Montana Agriculture Development Council Announces Awards – Next Application Deadline is January 31, 2004

The Montana Agriculture Development Council has awarded
more
than $360,000 to nine projects for agricultural development in Montana,
according to council Chair John Franklin.

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

"The Growth Through Agriculture program provides investments to enhance
the
marketing of innovative Montana agricultural products and services,"
says
Ralph Peck, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture and a
member
of the Montana Agriculture Development Council. "The program also helps
Montana entrepreneurs develop new products and agri-business ideas to
enhance our state’s agricultural industry."

At the meeting, investment funds were awarded to:

— Montana Tamale Company – Montana Tamale production expansion project,
Colstrip;

— Peaks & Prairies Oilseed Growers Cooperative – adding value to
Montana
grown oilseed crops, Malta;

— Laid in Montana Emu Products – Expand distribution of emu oil and
other
Laid in Montana emu products, Kalispell;

— Montana Mountain Smoke, Inc. – development of marketing plan and
marketing materials for smoked fish products, Montana City;

— Lolo Peak Winery – consultant services and winery production
expansion,
Missoula;

— Cream of the West, LLC. – product expansion with market enhancement,
Harlowton;

— Montana Farmers Union – feasibility analysis of marketing Montana
agricultural products in Sacramento, California, Great Falls;

— Montana Cooperative Development Center, Inc. – revolving
capitalization
fund for privatization, Helena;

— Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity – feasibility analysis to
assess conditions affecting rail freight competition in Montana and to
analyze possibilities to improve rail freight competition, Helena;

Montana agricultural producers and industry representatives serve on the
Agriculture Development Council.

Members are: John Franklin of Sidney,
chair; Earl Bricker of Moore, vice-chair; Cathy Cottom of Dillon; Robert
Hanson of White Sulphur Springs; Larry Barber of Coffee Creek; Ralph
Peck,
director of the Montana Department of Agriculture; and Mark Simonich,
director of the Montana Department of Commerce.

The next deadline for project applications to the Montana Growth Through
Agriculture program is January 31, 2004. The council will make awards
for
the next round of projects at its meeting in early February.

For more information and application materials, contact Matt McKamey,
Growth
Through Agriculture Program Manager at the Montana Department of
Agriculture, at (406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at [email protected].