Helena—Nearly 60 Montana Farm Bureau members braved sub-zero temperatures to attend the organization’s Calling on the Capitol February 10-11. Calling on the Capitol allows members to see democracy at work by attending hearing and floor sessions, hearing updates from agency directors and enjoying networking time with legislators. This year, the event kicked off with members receiving hot topic updates from the MFBF Legislative Team, including water, property tax and more.

The group heard from the director of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Livestock, and the director of Fish, Wildlife & Parks during Tuesday morning’s informative session. Next, the members headed to the House Gallery to hear from Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, who talked about her role and seeing increased business applications. Jason Mohr, Legislative Services, enlightened attendees on the bill draft process. The group had the opportunity to attend House and Senate Floor Sessions and sit in to hear legislation being discussed in the Agriculture, Taxation, and Natural Resources Committees. The highlight was meeting with Governor Greg Gianforte in his office, where members had the opportunity to discuss tax, water, and wildlife legislation.

Many members invited their legislators to a reception in the beautiful Capitol Rotunda Monday evening, followed by a dinner with legislators in Last Chance Gulch, downtown Helena.

“Montana Farm Bureau’s Calling on the Capitol 2025 event was a spectacular success in spite of three days of sub-zero temperatures,” said MFBF President Cyndi Johnson. “The legislators were impressed with the sheer number of attendees. Montana Farm Bureau had the opportunity to connect with most of Montana’s legislators, visit important government leaders, hear from seasoned lawmakers, and participate in several committee hearings. The experience was a first for many of the attendees and the staff did an amazing job providing logistics and briefing the attendees.”

MFBF District 3 Director Kris Descheemaeker said Calling on the Capitol makes her proud to be a Farm Bureau member. "It's a wonderful way to connect with your legislator. This time, I could say hello to our freshman representative in person.   It was important for him to see me during a hearing.”

The Lewistown rancher added that she enjoyed having Director of Agriculture Jillien Streit, Director of FWP Christy Clark, and Director of Livestock Mike Honeycutt rotate through Tuesday morning's program. "That gave us the whole picture of the departments we work with as farmers and ranchers.”

A group of seven veterinarians, led by Dr. Katie Rein of Crazy Mountain Veterinary Service, attended the entire event. Rein said she's here as a Farm Bureau mentor for the Montana Veterinary Medical Association's "Power of Ten," an organization Rein created for vets practicing less than 10 years.

“I brought these vets here to network and wanted them to see what it’s like to be more involved in the legislative process," said Rein. "After I attended the American Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Fly-In to Washington D.C. last year, I got hooked and realized how influential the Farm Bureau is. The content at Calling on the Capitol has been amazing."

She added that she had never sat in the gallery to listen to a Senate Floor Session, and meeting with Governor Gianforte proved especially memorable.

“Farm Bureau does an amazing job getting their members familiar with the legislature and learning how to testify. It’s so important to tell your story,” Rein said.

An impressive 13 MFBF Young Farmer & Rancher Collegiates from Miles Community College also arrived en masse for Calling on the Capitol. Bree Swanson and Hattie Bumgarner serve as the club's president and vice president, respectively.

“Seeing the entire legislative process step-by-step and sitting in the morning session where we heard from agency directors was very informative,” said Swanson, a sophomore at MCC. “This made me want to encourage other college students to attend an event like this and to become part of the legislative process.”

Bumgarner enjoyed hearing the MFBF lobbyists explain different bills and how MFBF works within their policy framework. "This helped us learn what's happening and understand what certain bills entail. Coming to Calling on the Capitol makes me want to be more involved in Farm Bureau.”