80-11-901. Montana food and agricultural development program — definition. (1) There is a program administered by the agriculture development council provided for in Title 90, chapter 9, to promote Montana food and agricultural development. The program must provide grant funding for Montana food and agricultural development centers that are charged with:

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(a)developing Montana’s capacity to produce food and value-added agricultural products, including farm-derived renewable energy, commodity processing infrastructure, and emerging technologies intended to diversify, add value, or enhance economic growth opportunities for Montana’s agricultural economy; and

(b)providing technical assistance and other services to community-based food, agriculture, technology, and farm-derived renewable energy entrepreneurs.

(2)Technical assistance includes but is not limited to business assistance, product development, marketing, nutritional analysis and labeling, education, assistance with food safety regulation compliance, training to educate business professionals and entrepreneurs on industry dynamics and technology of specific bioproduct industries, and evaluating existing and developing technologies.

(3)Each center must be a nonprofit organization and shall coordinate with other state-funded programs in order to not duplicate state assistance.

(4)As used in this section, “farm-derived renewable energy” means renewable energy produced from products developed by farmers and ranchers, as well as entrepreneurs, using Montana farm and ranch products.