Stand up for Montana ranchers and consumers by supporting MCOOL! Sign your name below.

Senator Daines, Senator Sheehy, Representative Downing:

Cattle producers across our great state are shutting down operations because a handful of multinational corporations are manipulating cattle markets and causing harm to Montana’s ranchers and consumers. Since the repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (MCOOL) in 2015, Montana has lost more than 25 percent of our family ranches — drown out by an endless supply of subpar foreign beef that was presented to consumers with factually untrue origin labels. For a decade, these corporations devastated U.S. ranching communities by mislabeling foreign beef as “product of U.S.A.” simply because it had been packaged and not born, raised, and harvested in the U.S. This fraudulent labeling also put our consumers at risk, and led them to purchase beef and pork of unknown origin.

Thanks to a new rule implemented by the USDA, which took effect Jan. 1, 2026, a few of the loopholes that had previously been exploited by the meat packing industry have now been closed, but this new rule does not go far enough and continues to weaken the integrity of the US food supply by leaving COOL voluntary. It’s time we restore buying power to our consumers.

This issue affects everyone who eats or raises beef.  We ask you to support the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act of 2025 (H.R. 5818) and the recently reintroduced the American Beef Labeling Act (S.421), which already has strong bipartisan support, including Rep. Ryan Zinke, who co-sponsored the bill this fall.

Montanans will not accept a Farm Bill without MCOOL. The future of family ranching and the economic viability of rural communities are at stake. We are trusting you to represent Montana’s ranchers and consumers to restore MCOOL.