Mike Foster is the Director of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
"Montana farmers and ranchers work hard to feed the world, and I’m excited to be a strong voice for these Montanans at the Department of Agriculture."
Prior to joining the department, Mike was the state executive director of the Montana USDA Farm Service Agency, a job he was appointed to in 2018 by the Trump administration.
The Townsend native was a high school teacher and coach, and a legislator in the state House and Senate in the 1990s, where he was majority whip. He was also chief policy adviser to former Republican Gov. Judy Martz.
Before the FSA job, Foster worked as regional director of advocacy for St. Vincent Healthcare.
At the FSA, Foster "helped Montana producers overcome difficult challenges such as drought, wildfires, excessive and ill-timed moisture, terrible blizzards, low prices, trade barriers and a pandemic.”
Foster is a graduate of Western Montana College, where he got a degree in secondary education, and Carroll College, where he received a bachelor's degree in business administration. He went on to earn a master's in public administration from the University of Montana.