Family farm keeps senator very grounded

BIG SANDY, Mont. – Even for a Montana grain farmer, the ripped and greasy clothes worn by Jon Tester on a typical weekend back home are a bit ragged. For a U.S. senator, they are downright grubby.

Tester is a bit of an anomaly in what has been dubbed the nation’s “most exclusive club,” and it’s not likely he would have received an invitation to join on sartorial considerations alone.

Montana voters sent him to the Senate in 2006, but he flies home almost every weekend to plow his fields, fix his farm machinery and tend to his relatively modest 1,800-acre farm in the rolling hills of wheat country north of Great Falls.

The place has been in the family since 1916. The farm’s dogs keep an eye on Tester as he goes about his chores.

The traditional August recess – set up at a time when many in Congress were farmers – is now used by many for vacation, campaigning and constituent work. Tester, who usually has dirt under his fingernails, rushes back to the farm between meetings around the state.

Before joining the Senate, Tester, a Democrat and former state legislator, said he averaged less than $30,000 a year in farm income, which he supplemented by teaching music at the local school or butchering meat – a side business that cost him three fingers on his right hand to a meat grinder. On a recent Friday morning, he woke after a late flight home to change the wheel bearing on his tractor. Rain ruined plans to prep the fields for winter wheat.

That gave him more time to have a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches – prepared by his wife, Sharla – and generic soda pop with a reporter. He made it clear he would quickly give up the Senate seat before he gave up his farm.

“It’s part of who we are, and it helps keep me sane,” Tester said.

Tester is comfortable talking about politics, but his mood visibly brightens when talk turns to farm machinery, old cars or construction projects.

Tester faces re-election in two years. Part of the Democratic tide that reclaimed the chamber in 2006 – in part due to his razor-thin win over Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns – Tester will likely face a different political environment in 2012.

President Barack Obama likely will be on the ballot, and in conservative Montana there has been a lot of backlash to health care reform and government spending.

“Two years is a long, long, long time in politics,” Tester said of his prospects. “I’m going to continue to get back to Montana every weekend to talk about issues that are important and call my own shots like I’ve done. I’m going to work like crazy to do the best job I can, as I have the last four years.”

Tester has split from the Obama administration on some issues, sticking with his populist roots in votes against corporate bailouts. And he continues to be vocal on gun rights issues.

He’s also trying to mandate more logging out of the Forest Service, a notion that got a cool initial response from the administration. It would also create a wilderness area, and is the result of a compromise hatched by environmentalist and logging groups.

“I’m doing it because people sat down and really collaborated,” Tester said. “It’s about trying to do something good. There could be a lot of jobs created.”

The compromise could be a re-election boon for Tester, if he gets it through the Senate next year.