researchers, professionals, or scientific personnel to 

 perform its marketing and research function, except 

 under contract. ^ 



The Montana Department of Commerce also conducts an 

 agriculture-related marketing program, which is founded 

 in the Business Assistance Division. This program, 

 though, does not generally serve the needs of most 

 agricultural producers. The program does not 

 concentrate on the development of markets for raw 

 agricultural commodities. Instead, to the extent that 

 marketing assistance is provided in an area related to 

 agriculture, the program is mainly concerned with the 

 promotion and marketing of value-added or processed 

 agricultural goods. ^° 



Thus, what seems to be needed is a broad program of 

 assistance for the marketing of all agricultural 

 commodities and products, especially a program that 

 would provide coordination of all current marketing 

 efforts in agriculture. Establishing such a program 

 within the Montana Department of Agriculture might be 

 both logical and consistent with previous legislative 

 policy. 



The Montana Department of Agriculture is the 

 constitutionally mandated agency responsible for 

 protecting, enhancing, and developing all agriculture in 

 the state. With respect to marketing, the Legislature 

 has already determined that the Department should have a 

 primary marketing role. Existing statutes provide that 

 the Montana Department of Agriculture should coordinate 

 marketing in the state and endeavor to develop new and 

 improved systems of marketing.^' The problem, then, 

 seems to be that the Department simply requires more 



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