HELENA, MT – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced the appointment of Jillien Streit as Director of the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA).
“Jillien Streit comes to this role with a strong background in agriculture and business, ready to advocate for Montana’s number one industry,” Gov. Gianforte said. “I am confident in Jillien’s ability to lead as director of the Montana Department of Agriculture. I thank her for her willingness to serve and look forward to working with her to advance the interest of farmers and ranchers across our state.”
Streit currently serves as the financial controller at Flat Acre Farms in Chester. In 2014, she founded Stricks Ag, a merchandiser of high-quality, high-demand grains.
“I am excited to get to work for farmers and ranchers in Montana,” said Streit. “Agriculture drives our economy and is the backbone of our rural communities. Montana farmers and ranchers produce the greatest agricultural products, not only for our nation, but the world. I’m grateful to Governor Gianforte for the opportunity to serve our state’s agricultural community in this new capacity.”
Streit is a past president of the Hill-Liberty-Blaine County Farm Bureau and previously served as a member of the Montana Pulse Crop Committee. A native of Chester, she and her husband run a 5th generation family farm and have three children.
Montana Farm Bureau Senior Director of Governmental Affairs Director Nicole Rolf told Northern Ag Network that they are thrilled to welcome Jillien as the next Director of the Department of Agriculture.
“She is going to do a great job,” Rolf said. “She’s been an active member of ours for many years and and through that process and getting to know her, we know she’s a hard worker. She’s dedicated and passionate about Montana agriculture. She has a great vision for ways that we can improve agriculture in the state and we look forward to working with her on on all the great programs that this department takes care of.”
Rolf added that its important to have someone with such a deep understanding of production agriculture leading the department.
“As a farmer herself, who’s taken that a step further and done an amazing amount of value-added agriculture with pulse processing and marketing, not only here in the state but internationally, she’s really got the first hand experience and the skills to put to work right away on things that are important to our state.”
“We are thrilled to congratulate Jillien Streit as the Director to Montana Department of Agriculture,” commented Montana Grain Growers Association President Klayton Lohr. “She’s been a member with us for almost 20 years and with her extensive knowledge in farming and ranching, we know that agriculture is in good hands. Most importantly, we know that all issues and progress will be handled the right way without cutting corners.”
Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer applauded the appointment and said, “I have known Jillien for most of her life. You could tell at a very young age that she was going to be a leader. Watching her run and win in grueling long distances races, help Chester to win State in Speech and debate as well as state champion basketball all of this while getting great grades and working as a waitress in our local café. Her experience in international markets and production of a wide variety of crops will suit her well as she takes over the helm at the Department of Agriculture. MFU looks forward to working with her on expanding opportunities for Montana Agriculture.”
