Contact: Bethany Shively, 202-347-0228, or bshively@beef.org.   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.	IN THIS ISSUE NCBA Expresses Support for Bill to Amend Clean Air Act with Respect to Agriculture Emissions Senators Urge FDA to Delay Implementation of Enhanced Feed Ban Rule NCBA Urges Congress to Protect Private Voting Rights Comments Requested on Proposed Rule for Animal Identification Numbering Systems Drought Posing Challenges to Producers Across the Country Survey Shows Consumer Confidence in Beef Safety Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen!
NCBA Expresses Support for Bill to Amend Clean Air Act with Respect to Agriculture Emissions   NCBA sent a letter to Senators Thune and Schumer today expressing support for their bill to amend the Clean Air Act with respect to certain emissions from agricultural production. The bipartisan bill, S. 527, would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring livestock operations to get Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V permits for greenhouse gas emissions caused by biological processes at those operations.    The CAA is fundamentally ill-suited for regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs), and it was never the intent of Congress for the Act to be used for this purpose. Instead, the Act was intended to regulate traditional air pollutants from major emitters on a state or regional level. While the CAA has seen success in cleaning up criteria and other pollutants, it is not adequately equipped to address global climate change.    Agriculture is a minor source of GHGs overall and should not be regulated under a climate change program. According to the EPA, in 2006, greenhouse gas emissions from the entire agriculture sector represented only 6.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions in teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalents (Tg CO2 Eq) in the U.S.   Over half of that amount is due to emissions from soil management when growing crops.     Instead of being subject to climate change regulation, the agriculture sector should be considered an important solution to the climate change problem, as it provides critical sources of soil carbon sequestration and renewable energy offsets. In fact, according to EPA, land use, land use change, and forestry activities resulted in a net carbon sequestration offset of approximately 14.8% of total U.S. CO2 emissions, or 12.5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2006.   Using the CAA in an attempt to control GHG emissions would impose untenable burdens, expenses, and restrictions on industry, families, and our nation as a whole. In addition, such a decision would provide the EPA with unprecedented control over every sector of the U.S. economy. Any decisions to regulate GHGs in the U.S. should be thoroughly and thoughtfully considered by Congress. Senators Urge FDA to Delay Implementation of Enhanced Feed Ban Rule   Eighteen Senators joined together this week in sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting that the enhanced feed ban implementation date be delayed 60-days and the comment period be re-opened. This would allow affected stakeholders an opportunity to provide more complete information and to comment on the negative impacts already being seen as a direct result of this rule.     "Many in the agriculture industry are concerned that the final rule will be implemented without regard to viable alternatives for safe, economical disposal of deceased livestock," the letter stated. "While the safety of our food supply is the top priority for all of us, we are concerned about the potential for this rule to cause unnecessary economic hardship for farmers and ranchers."   Last month, NCBA joined with 11 other national agriculture organizations in sending a similar letter to FDA. 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.   Over the past two decades industry and government have worked together to put in place science-based measures which have proven successful in preventing and reducing the spread of BSE in the U.S. International experts agree that a feed ban breaks the cycle of BSE and assures it will be eliminated. The U.S. began our ban of feeding cattle the type of animal-derived protein that can spread BSE in 1997 as a proactive preventative measure. Robust USDA BSE surveillance since 1990 has demonstrated that the firewalls have been successful and the U.S. cattle herd has an extremely low level of risk from BSE. The very high level of existing U.S. Feed ban compliance combined with an extremely low incidence of BSE suggests that the risk of BSE in the United States is already negligible. This has been proven even more so in the four years since this enhanced feed ban was first proposed and failed an economic cost/benefit analysis.   The final rule on the enhanced feed ban is effective on April 27, 2009. NCBA producers are already suffering 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. For several months now, NCBA has received numerous reports of producers having difficulty in getting dead animals picked up, and if they are able to find pick-up services, the prices charged by the haulers and renderers is significantly higher than it ever has been.    Many renderers across the country have simply terminated their service to the livestock industry as a direct result of this rule. 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. NCBA Urges Congress to Protect Private Voting Rights   NCBA joined with more than 40 national and regional agriculture associations earlier this week in sending a letter to Congress urging them to preserve the fundamental right of American workers to a secret ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union. As a member of the Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace (ADW) coalition, NCBA is working to block the passage of the deceptively named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).   The EFCA would effectively deprive American workers-including most agriculture workers-of their right to vote in a private ballot process. Workers would instead be subject to a "card check" program, which would eliminate anonymity and allow for coercion and intimidation during the voting process.   For more information on ADW, visit: www.coalitionforagriculture.org Comments Requested on Proposed Rule for Animal Identification Numbering Systems   The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) is currently accepting comments on a proposed rule regarding official animal identification numbering systems. This rule will directly affect producers, and as such, NCBA recommends that all States and producers submit comments regarding the economic impact this will have on cattle producers.    According to APHIS, the proposed rule, entitled, USDA APHIS "Official Animal Identification Numbering Systems" is the next step in developing a nationally integrated, modern animal disease response system and is intended to create greater standardization and uniformity of official numbering systems and eartags used in both official animal disease programs and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).   While it would not technically require the use of the animal identification number (AIN), the rule would require that when AINs are used, only those numbers beginning with the 840 prefix will be recognized as official for use. This will be effective for all AIN tags applied to animals one year or more after the date of the finalization of this proposed rule. It would also remove the current Premises Identification Number (PIN) format that uses the State postal abbreviation and proposes to create a single national seven-character alphanumeric code format. Animals that are currently identified with a premise-based numbering system that uses a postal-code PIN would not have to be retagged.   In addition, the rule would create new requirements for official eartags and going forward, official eartags used in animal disease programs could only be issued to registered premises that have PINs. All official eartags would be required to bear the U.S. shield and the use of the shield will be allowed only on official identification devices approved by APHIS.   NCBA supports a voluntary adoption of individual animal identification programs that support genetic improvement, source verification, and disease surveillance.  In addition, the private sector should have a role in providing identification solutions that fit the varying needs of America's cattle producers. The private sector should be utilized to provide identification devices, distribution, hardware certification, and the software to make the animal ID system work and allow competitive market forces to benefit producers while maintaining the objectives of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).    On March 11, Bill Nutt, NCBA member and president-elect of the Georgia Cattlemen's Association, will testify on this issue before the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. Drought Posing Challenges to Producers Across the Country   In the past few years, drought has been a serious concern for farmers and ranchers, not only in California and Texas-which is currently experiencing an all-time record drought situation-but throughout the Southeast, particularly in states like Georgia and Tennessee. For example, Tennessee has seen their beef cow herd drop by 18% in the past two years, largely as a result of a significant drought situation in the state.   In the areas of the nation hit hardest by drought, many cow-calf producers have been unable to maintain sufficient hay and grassland to feed their herd, and have been forced to sell off breeding stock. And once these areas do receive rain, producers are still faced with the challenge of pasture management and renewal.   The U.S. Departments of Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the creation of a Federal Drought Action Team that will work cooperatively to respond to communities facing significant drought. The Federal Drought Action Team will include representatives appointed by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with representatives from other federal agencies.   Similarly, and as part of the 2008 Farm Bill, NCBA supported the creation of the Permanent Disaster Assistance Trust Fund which will provide support for all producers affected by natural disasters, including droughts.  This program has yet to be finalized by USDA.  We hope that this fund along with new Federal Drought Action Team will help alleviate some of the challenges our producers are currently facing as a result of drought.     Survey Shows Consumer Confidence in Beef Safety     According to the results of a national survey released today, consumers are confident in the safety of their ground beef, steaks and roasts despite a rise in their overall concern about food safety in recent months. More than eight in 10 of those respondents agreed that the entire beef industry is working together to ensure safe and wholesome food. The survey results were released in conjunction with the sixth annual Beef Industry Safety Summit, held this week in San Diego.   More than two-thirds of consumers in this survey say they believe the number of food recalls and foodborne illnesses is on the rise, especially on the heels of recall news related to peanut products. Just 49 percent of consumers answered in the same way in November 2008. The national survey of 1,023 Americans had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent and was funded by The Beef Checkoff.   When asked specifically about the beef industry's efforts to improve beef safety, 81 percent agreed that the entire beef industry - from farmers and ranchers to processors and retailers - is working together to provide consumers with safe, wholesome food. 78 percent of consumers also agreed that safeguards developed by beef industry scientists have made ground beef safer than ever.   More than 160 representatives from every sector of the beef industry from farm to fork are attending this year's Summit. The Summit, first held in 2003, has emerged as the most important meeting of the year for collaboratively discussing solutions to existing and emerging beef safety issues.   Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen!   Don't miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen, March 10 - 14, as we take a look at how this difficult economy is impacting beef demand. We'll also have fuel efficiency tips for your farm equipment from John Deere, and we'll spend a day in the life of a ranching family in western Arkansas. Plus, we'll have the latest from cowboy poet Baxter Black!   NCBA'S Cattlemen to Cattlemen is now an hour long!  The show debuts Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. and airs again Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and Saturday at 9 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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