Guest Opinions

What does it mean to be an American? I suspect each of us would answer this question in our own way, depending on our experiences. But there are features of the American identity, certain qualities of what it means to be an American that many of us hold in common.

Montana farmers and ranchers across this state have been waiting far too long for their elected representatives to secure their right to repair their own agricultural equipment. When a combine breaks down in the field during harvest season, a farmer needs to get it up and running as quickly as possible to avoid wasting precious time and losing money. But as the ag equipment industry has consolidated, and as equipment has grown more technologically complex, farmers and independent repair shops are increasingly blocked from making repairs to machines.

The Montana Cattlemen’s Association finds the American Prairie Reserve Bison Change of Use Environmental Assessment disappointing in its inadequacies and not a professional assessment of the issues at hand. The EA glosses over a number of things, does not explain others, and simply does not consider yet more, in recommending that the APR be allowed to raise bison on their BLM allotments.

Any farmer or rancher who is interested in conservation programs through the Natural Resources Conservation Service is required to have a farm number for the application process.