Gene Curry and his family have been a part of Montana for generations. Gene has served the livestock industry in many capacities, from hauling cattle to chairing the Montana Board of Livestock (BOL).
Gene was born and raised in Valier, MT, and graduated from Montana State University in 1971, where he met his wife, Cheryl.Gene grew up in the family grocery business, Curry’s Thriftway Market in Valier, but had more interest in cattle. After college, he returned home to the small livestock enterprise his father had started in the mid ’70s. Gene went into trucking to supplement the livestock business, which enabled him to buy some land in the 1980s for his family in Valier.
Gene joked that Cheryl says he is “semi-retired,” which means when there is not enough to do on the ranch, “He gets into the semi and still hauls cattle.” The family has four children, and Gene’s oldest son, Jeremy, now manages the ranch. His daughter is the third generation of Currys in the grocery business.
Growing up in the grocery business did have its advantages. When there was an issue getting dairy products to smaller communities in Montana, Gene stepped in ready to help.
“I do not like people that just come and bring a problem and just kind of dump in your lap and want to complain about the problem,” Gene told WLJ. “I want them to come up with a possible solution.” While meeting with dairy and grocery groups, Gene came up with a solution of putting the dairy products on an outgoing truck to Utah warehouses and loading it back on the trucks delivering groceries to the smaller communities.
MSGA involvement
Gene is a past president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) and was a board member for several years. He shared the story of when he was asked to serve on the association board and was required to give a nomination speech. On the way to Billings, Cheryl told Gene that he better prepare his speech for the board nominations. That evening, Gene took inspiration from watching a speech by North Carolina State University basketball coach Jimmy Valvano prior to his death from cancer. Gene used that inspiration to give a riveting speech, and has used the inspiration many times since then, resulting in many people commending him for being at ease as a public speaker.
Gene served four years on the MSGA board before moving into the officer chain and eventually became president from 2014-16.He enjoyed working with the members and said he“had the best bosses,” referring to the membership at MSGA. While serving in the position, Gene worked with the Montana Department of Livestock to assist with turning around the agency, which had run into budget issues and disarray during the latter part of Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s (D-MT) administration.
Gene said while serving at MSGA he spoke with the Montana Farm Bureau and other ag groups about ways to fix the budget for the Department of Livestock. Each month the group would meet and present their recommendations to the Board of Livestock. Through collaboration with the other organizations and keeping the issue front of mind, they were able to resolve the issue with the department.
Gene now serves as chairman of the Board of Livestock for Montana and says he gets to work with not only the great people of the association, but every producer in the state.
“I guess it’s my passion to try and improve the industry as much as we can,” Gene said.
Planning for the future
Gene said a new diagnostic lab has finally come to fruition after spending many years on the project. The new lab will be able to test for brucellosis and ensure herds remain free from bison to cattle transmissions, thus ensuring the Montana livestock industry remains disease-free. The state-of-the-art lab will also test for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases to ensure consumers’ confidence in Montana beef.
While at the mid-year meeting for MSGA, Todd Wilkinson, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, touched on disease outbreaks. Gene said it is an interesting situation in the state; depending on the time of year, there are a lot of trucks hauling livestock on the road at any given time, both domestically and from Canada.
Gene said BOL is working to identify areas to house livestock should transporting livestock cease due to a disease outbreak. Gene pointed to an example last winter when Interstate 15 was closed, requiring Canadian cattle to be offloaded temporarily. Due to regulations, a veterinarian needed to be present to break and reseal the seal on the trailer despite the cattle only being at their location for less than a day.
Gene said the BOL is currently looking for the position of state veterinarian. Dr. Marty Zaluski has notified the board of his resignation effective June 30, after serving 16 years in the position. The assistant state veterinarian left a few months prior, but the board has put the search for an assistant on hold while they hire a state veterinarian.
Gene said while at MSGA’s mid-year meeting he continued the discussion for the Montana Beef Enhancement Initiative. Gene said he has worked with MSGA and the Montana Farm Bureau to promote Montana beef through legislation that would allow a state producer referendum vote on a new state checkoff program. Gene said the program would work separately from the national checkoff program, not have as many caveats as the national program, and would be administrated by producers in the state.
“We all know that a dollar in 1985 bought way more than a dollar in 2023, and we’ve fallen so far behind with our advertising budget and promotion,” Gene said. “We need to spend more money educating the consumer, to keep promoting our product and giving them what they want.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
