Shepherd, Montana rancher Steve Charter has a message for Montana and America…”independent agriculture is in crisis, with corporate monopolies threatening to drown family operations like a massive flood fueled by boardroom greed, legalized corruption, and legislative inaction. The COVID pandemic has only heightened these problems, further disrupting markets, supply chains, and food safety. Not only are the livelihoods of family operations under threat, the coronavirus has demonstrated the dire vulnerability of our nation’s food security as a whole. As with any crisis, however, we can seize this opportunity to make meaningful change.”

Food supply, food distribution, and food security are issues in America, made worse by the COVID pandemic. Montana and US agriculture are threatened and jeopardized on many fronts, and one of them is meat-packing monopolies. Charter has some ideas to address that, and explains why it is vitally important we do that.