BOZEMAN (AP) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has turned its back on farmers and shown favor to multinational companies, Gov. Brian Schweitzer told a USDA deputy secretary who is a former adviser to President Bush.

"If you want Eastern Montana to go away, you just continue this same strategy," the Democratic governor told Chuck Connor during a news conference.

Connor met with farmers and ranchers Friday in Bozeman to talk about changes in the Farm Bill that is being deliberated by Congress. What was billed as a "listening forum" took place a day after the Senate voted to cut $3 billion from the legislation.

Connor responded to Schweitzer's criticism by pointing out the USDA spends more on agricultural research than does the entire private sector.

The department has awarded a $4.5 million grant for organic agriculture research in the Great Plains, and Montana State University's share of that is $470,000, he said.

Value must be added to U.S. agriculture and "organic agriculture is a key part that many people are using to add value," he said. "That has not historically been the case in the Great Plains."

Schweitzer and Montana's two U.S. senators, Republican Conrad Burns and Democrat Max Baucus, joined Connor at the forum, one in a series of meetings USDA officials have held nationwide to gather public comment about the Farm Bill.

When last renewing the bill, in 2002, Congress authorized $170 billion in funding for farm programs, Connor said.

"Obviously, at the time we passed the last Farm Bill we did not have the budget deficit we have today, and that is obviously a huge factor in terms of Congress," he said. "The debate on this is not over yet."

Burns's vote in support of the $3 billion reduction drew criticism from Montana Democrats. That round of voting is not the last word on the matter, Burns said Friday. The agriculture budget now goes to a committee that will try to resolve differences between House and Senate versions.