20-25-234. Purpose. The purpose of 20-25-233 through 20-25-236 is to promote more research and education on sustainable agricultural practices, such as crop rotations, green manuring, integrated pest management, and maintenance of livestock health and quality with reduced use of growth hormones and antibiotics. Sections 20-25-233 through 20-25-236 are intended to foster economically and ecologically beneficial means of soil improvement, pest management, irrigation, cultivation, harvesting, animal husbandry, transportation, and marketing for Montana agriculture, based on methods designed to accomplish the following:

(1) control pests and diseases of agricultural importance through management practices and alternatives that reduce or eliminate dependence on pesticides and petrochemicals;

(2) improve soil fertility and tilth through the use of practices that reduce dependence on synthetically compounded petrochemical-based fertilizers;

(3) produce, process, and distribute food and fiber in ways that consider the interactions among soil, plants, water, air, animals, tillage, machinery, labor, energy, and transportation to enhance resource efficiency, conservation, and public health; and

(4) provide Montana farmers and ranchers with useful agriculture production and marketing information on alternative and specialty crops and livestock, including ostriches, rheas, and emus.