Viewpoint: Protect Montana farmers, beer from Mexican imports

Jacob Bachmeier

I grew up in the small town of Havre, which sits at one corner of Montana’s Golden Triangle. I have always been struck by the breathtaking beauty of Montana’s working farmland, with wheat and barley fields stretching to the horizon. Serving in the Montana House, including on the Agriculture Committee, gave me an even deeper appreciation for this land, not just as picturesque scenery, but also as a critical economic engine for our state.

Agriculture, after all, is Montana's largest industry and contributes more than $4.4 billion to our economy each year. Cattle and wheat account for about three-fourths of our farm cash receipts, and only Texas has more farmland than we do.

One important customer for Montana crops is the beer industry. Brewing turns grain from an agricultural input into a finished American product, and Montana growers are a big part of the brewing supply chain. Our state is one of the nation’s leading barley producers, with much of that crop grown for malting, and Montana's breweries contributed an estimated $574 million to the state economy last year.

On top of that, spent grain left over from brewing is often hauled back to farms and ranches as cattle feed, creating a sustainable, closed-loop system that supports our farmers all the way around.

That’s why Montana farmers should be paying attention to what is happening in the U.S. beer market. Imported beer has grown from 14 percent of the market in 2013 to nearly a quarter today, and more than 80 percent of those imports arrive here from Mexico. The Mexican breweries responsible for this flood of imported beer pay workers shockingly low wages, averaging about $3,700 a year.

American breweries can’t compete with that, and American workers shouldn’t have to. It is obvious that these trade dynamics make the competition fundamentally unfair. As American brewing loses ground, the demand from American brewers for the grain Montana farmers grow and the spent grain Montana ranchers rely on continues to fall. Across the United States, the USDA is seeing weakening demand for the malted barley used in brewing, and it will only get worse if nothing is done.

America’s beer industry doesn’t need special treatment or handouts, and neither do the Montana farmers and ranchers who support the beer industry. All they need is a fair shot and a level playing field. That’s why I’m calling on our leaders in Washington to impose tariffs on beer imported from Mexico. Through tariffs, we can correct for the structural differences between the American and Mexican economies. The status quo is a race to the bottom. We don’t need to accept the current trends as inevitable. Montana’s farmers are worth protecting from unfair foreign competition, and by imposing a targeted tariff on Mexican beer, we can help do just that.

Jacob Bachmeier is a former member of the Montana House of Representatives from Havre, where he served on the Agriculture Committee. Elected at 18, he is the youngest person ever elected to the Montana House.