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).

Cattle Producers to Convene in Reno Next Week: Cattle producers from across the nation will be gathering in Reno, Nevada next week for the annual Cattle Industry Summer Conference, July 10-13. NCBA staff, committee leadership, members and affiliates are gearing up for the national policy committee meetings, issue forums and Thursday’s NCBA Board of Directors Meeting. In Reno, NCBA members will be voting on key policy priorities and passing new resolutions and directives to be adopted as interim NCBA policy. Top issues for NCBA this summer include the 2007 Farm Bill, Death Tax, environmental regulations, cattle marketing, international trade and much more. NCBA policy committee meetings will take place Wednesday, July 12. For a full conference schedule, go to http://www.beefusa.org/convscheduleofevents43.aspx.

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns will not publish next week, July 13 due to summer conference scheduling.  Look for our summer conference coverage in CCC’s July 20 edition!

NCBA Members to Set Direction on Farm Bill:  Congress is working on developing the 2007 Farm Bill, and NCBA needs feedback from its members on Farm Bill programs and policy priorities. Whether you would like to see an existing program improved or perhaps feel that another program should be eliminated, we need to hear from you. Visit our website at www.beefusa.org to provide us with your thoughts and feedback on what works, what doesn’t, what you need or what you don’t.  Your comments will help us plan for our Farm Bill discussions next week at the 2006 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Reno, July 10-13.

Senate Ag Committee Prepares for Farm Bill Field Hearings:  Senate Ag Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) says his committee needs to hear producers’ thoughts on farm policy as Congress begins to develop the next Farm Bill.  “These hearings are a valuable opportunity for direct dialogue between farmers and the agriculture committee,” says Chambliss. The committee’s next field hearing on Farm Bill development will take place July 17 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. NCBA President and Missouri cattleman Mike John is scheduled to testify on behalf of cattle producers.  The schedule of Senate Ag Committee field hearings on farm bill development includes:

• Monday, July 17, 9:00 a.m. in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
• Friday, July 21, 1:00 p.m. in Harrisburg, Penn.
• Monday, July 24, 9:00 a.m. in Ankeny, Iowa
• Hearings are also planned in two additional western states (specific scheduling details are still TBD).  For more information, visit:  http://agriculture.senate.gov.

House Ag Committee Farm Bill Hearings:   The House Ag Committee has announced it will hold additional field hearings in the coming weeks on farm policy development.  “The information the Committee gathers at these hearings will help us as we begin to consider the next farm bill and we look forward to continued dialogue with our farmers and ranchers as we move through this process,” says Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).  Upcoming hearings are scheduled for:

• Monday, July 17, 10:00 a.m. in Staunton, Va.
• Saturday, July 22, time TBD in Marshall, Minn.
• Monday, July 24, time TBD in Scottsburg, Ind.

For more information, visit:  http://agriculture.house.gov.

CAFO Rule:  NCBA is reviewing and developing comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule for regulating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Clean Water Act.  The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register Friday, June 30. “In looking at the rule, the compliance date is still unreasonable, requiring nutrient management plans (NMPs) to be implemented a month after the final rule comes out,” says NCBA Director of Environmental Issues Tamara Thies. “There are some other issues regarding the flexibility of these NMPs and how minor changes on the operation could require endless public review of the plans. After the initial approval of a CAFO permit, which includes all anticipated changes, only substantial changes to an NMP should require opening it up to additional formal rulemaking procedures.” NCBA will submit full comments this summer.  Information on the proposed rule is posted at: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/afo/revisedrule.

In related news, EPA officials have scheduled five public meetings across the nation regarding these proposed federal Clean Water Act regulations for producers.  EPA says these are informal meetings, not official forums. Interested producers should attend one of the five meetings scheduled for:

• July 24 in Fayetteville, N.C.
• July 25 in Ames, Iowa
• August 1 in Golden Colo.
• August 2 in Dallas, Texas
• August 3 in Sacramento, Calif.

Canada Confirms Sixth BSE Case: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed July 4 that a “mature cross-bred beef cow from Manitoba” tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).  CFIA says the animal was at least 15 years of age and would have been born well before the 1997 Canadian feed ban.   Canada found its first case of BSE on May 20, 2003.  Since then, Canada has tested over 115,000 animals for the disease as part of Canada’s surveillance program which targets cattle most at risk of BSE.

U.S. BSE Surveillance:  USDA’s Enhanced BSE Surveillance Program continues to test targeted animals identified as most likely to have BSE.  Since June 1, 2004, the program has tested 750,248 cattle and has found only two confirmed cases, evidence that our safeguards are working and the prevalence of BSE in the United States is extremely low.  Testing 268,500 animals can detect BSE at a rate of 1 in 10 million adult cattle at a 99 percent confidence level. 

China Trade:  China announced late last week a commitment to partially reopen their border to U.S. boneless beef from cattle less than 30 months of age. NCBA remains pleased that USDA's negotiating efforts resulted in China purportedly agreeing to reopen its market consistent with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, but was surprised and disappointed by China's limited market opening proposal. “U.S. cattlemen do business with a handshake, and their word is their bond,” says NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud. “We're very disappointed with these recent developments with China and the possibility that the same cannot be said of the Chinese government.” In 2003, boneless beef from cattle of all ages only made up about 30 percent of all U.S. beef products exported to China. There is no detailed information on this announcement regarding a timeline.

NCBA Gets ‘Fired Up’ Over Remaining Beef Bans: This week, U.S. cattle producers are urging unjustified bans on U.S. beef exports to be lifted and are encouraging all Americans to take a patriotic stand in honor of U.S. beef.  Twenty-two countries maintain full unwarranted bans on our exceptional beef products. These countries include: Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Ecuador, the French Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela.

WTO Talks: USDA officials were in Geneva for World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings but these negotiations concluded without a breakthrough in the deadlock among WTO members. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says, "our big task was to agree on how to deliver on the Doha mandate to 'substantially improve' market access in agriculture through programs of fundamental reform and by reducing barriers to industrial goods. We don't have all the answers yet, but the central question of market access is squarely on the table. We also had a long overdue discussion on the balance that we all need to achieve for the Round to succeed."

NCBA will continue to urge increased global market access opportunities through tariff reduction. We have long believed the greatest trade benefits can be obtained via the multilateral WTO negotiating process. NCBA supports the U.S. proposal for WTO Agriculture Negotiations that would reduce tariffs for our products.

Congressional Schedule:  Congress is out on recess for the Fourth of July holiday.  They are scheduled to return to Washington Monday, July 10. 

Media Contact:
Tanya Augustson or Karen Batra at 202-347-0228; taugustson@beef.org or kbatra@beef.org