Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: January 27, 2005

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns

January 27, 2005

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).

Thousands Heading to San Antonio:  More than 6,000 cattle industry representatives are expected at the 2005 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio next week.  At the cattle industry’s largest meeting of the year, international trade issues and the normalization of U.S. beef trade with Canada, Japan, and other key Asian markets will be a hot topic.  In addition, key policy issues dealing with BSE and animal health, animal I.D., tax policy, nutrition, and environmental issues are certain to be at the forefront of discussions and policy-making. This annual Convention offers an open platform for producers from all across the country to debate key industry issues, create new policy initiatives, amend previous policy and set in stone the organization’s policy direction in coming months.

Convention Offers "Tough Talks" on Policy Issues: At next week’s 2005 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in San Antonio, cattle producer leaders, industry leaders, agricultural scientists, and government officials are booked to lead discussions regarding key policy issues for 2005. Check out below for a brief look at policy-related highlights for week, who’s speaking on what, and what to expect. If you’re unable to attend, look for news releases and a new edition of the CCC from San Antonio or contact the on-location Cattle Industry News Center, Feb. 1-5 at (210) 582-7044. For more information on any of these policy-related Convention events, please contact NCBA’s D.C. office at (202)-347-0228.

-Conservation Programs: This year, the Convention is offering a Cattlemen's College Program dedicated to "Putting Government Programs to Work for You," where producers can learn about various conservation programs and how they might put them to work on their operations back home. Speakers at this Wednesday, Feb. 5th morning event feature past winners of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program and officials from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

-Cattle Industry Issues Forums: On Thursday, Feb. 3 various issue forums serve as an open platform for cattle industry members to come together and discuss some top policy issues and challenges for 2005. This year’s morning issue forums will be led by speakers and cattle industry leaders offering the latest information from Washington D.C. on top policy issues, including in-depth sessions on International Trade, Beef Safety, and the 2005 Legislative and Regulatory Outlook.

-NCBA Officers Forum: On the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 3 the officers of the NCBA will conduct a grand forum for the thousands of attendees, giving an opportunity for industry members to vent their latest concerns, suggestions, stories, and predictions to the panel of NCBA officers. This event is basically "open mic" time on any issue affecting the cattle industry, so attendees will be bringing many questions and always feel free to share their ideas and state their opinion in an open forum. NCBA will take this to the next level in committee meetings, where policy resolutions and directives take root.

-National ESAP Winner Announced: On Thursday evening Feb. 3 in San Antonio, this year’s National winner of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program will be announced. The winner is selected from among seven regional winners, announced in Summer 2004. A special video tribute will honor the winner and highlight the operations of the seven regional winners. Stay tuned next week to find out about the winner- and if you’re a reporter, be sure and feature this upcoming leader in your next publication.

-NCBA-PAC Rodeo & Concert Event:  NCBA’ Political Action Committee will be hosting a fundraising event, sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health. Popular country music singer Mark Chesnutt entertain guests, and the reception includes dinner, drinks and a rodeo. All proceeds benefit NCBA-PAC and PEF, for more information or tickets contact our NCBA PAC Director at 202-347-0228.

-NCBA Policy Committee Meetings: Friday, February 7 is the big day for all NCBA committee meetings, including the NCBA Live Cattle Marketing Committee, NCBA Tax & Credit Committee, NCBA Property Rights & Environmental Management Committee, NCBA Federal Lands Committee, NCBA Cattle Health & Well Being Committee, Joint Beef Safety Committee, Joint International Markets Committee, NCBA Agriculture Policy Committee and the NCBA Resolutions Committee. NCBA will discuss what’s in store for the 109^th Congress and how NCBA will tackle the issues important to all members, learn the latest developments on issues such as the expanded USDA BSE surveillance program, the Endangered Species Act, live cattle marketing, tax policy, water policy issues, international trade negotiations, and much, much more. These forums will offer one-on-one discussions with top government officials, including: Kathleen Clarke, Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Bruce Knight, Chief of the NRCS; Chuck Lambert, Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA; John Scholl, EPA; Pete Thompson, House Agriculture Committee; Mike Yost, USDA-Farm Service Agency; and staff representatives from both the House and Senate agriculture

-NCBA Board of Directors and Membership Meeting: The long week of events draws to a close on Saturday, Feb. 5 with NCBA’s membership and board meetings. At the Annual Membership Meeting, every voice and vote make a difference in the outcome of NCBA policy for the coming year. NCBA members vote to approve resolutions, agree upon directives, changes, and the policy priorities for 2005.

Canadian Trade Update:  NCBA’s trade delegation is preparing their final report following their tour of the Canadian beef and cattle production systems. Last week, the NCBA delegation met with Can-Fax (Canada’s independent economic analysis firm), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), visited multiple feed mills and feedlots (including a flyover of Alberta’s "feedlot alley" that represents 700,000 head of Southern Alberta’s 1.1 to1.2 million head on feed) and toured of one of Alberta’s largest beef slaughter facilities and a rendering facility. While the full report will cover key issues at length, key findings include:

- Canadian feedlots appear to be current. There is unused capacity in Southern Alberta feedlots and the number of yearling cattle was low, which is normal for Canadian lots. Cattle older than 30 months are severely discounted (priced as cow beef), and there is no market incentive to manage fed or feeder cattle beyond this age.

- Slaughter capacity has increased in Canada.  USDA’s estimate on cattle ready for export did not fully account for the 22 percent increase in slaughter capacity in Canada in the 2004 calendar year. 

- The Anaplasmosis and Blue Tongue trade issues have been resolved for feeder cattle in 39 states but not for older animals, including breeding cattle.  Yet the Canadian government has completed at least two vector studies.

- The Canadian feed industry appears to be in compliance with its feed ban, based on visual inspections and audit reports.  The Canadian government is expected to release a study addressing recent media reports about animal protein in animal feed. 

- Given the ages of the BSE-positive cattle in Canada, the following exposure hypothesis seems reasonable as a potential explanation for the four cases:  exposure to feed produced before the August 1997 Feed Ban.  The industry now operates segregated lines or dedicated facilities.

The final report will be available for NCBA members to review at next week’s Cattle Industry Annual Convention in San Antonio.  The trip was requested by NCBA’s Executive Committee to gather facts to help inform NCBA members’ on the situation in Canada, so NCBA members can decide for themselves how NCBA should proceed.  The delegation has not - and will not – take, a position on whether or not to support resumption of trade with Canada. The final report will also be posted on NCBA’s website at www.beefusa.org.

Japanese Trade Update:  NCBA attended welcome meetings with Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today. Discussions included the continued push for the re-opening of the Japanese borders for U.S. beef. Secretary Johanns met with the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. this morning, and recapped, " I very specifically requested of the Ambassador that a date certain be set for the resumption of beef trade, and I indicated to him that I would do everything I could from my standpoint to accomplish the goal of beef trading in Japan. I went so far as to say if that necessitated a team here working 24/7, I would make sure that that happened and that was in place." The Secretary says he is confident that the Ambassador will express such desires immediately to the government of Japan. The expedited resolution of this border issue will be a major priority for next week’s Cattle Industry Convention. The U.S. embassy in Japan has posted their "Final Report to the Government of Japan: Determining the Relationship between Chronological and Physiological Age in the U.S. Fed-Beef Population" online at: http://japan.usembassy.gov/pdfs/wwwf20050119-bse.pdf

Animal ID Plans:  Another hot topic during next week’s convention will be animal ID and efforts to develop a national animal identification system.  NCBA’s Animal ID Commission will meet while in San Antonio to put the finishing touches on a plan for a private sector national animal ID system for beef cattle.  Following the Commission’s meeting, the plan will be presented for review.  Cattlemen have historically supported plans for a system coordinated in the private sector as a means to protect producer privacy and keep implementation costs down.  NCBA's' Animal ID Commission is working on a private-coordinated system that will combine existing ID programs into a national network, and will alleviate producers’ concerns about confidentiality and cost. 

CAFTA/DR Trade Agreement:  NCBA participated in a press backgrounder this week to educate reporters on the benefits of this trade agreement. The event is sponsored by the members of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) Coalition. Reporters from the likes of Financial Times, the Washington Post, CQ, and more were in attendance. The recent free trade agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic is an excellent agreement for U.S. beef producers.  In 2003, we exported 4.71 thousand metric tons of beef and beef variety meat to these countries, valued at $12.36 million, while importing 27.19 thousand metric tons, valued at $62 million, according to USDA-FAS statistics.  Currently the countries in this region enjoy ‘most-favored-nation’ (MFN) status for their beef imported by the U.S.  However, the U.S. faces applied tariffs ranging from 15-30 percent.  With this trade agreement, the U.S. is able to level the playing field and eliminate the barriers for our product while providing adequate protections for the industry.  NCBA is strongly behind this agreement and urges the passage of the agreement by Congress as soon as possible. For more details, go to our NCBA Backgrounder at http://hill.beef.org/pdfs/CAFTA-DRFactSheet.pdf

Arizona Rancher Wins Lawsuit Against Activists:  Arizona rancher Jim Chilton was awarded $600,000, including $500,000 in punitive damages, in his libel suite against the Tucson-based environmental group, Center for Biological Diversity.  Chilton sued the group for harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company when the Center alleged that Chilton mismanaged his 21,500-acre Forest Service grazing allotment.  According to media reports, photos posted on the Center for Biological Diversity website depicted Chilton’s operation with "barren patches that captions described as ‘denuded’ by cows." But Chilton's lawyer showed jurors wide-angle photos taken at the same locations that revealed "surroundings as worthy of a postcard, with oaks and mesquites dotting lush, rolling hills." The photos were part of the Center’s failed bid to block renewal of Chilton's grazing permit.  Jurors in Pima County Superior Court voted 9-1 in favor of Chilton, and the verdict sets an important precedent and could dissuade other activist groups from committing libel against cattle producers.  Chilton’s attorney argues that the Center was intentionally out to do harm to Chilton’s operation.  "They were out to stop grazing and out to do whatever they can to prevent the Chiltons and others like them from letting cows on public land."  The jury's award is an important vindication for Jim’s position. 

Rice Confirmed Secretary of State:  Dr. Condoleezza Rice was confirmed as the new Secretary of State by the Senate this week. The Senate voted 85-13 to confirm Rice on Jan. 26. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations conducted Dr. Rice’s confirmation hearing last week.  NCBA urged key members of the Committee to stress to Secretary Rice the importance of regaining the Japanese and other foreign beef markets, and ask her how she plans to address these key trade issues.

BSE Meeting in DC:  NCBA, along with a coalition of industry partners, hosted a meeting today, Jan 27, titled "BSE Prevention in North America:  An Analysis of the Science and the Risk," at Washington D.C.’s Omni Shoreham Hotel.  The one-day meeting was held to foster further discussion on the latest BSE issues, and featured presentations from top-level experts on cattle health and BSE from the industry, government and academic sectors.  Sponsoring organizations included:  American Feed Industry Association, American Meat Institute Foundation, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Canadian Meat Council, Livestock Exporters Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Milk Producers Federation, and the National Renderers Association.

TCU Ranch Management Program:  NCBA’s Director of Legislative Affairs Bryan Dierlam is heading to Fort Worth, Texas today for the 2005 Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program on Jan. 29.  Bryan will speak at the Roundup Morning Session where the topic of focus will be Politics and Legislation affecting the Livestock Industry on the National and State level.  

Reno Meetings:  The 2005 American Sheep Industry Association Annual Convention is this week, January 26 - 29, 2005, in Reno, Nevada.  NCBA’s Director of Federal Lands and Executive Director of the Public Lands Council Jeff Eisenberg is traveling to Reno today and will speak to attendees about key resource issues affecting livestock producers in the West.

Legislative Ag Chairs Summit:  Gregg Doud and Colin Woodall will be traveling to Memphis, Tenn. this weekend for the 2005 Legislative Agricultural Chairs Summit, Jan. 28-30.  This is an annual conference of state secretaries and commissioners of agriculture to meet and discuss the state of agriculture in the U.S.  This year's conference will focus on rural development, but will also include discussions on retaining and growing the livestock industry, the Endangered Species Act, agriculture and energy policy, property rights, and rural entrepreneurship.  The conference will also include national updates from USDA’s Bill Hawks and former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm.