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Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns Archive
Contact:
Bethany Shively,
The Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns (CCC) is a weekly report from Washington, D.C., giving an up-to-date summary of top policy initiatives concerning the cattle industry; direct from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Please feel free to reprint in full or in part. If you would like to include NCBA's logo, contact us at 303-694-0305. | |
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NCBA Requests Extension of Feed Ban Implementation Date
On February 3, NCBA joined with 11 other national agriculture organizations in sending a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Frank Torti requesting an extension of the pending implementation date of the final bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) Ruminant Feed Ban rule. Specifically, the letter requests a 60-day extension of the implementation date and an additional 30 days of public comment period in order to give affected industries ample time to provide FDA with current data and evidence of the ban's impact on their operations. The request for a 60-day extension is pursuant to a January 20th memo, issued by the Obama administration, directing Federal agencies to suspend pending regulations for 60 days.
NCBA has opposed the enhanced feed ban rule since the original proposal was published in October 2005 due to its failure to pass a cost/benefit analysis and the lack of statistically valid improvements to animal health and food safety.
The final rule is effective on April 27, 2009, approximately 12 months from date of publication in order to allow the livestock, meat, rendering, and feed industries time to adapt their practices to comply with the new regulation. NCBA is already seeing negative consequences of this rule months before it goes into effect. Beginning as early as December 2008, many renderers discontinued picking up dead livestock because of the severe economic realities of this proposal.
Approximately three billion pounds of ruminant carcasses result annually from typical production mortalities and natural weather variations. NCBA and other organizations are hearing from producers and veterinarians across the country that no longer have legal methods to dispose of dead livestock. This affects all species and communities across the U.S., and exacerbates already existing challenges in the proper disposal of livestock carcasses.
The final rule amends FDA's existing regulations to prohibit the use of certain cattle origin materials in the food or feed of all animals.
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USDA releases 2007 Agriculture Census and Cattle Inventory Report
On February 4, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released results of the 2007 Census of Agriculture. The census is conducted every five years.
The census counted 2,204,792 farms in the United States, a 4 percent increase from 2002. The number of farms nationwide has been on a declining trend since World War II. The latest figure indicates a leveling of this trend, with a net increase of 75,810 farms.
Despite the overall growth in farm numbers nationwide, not all states showed an increase. Eleven states saw declines in the number of farms while 39 states saw their farm numbers increase. Most of the growth in U.S. farm numbers came from small operations, where sales of no specific commodity accounted for more than 50 percent of the total value of production.
Even though the total number of farms increased nationwide, many individual sectors of production - including grains and oilseeds, horticulture, cattle and hog operations - saw a decline in farm numbers.
Other figures of interest include:
- Beef cattle are raised on 764,984 farms in the U.S. This is down from 796,437 in 2002.
- Fifty-seven percent of farmers either work in town (36%) or are retired (21%).
- 900,327 (41%) of these farms have annual receipts of less than $2,500.
- Only 357,159 farms have annual sales greater than $100,000, although this is up from 311,388 in 2002.
- Number of farms with cropland
- over 500 acres: 266,112
- over 1000 acres: 145,032
- over 5000 acres: 16,559
- There are currently 69,890 U.S. dairy farms, down from 91,989 five years ago.
In addition, according to the NASS cattle inventory report released last week, U.S. cattle inventory is down 2% from last year. According to the report, cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2009, totaled 94.5 million head, down from 96.0 million on January 1, 2008. Of the approximately 31.67 million total U.S. beef cows that have calved, here are the top ten states, ranked by number of beef cows and percentage of the U.S. total:
1) Texas = 5,170,000 (16.32%)
2) Oklahoma = 2,038,000 (2.16%)
3) Missouri = 1,992,000 (2.11%)
4) Nebraska = 1,851,000 (1.96%)
5) South Dakota = 1,616,000 (1.71%)
6) Kansas = 1,508,000 (1.60%)
7) Montana = 1,494,000 (1.58%)
8) Kentucky = 1,114,000 (1.18%)
9) Tennessee = 951,000 (1.01%)
10) Florida = 942,000 (1.00%)
*Source: USDA/NASS
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NCBA Participates in Discussions on APHIS Animal Health Programs, Including TuberculosisEarlier this week, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released summary reports from the regional Tuberculosis (TB) Listening Sessions conducted in December. Topics of discussion included: control vs. eradication; education and outreach; funding; imports, particularly from Mexico; indemnity/depopulation; public health; regulations; state status; testing; traceability; and wildlife. More information on the TB Listening Sessions, including the summary reports, can be found at the following link: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bovine_tuberculosis/bovine_tb.shtml
NCBA is pleased that APHIS is seeking producer input. NCBA producer members actively participated in all four of the regional meetings and NCBA's Chief Veterinarian attended the Washington, D.C. regional meeting, submitting written suggestions for the TB program's modernization and improvement. It is important that we have an updated and workable approach to all animal disease programs, including TB and brucellosis.
This was also a main topic of discussion during NCBA's Cattle Health and Wellbeing Committee meetings last week at the cattle industry conference in Phoenix. In addition to tuberculosis and brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area, APHIS is currently reviewing all of their animal health programs and is undertaking an initiative to determine what kind of organization APHIS Veterinary Services needs to become by the year 2015.
NCBA appreciates APHIS' seeking stakeholder input on all of these endeavors and will continue to be proactively engaged.
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Senate Debates Economic Stimulus Bill
The Senate is continuing debate this week on the Economic Stimulus Bill.
NCBA continues to lobby against detrimental provisions up for inclusion in the final legislation, including a proposed dairy buyout and ban on the processing of non-ambulatory cattle.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the process of completing the final rule with regards to the processing of non-ambulatory cattle. We support USDA's efforts to release the final rule and as a regulatory body USDA is the more appropriate government branch to address this important issue.
The Economic Stimulus Package is intended to help revitalize the economy by creating jobs, building infrastructure and to pump money into the economy - not to serve as means for Congress to misuse taxpayer dollars on an issue that is being addressed by USDA.
Cattle producers strongly support the exclusion of any disabled/non-ambulatory cattle from the commercial food supply. However, cattlemen also support their right to keep their investment, when an otherwise healthy animal, for instance, sustains a leg injury and can be custom processed for their own personal use.
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NCBA Members Set Policy Directives at Annual Convention
NCBA members voted on a number of policy directives and recommendations for 2009 during the annual cattle industry convention held last week in Phoenix.
In the area of Cattle Health and Well Being,members engaged in a productive conversation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regarding an updated and workable approach to animal disease programs, particularly bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis. They also discussed the severe exacerbation of disposal issues producers are already experiencing due to the enhanced feed ban, months before it even goes into effect. Members agreed to support research, outreach, and producer education on bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in order to improve control and eradication efforts. Finally, members reaffirmed the industry's commitment to humane care and handling of cattle.
Federal Lands committee members resolved to encourage local, state, and federal agencies to consider livestock grazing as the first solution for fuel load reduction in order to reduce wildfire potential and improve livestock and wildlife habitat.
Agricultural Policy members resolved to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act and any other effort that would take away an employee's right to privacy. Specifically, the resolution expresses opposition to: allowing a Card Check system instead of secret ballot voting to organize a union; forcing collective bargaining upon businesses and their employees; and requiring forced arbitration to determine wages and benefits without ratification vote by employees.
Also under agriculture policy, members voted to amend current policy with respect to the Beef Checkoff Program to allow promotion of U.S. beef and ensure the program remains fair, cost-efficient, and coordinated in order to achieve long range goals.
With regard to international markets policy,members resolved to work toward a solution to Japanese beef trade that would allow for a staged or multi-step approach to increase access for US beef exports to Japan. The current age restriction into Japan is limiting American producers to about 25% of our potential sales in that country, which means U.S. beef producers are still missing out on $1 billion in exports annually. NCBA fully supports science-based standards of trade and will continue to press for full OIE compliance with Japan and all of our trading partners. However, we recognize the necessity in some cases of using a staged or multi-step approach to increase market access. Regaining access to Japan is critical to the economic livelihood of U.S. beef producers and this is an important step in the right direction.
In addition to voting on key policy initiatives, NCBA members elected new officers for 2009. Gary Voogt of Mich. was officially elected to succeed Andy Groseta as NCBA president for the coming year. Steve Foglesong of Ill. was chosen as NCBA president-elect, and Bill Donald of Mont. was elected as NCBA's Vice President.
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Don't miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen!
Don't miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen February 10 through February 15. We'll learn more about current beef demand and we'll celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Certified Angus Beef. We'll also head to Sidney, Nebraska to learn more about the company, Cabela's.
NCBA'S Cattlemen to Cattlemen debuts Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The show also airs Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 12:00 a.m. (All Times are Eastern) Don't forget, you can watch NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen online anytime by visiting www.CattlemenToCattlemen.org
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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN'S BEEF ASSOCIATION
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20004 | |
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