Some Montana ranchers will likely go out of business due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Livestock told state legislators last week.
Montana cattle producers are facing enormous uncertainty after restaurant closures and COVID-19 outbreaks at meat processing plants across the country caused severe disruptions in the meat supply chain and reduced demand for cattle. Cattle prices have dropped about 30% since January.
“Potentially, we will see some attrition in the number of producers, as some producers may not be able to make it through the term” said Mike Honeycutt, executive officer of the Montana Department of Livestock, during an interim Economic Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday, April 30.
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Gov. Steve Bullock today announced a first round of COVID-19 relief programs funded by Montana’s $1.25 billion in coronavirus aid from the federal government. Between them, the nine first-round programs will provide grant opportunities to small businesses, nonprofits, social service agencies and individual Montanans who need help with housing costs.
At this point, $123 million is allocated to the first-round programs, though Bullock said the state plans to assess demand and replenish them accordingly.
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On Friday, a federal judge vacated 287 oil and gas leases in Montana, ruling that the Bureau of Land Management’s 2017 and 2018 sales did not properly assess the leases’ threat to groundwater and impacts on climate change. The leases, on public land totaling 150,000 acres, were statewide, from the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument area to the Beartooth Mountains to eastern Montana.
“Well, it does help me breathe a lot,” Bonnie Martinell, a farmer near Bridger, said of the decision. “I’m not going to have to wonder when they will decide to decimate this area.”
The BLM said it disagrees with the decision.
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