BILLINGS — Though Yellowstone County spans more than 1.6 million acres, and 95% is classified as farmland, much of that reality remains hidden beneath the spread of Billings’ buildings and neighborhoods.
Watch the highlights of ag tour in the video below:
“We’re fortunate to live in Montana, where you go a couple minutes outside of any of the towns, especially a major city like Billings, and all of a sudden you’re immersed in agriculture,” said Alex Schimke, chairman of the Billings Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee.
On Thursday, Schimke helped lead the Chamber’s annual agricultural tour — a sold-out, daylong journey with 65 participants that took attendees beyond the city limits and into the state’s rural heart. The event combined professional networking with something more rare: a firsthand look at the operations that keep Montana fed.
“There’s some folks that know and breathe agriculture, and then there’s some folks that don’t know the nose from the tail of a cow,” said Schimke.
For many on the tour, that gap in knowledge narrowed during a visit to Carbon County Meats (among other local ag contributors), a local processor that has been USDA inspected for the past year and a half — a notable milestone for the operation.
“I know everybody knows there’s a lot of rules when it comes to (USDA meat regulations), but the depth of it is pretty surprising to most people,” said Shane Giovetti, who runs the facility.
Despite the harsh realities of meat processing, Giovetti believes the tour is essential in building trust and awareness.
“The more education we can get out there, the better–and especially on locally produced goods,” said Giovetti.
