Robinson Elected MSGA President

Dodson rancher Lesley Robinson was elected as President of the Montana Stockgrowers at the MSGA Annual Convention and Trade Show held in Billings, MT. on December 4-6th. She is the first female to be elected to this position. Robinson will serve in this capacity for two years.

Robinson is married to Jim Robinson, and they have one daughter, Kirsty Dee Robinson Stewart. Robinsons have owned and operated the Lazy JD Cattle Co., in southern Phillips County since 1985.

Robinson said, "I am honored to be elected President of the Montana Stockgrowers, I look forward working with the leadership we have and I have been a member of the Stockgrowers for over 30 years and have been pretty active and look forward to being president for two years."

As to any plans she has to look toward in this role, she shared, "I look forward to continuing to further advance the work MSGA has done around producer profitability. The producer profitability initiative was launched this past year and as we move into 2025, I am eager to build on this ongoing strategy to find ways to keep agricultural lands in production and work to remove barriers for new ranchers. We had meetings across the state and took input from a thousand different producers and business people, so we are just going to continue on with that initiative and work on the comments and issues that we heard throughout the state."

Robinson stated, "In 2025 some of the tax rules that were passed will sunset so we have been visiting more with elected officials to make sure we can try to continue on with the current tax laws, especially to do with the state taxes."

Her role in the top leadership of the MSGA began when she was elected and served two years as the second vice-president, followed by two years as first vice-president and now her two year term as president has begun.

In addition to her involvement in the family ranching business, Robinson also served as a Phillips County Commissioner for years, from 2005 to 2016.

In 2014, she was elected to serve as president of the Western Interstate Region Board. She also served as vice chair of NACo Public Lands Committee and has testified before Congress and state legislation of various issues including endangered species.

She was selected to run as Lt. Governor when Greg Gianforte ran for Governor in 2016. The bid for election was unsuccessful.

Robinson was appointed in April of 2021 by the Governor to serve on the Fish and Wildlife Commission, while she was second vice-president of the MSGA. She is the chairman of this group. This positon requires travel to Helena, otherwise many of her meetings are conducted through connections, such as zoom.

Asked how she finds time for all her commitments, she laughed gently and said, "I don't know how I find time for all of it, but I am very committed to the issues...I am committed to agriculture and not only that, but a full-time rancher, also."

The Robinsons were taking a break and were in Arizona at the time of the interview, and were navigating home on Monday.

"A long time ago, I asked Jim what my role was on the ranch and he told me that I am our voice, so honestly, that is why I do what I do. We have to have people that speak up for agriculture and it is something I like to do and this is what I have chosen to do - my latest role, I guess, in doing this."

"I just keep trying to make a difference."