The Montana Department of Agriculture briefed the Senate Agriculture Committee on the department’s priorities, including oversight of hemp grain and fiber, updated pesticide rules and continued support for international market access.

“For the record, my name is Ian Foley… I'm the Ag Sciences Division Administrator at the Department of Agriculture,” Foley told the committee. He said the department’s 3 divisions are central services, an ag development division focused on marketing and grants, and the Ag Sciences division that handles regulatory work such as pesticide applicator certification and organic certification.

Foley highlighted three items from the past year: the department’s first AmeriCorps 'Ag Core' cohort of approximately a dozen recent college graduates who worked on invasive species, farm-to-table and soil-health projects; completion of a long-running pesticide rule update process that began in 2017; and the status of Montana’s hemp industry. "We currently have just shy of 20 growers, 10,000 acres," Foley said, noting Montana’s production is focused on grain and fiber rather than cannabinoid products. He said the agency uses its Bozeman laboratory — permitted to handle regulatory samples — to test hemp samples for THC and to support enforcement sampling with other state agencies.

Foley also described the agency’s lab infrastructure investments at Montana State University and the department’s grant and international marketing work. He said the department will be informational on cannabis/hemp bills that arise this session and that the department will seek only necessary statutory updates such as repeal of interim advisory committees no longer needed.

The department staff asked committee members if they wanted briefings on hemp regulation and testing and on grizzly bear–livestock conflict and predator compensation; several senators requested deeper briefings on hemp testing and on wildlife conflict and mental-health resources for producers.

Foley’s overview framed the department’s role as both market development and regulatory oversight ahead of bills that may be introduced in the legislative session.