Senate agriculture panel advances three livestock‑industry board nominations

The Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee on Thursday advanced three appointment resolutions that would reconstitute or add members to boards overseeing Montana’s dairy, livestock and livestock‑loss programs.

Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras, speaking for Gov. Gianforte, asked the committee to confirm nominees to each board. "This board consists of 5 members who serve 4 year terms," she said of the Board of Milk Control, describing the panel’s quasi‑judicial role and membership requirements. The committee heard brief testimony from nominees and multiple industry groups before taking voice votes to advance the measures.

Why it matters: The boards shape how Montana sets milk prices, manages livestock health and responds to predator losses — issues senators said touch both producers’ livelihoods and rural economies. Committee members asked nominees about workforce challenges at small processors, the state’s processing capacity, federal marketing orders for dairy and the adequacy of the Livestock Loss program’s budget.

Nominees and testimony: Brian Bierman of Fairfield, a dairy and malt‑barley producer, said he has decades of dairy experience and told senators he wants to help keep milk fresh and Montana dairy viable. "I am the real beer man," Bierman said in introducing himself and described both dairying and continuing ranch operations.

For the Board of Livestock, Jake Feddes described growing up on a Red Angus ranch and owning a small state‑inspected processing plant, Feddes Family Meats, which he said employs 17 people and processes regional livestock for retail and wholesale markets. A second nominee appeared online and described his ranch and sheep‑industry background.

On the Livestock Loss Board, nomineees Doreen Gillespie and Joseph Kipp described their experience with predator losses and program administration; Kipp noted the program’s importance for tribal and reservation communities affected by bears, mountain lions and wolves and urged continued support.

Budget and program questions: Committee members pressed agency staff about processing capacity and the loss program’s finances. Mike Honeycutt, executive officer for the Department of Livestock, and Brian Simonson, deputy executive officer, said Montana has a small number of major fluid‑milk processors (including plants under Dairy Farmers of America) plus a handful of smaller processors and co‑packing arrangements, and that Montana lacks more extensive value‑added processing such as large‑scale cheese or butter manufacturing. On the livestock loss program, Simonson said the program is appropriated $450,000 annually and that the state has spent roughly $250,000 of that in recent years, leaving reserves to absorb moderate near‑term increases if black bears are added to covered species.

Votes at a glance: All three resolutions were advanced by voice vote in committee. • SR 88 (Board of Milk Control nominees): advanced by voice vote; proxies recorded (e.g., Senator Bowman and Senator Lance recorded aye by proxy). • SR 90 (Board of Livestock nominees): advanced by voice vote; proxies recorded. • SR 103 (Livestock Loss Board nominees): advanced by voice vote; committee recorded proxies and closed executive action.

What’s next: Advancing from committee moves each resolution toward final floor consideration or whatever next step the Senate calendar requires. Committee members offered congratulations to nominees and adjourned without further substantive action.

Reporting note: Article is based on a committee hearing record in which several nominees appeared in person and others joined online; where the transcript contained variant name spellings for a nominee, the article uses names and roles as they were introduced on the record and cites direct quotes only where attributable in the transcript.