Around two dozen people joined Tuesday morning for a meeting of the Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee at the DoubleTree in Billings.
Chair Nick Courville of Charlo leads a review of future meeting dates and membership priorities.
According to USDA data from 2022, the average age of ranchers and farmers in the US is 58 and people under the age of 35 represent only 9 percent of producers.
Courville says Young Farmers and Ranchers is a Montana Farm Bureau group that gives young agricultural members an opportunity to weigh in on policy in the state and country that affects them, like access to land.
“Not only is it a huge capital investment for someone of my age or something going to try to buy a place, but it’s the availability of land that’s even accessible to us, and whether it can even be in agriculture. Whether it be grazing or farming or whatever it is. It’s just, the land is getting tighter and tighter for access for us to be able to have that,” said Courville.
Another big issue producers bring up is the Farm Bill. It expired in September. It funds programs including emergency assistance, which 29-year-old farmer, Klayton Lohr, from Toole County says was sorely needed after summer drought.
“This last year on my farm, I’ve lost more money than I ever have,” said Lohr.
The U.S. Congress usually reviews the Farm Bill every five years and Lohr says renewal would be a relief.
“We’re all kind of hanging out here in the balance, wondering what’s going to happen next,” said Lohr.
Producers are pushing for the current Congress to renew the Farm Bill as soon as possible, before new congress members are sworn in.
