans to take back with her to MSU. “College really does provide a real means to spread the word about agriculture,” she said.

Clark’s tour covered denDulk Dairy Farm, an apple processing plant and a greenhouse. “The dairy farm milks 3,000 Jersey cows, so that was amazing and quite foreign to me. At the apple processing facility, we learned how apples are scanned to ensure the outside color hasn’t bled through to the inside. Consumers don’t like that. The amazing Countryside Greenhouse grows 125,000 hanging baskets in a season, which provided another outstanding and different view of agricultural enterprises.”

“Whether I was sitting with different young ag producers at lunch or talking to someone on the bus, this conference provided many opportunities to learn more about diverse agriculture across the country,” Clark concluded.

Summer Conference Events & Vermeer R2300 Twin Rake Fundraising Raffle

The MFB Foundation’s annual social, dinner and auction will be taking place on Wednesday night not Thursday night as in the past, allowing for more people to join. Thursday’s golf tournament will be at Fairmont Resort and tours include: the state prison’s agriculture operations, old prison and car museum, and the Deer Lodge High School and FFA School Farm. All sure to be very interesting.

The MFB Foundation, in cooperation with Vermeer Corporation is raffling off the use of a
Vermeer R2300 Twin Rake for one season to raise funds for Montana agriculture.
We are asking for your help. The raffle will be held at Montana Farm Bureau Foundation’s
annual fundraising dinner June 13th in Fairmont. The tickets are $5 each or five for $20
and are on sale now. If you would like tickets please contact Scott Kulbeck at
(406) 587-3153 or scottk@mfbf.org.

For more information on ways you can “Invest in the Future of Agriculture” by supporting the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, please call the state office at 1-800-823-2676 or email Scott Kulbeck at scottk@mfbf.org.