AERO is a group of entrepreneurs that was founded in 1974 with the goal of helping communities build “place-based, values-driven community food systems and food webs with climate-healthy solutions.”

Two of the group’s founders, Jim Barngrover and David Oien, recently presented on the developments in sustainable agriculture in Montana over the last 40 years, noting the improvements.

“We had identified the need for a diversification of crops and for value-added processing, along with the creation of a Montana Certified Organic program through improvement clubs and conferences we held starting in 1983,” Barngrover recalled. “In 1985, Montana became the fourth state in the nation to have an organic definition bill.”

However, in working to bring sustainable solutions mainstream, Oien noted there were hurdles.

“Federal policy was one of the biggest things we had to address,” he said. “At that time, it was a ‘get big or get out’ policy and the focus was on yields and commodity crops. Farm programs were all focused on production, especially for wheat and barley that could be exported overseas and many of us were penalized for not growing those crops.”

As a farmer interested in growing alternative crops to improve his soil health, Oien recalls going into the bank for funding of certified organic lentils and peas.

“The banker had two questions: ‘What’s organic?’ and ‘What are lentils?’” he said.

Oien noted at that time, Montana State University (MSU) research was not focused on alternative crops or organics, but technological solutions.

“MSU Extension at that time was focused on tech solutions and soil health was a minor issue at best,” he said. “Environmental damage from synthetics and chemicals was not yet on the radar screen.”

However, Oien noted there was one MSU Extension researcher and extension specialist, Dr. Jim Sims, who predicted things would change.

“He said, ‘One day you will drive down roads in Montana and see lentils and chickpeas instead of just barley and wheat,’” Oien recalled.

However, growing the crops was only one step in the process. Markets had not yet been developed for the new supply.

“In the 1980s, there was very little market for alternative crops grown in Montana,” Oien noted. “But that has matured dramatically. Montana is now the number one producer of chickpeas and lentils in the country.”

Other agriculture markets have also seen development, with only a dozen farmers’ markets in Montana in the mid-1990s to more than 70 today, Oien shared.

“If there is a market, farmers will fill it,” Oien said. “The AERO task force is figuring out how to help people farm organically and have a successful development of marketplace links.”

While encouraging the adoption of sustainable farming practices and new markets for crops have been some of AERO’s long-term goals, one concerning item has continued to expand.

Barngrover said AERO is concerned about the consolidation of farm ground to make larger and larger farms.

“In the last 45 years, farms have continued to get bigger,” he noted. “But when a combine costs $1 million or a new farm tractor typically used in dryland ag farming creats more farm exposure and uncertainty, it has made it hard to stem the trend of bigger farms. We had wanted to support farms of a more moderate size, but now more people are leaving farms and there is less opportunity for beginning farmers.”

However, Oien said there is a lot of hope for the future.

“Based on our experience in past decades, we know we need to face challenges with realism but optimism,” he concluded.