The Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) is gearing up for this year’s Mid-Year Meeting to be held June 7-8 in Missoula, Mont. at the Hilton Garden Inn. Mid-Year is one of the two major meetings MSGA holds annually. MSGA members will gather to discuss the issues facing Montana ranching families and set interim policy to guide the association through the rest of the year. The highlight of Mid-Year will be the Ranch Tour on Friday afternoon, June 7. Also, eligible attendees of the meeting will have a special opportunity to double their chances to win the Ford F-250 to be given away by MSGA and the Montana Ford Stores at MSGA’s Annual Convention, Dec. 12-14 in Billings.
The Mid-Year Ranch Tour will feature five stops in Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley. The first stop will be at the Missoula Smokejumper Base with lunch provided by the Blackfoot Valley CattleWomen. Attendees will have an opportunity to tour the facility and meet some of the smokejumpers. The second stop will be at the Program in Ecological Agriculture and Society (PEAS) Farm, a hub of Garden City Harvest’s programs, and at 10 acres, the largest neighborhood farm in Missoula. Next, the tour will travel south of Missoula to the Bitterroot Valley and Sutherlin Farms, a family-run, diversified operation that has a registered Red Angus cattle herd, a commercial cattle herd, and a bull development feedlot. Next stop will be at the Mytty Angus Ranch, which has been in operation since 1998 in Florence, Mont. Mytty Angus strives to focus on fertility first and then to zero in on structural soundness and phonotypical cattle that will consistently deliver calves with powerful weaning weights and yearling weights. From the Mytty Angus Ranch, the tour will travel to the Lolo Peak Arena for the final stop and a tri-tip steak dinner by Sutherlin Farms, music and entertainment by Take Two Productions, and the famous Stick Horse Race fundraiser for MSGA’s research, Education and Endowment Foundation.
Other highlights of the meeting include Friday’s Opening General Session with keynote speaker Monica J. Lindeen, Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. The Young Stockgrowers will host their Advocating for Ag Lunch on Saturday, June 8 featuring keynote speaker Captain Peter Shinn of the Air National Guard who will talk about accompanying a group of soldiers into the heart of the most dangerous territory in Afghanistan in order to help Afghan farmers improve their profitability and feed their people.
Attendees of this year’s Mid-Year meeting who register for the full two-day Mid-Year package, and are a Rancher, Feeder/Stocker or Young Stockgrower member of MSGA, can double their chances to win the Ford F-250 that MSGA and the Montana Ford Stores will give away to one lucky member at the Annual Convention. The winner will be selected from those who attend Annual Convention, and are present at the Grand Finale Banquet.
For more information about MSGA’s 2013 Mid-Year Meeting, contact MSGA’s office at 406-442-3420. Registration packets are available online at http://www.mtbeef.org. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn, 406-532-5300.
The Montana Stockgrowers Association, a non-profit organization representing nearly 2,500 members, strives to serve, protect and advance the economic, political, environmental and cultural interests of cattle producers, the largest sector of Montana’s number one industry, agriculture.
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