Montana Development Council Announces Growth Through Agriculture Awards- 15 Companies Honored

The Montana Agriculture Development Council has awarded more
than $484,000 of Montana Growth Through Agriculture Program funds to 15 projects
for agricultural development, according to council Chair Cathy Cottom.

Projects approved at a recent council meeting in Great Falls included
agricultural marketing and business development proposals. The Agriculture
Development Council oversees the Growth Through Agriculture program, which is
the source of funding that the council uses to make investments in appropriate
projects.†

"The Montana Growth Through Agriculture Program is a cornerstone program for
agriculturally focused economic development in Montana," says Nancy K. Peterson,
director of the Montana Department of Agriculture and a member of the Montana
Agriculture Development Council. "Without access to this program many of
Montana’s farmers, ranchers and agricultural entrepreneurs would have a
difficult time developing new products and agri-business ideas to enhance our
state’s agricultural industry."

At the meeting investment funds were awarded to:

* Elliotts – developing professional marketing materials for a sales-ready line
of food products, Fort Benton;

* Timeless Seeds – market feasibility of expanding an organic specialty crops
facility, Conrad;

* Brookside Sheep Farm – adding value to Montana wool through further
processing, Dodson;

* Colbry Farms – expanding farm enterprises to include greenhouse produce
production, Chester;

* Great Northern Development Corporation – design and engineering support for
pollution control equipment at a Northeastern Montana oilseed crushing facility,
Culbertson;

* Amazing Grains Cooperative – enhancing consumer awareness within the Celiac
community and marketing gluten-free products derived from Indian ricegrass,
Ronan;

* Bostana Dairy – systems upgrade assistance for dairy manure management and
composting program, Sidney;

* Montana Bio-Industries Cooperative – feasibility analysis of producing
bio-diesel from alternative supplies of refined feedstocks in South Central
Montana, Molt;

* Botanie Hand-made Soaps† – transitioning to LEAN soap manufacturing with a
Montana safflower oil base, Arlee;

* AquilaVision, Inc. – advanced weed management and control through geospatial
technology, Missoula;

* Montana Farm Bureau Federation – marketing Montana beef and agricultural
production practices in the Pacific Rim, Bozeman;

* Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage Program – enhanced marketing for certified
noxious weed seed free forages produced in Montana, Helena;

* Chester Irrigation Project – project coordination and preliminary engineering
design for a large irrigation project in North Central Montana, Chester;

* Montana CattleWomen – consumer education and promotion for utilizing
lesser-valued beef items as a nutritious alternative to prepared foods, numerous
locations throughout the state;

* Grow Montana Partners – researching institutional food buying potential in
Montana, Butte.†††

Montana agricultural producers and industry representatives serve on the
Agriculture Development Council. Council members are: Cathy Cottom of Dillon,
chair; Ervin Schlemmer of Joilet, vice-chair; John Franklin of Sidney; Earl
Bricker of Moore; Robert Hanson of White Sulphur Springs; Nancy K. Peterson,
director of the Montana Department of Agriculture; and Tony Preite, director of
the Montana Department of Commerce.††

The next deadline for project applications to the Montana Growth Through
Agriculture program is July 31, 2005. The council plans to review the next round
of project applications in early September.

For more information and application materials, contact Brent Poppe, bureau
chief of the Agriculture Marketing & Business Development Bureau at the Montana
Department of Agriculture, at (406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at [email protected].