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According to the Montana Food Bank Network and its national partner, Feeding America, as many as 165,000 Montanans may face hunger this year, an increase of 56,000 due to the pandemic.  To address this growing challenge, a 5th generation Montana rancher, Matt Pierson, decided to do something about it.

“While rounding up cows with my hired hands this spring, one of our guys made a comment that hit a nerve,” Pierson, owner of Highland Livestock, said.  “Trevor said, ‘look at all this hamburger walking around.’  We had been wanting to do something to help our community deal with the virus, and the solution became so obvious to me after that.”

The idea was tested in Park County over the past four months.  After a few calls on a Tuesday in May, Pierson and several of his neighbors had committed the first six donated animals.  Pierson then phoned Brian Engle at Pioneer Meats in Big Timber for help and to share the idea.

All Engle said was, “I have you set on the schedule for three cows on Thursday.”  The next call was to Matt Feldtman of Matt’s Meats in Livingston and the response was the same.

One key ingredient was missing…money to pay for the processing. That Wednesday morning Pierson connected with Gavin Clark, Executive Director of the Park County Community Foundation.  Clark helped him apply for a COVID-19 Resilience Fund grant.  $3,500 was awarded and the Producer Partnership was born.  By week’s end, Pierson had raised $12,000 – thanks to a private donor ($6,000), and a handful of other smaller donations.

By the following Monday, only six days later, the first 700 pounds of hamburger was delivered to the
.  Two months later, and Pierson, with the help of ten of his neighbors and friends, had donated more than 12,000 pounds of ground beef to qualified organizations.

“This project highlights the strength of our community and our ability to rally around each other in times of need,” Clark said. “From the ag community, local businesses, and donors, the amount of support for this program across Park County has been amazing,”

The Producer Partnership is now expanding its charitable efforts across the entire state of Montana.  With help and guidance from several individual donors, a startup grant from the Kendeda Fund, a corporate sponsorship from Big Sky Brewing, and a recent $25,000 Business Innovation Grant award from the State of Montana’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, the Producer Partnership has become an official organization with a governing Board, a web and a powerful mission: farmers and ranchers working to end hunger in Montana.

The Producer Partnership simply connects the dots by soliciting donated cull animals from producers (farmers and ranchers); paying for the processing of the animal, and donating one-pound packages of hamburger to qualified food banks, veterans programs, and community centers across the state.  These non-profit partners then distribute the burger through established networks once it is ready for delivery.

“While looking to the future is tempting, we need to go day-by-day and focus our efforts locally to be sure we meet the needs of Montanans with food insecurity,” Pierson said.

A case in point is a call Pierson had with Linda Gray at the Gardiner Community Center.

“How much meat do you have in the freezer?” Pierson asked.

Gray said two frozen turkeys.

“How many families do you feed?” Pierson proceeded.

Gray answered with “40 to 50 each week.”

“When do they pick up food?,” Pierson asked.

“Tomorrow, at 1:00 p.m.,” Gray replied.

“I’ll be there with 500 pounds of hamburger by noon. You can give each family two pounds of beef each and have some left over for next week,” Pierson assured her.

As a result of this burger donation, Gray was able to afford to buy milk for the center.

This is the Producer Partnership in action now and tomorrow.  For more information and to make a donation, please visit www.producerpartnership.com.

What the Partnership Needs Today:

• 400 cull animals suitable for processing into hamburger from Montana ranchers and farmers…the goal is to provide 140,000 pounds of meat to local food centers/banks by the end of 2020.

• Licensed Federal, State, and Custom Meat Processors – Producer Partnership will pay the processing fees.

• Volunteers to coordinate the pickup and delivery of cull animals to processors.

• Charitable donations to cover processing costs.

When you look at the potential of this program to fill a vital need, especially during these challenging times, Pierson’s idea goes well beyond the short term. In the state of Montana, there are around 1 million people and close to 3 million cattle. It’s estimated that producers in Montana will cull around 8% (or 200,000 plus statewide) from their herds and sell them at auction, typically at low prices; then they are shipped out of state for processing.  If just 1,000 cull animals (.5%) are donated to the Partnership and processed locally, more than 375,000 pounds of hamburger can be distributed to Montanans with food insecurity annually.