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).

Ag Appropriations/Country-of-Origin Labeling: The House passed June 9 its Fiscal Year 06 Ag Appropriations bill by a vote of 408-18. The House agreed 240 to 187 to reject an amendment that would have required implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling beginning September 30, 2006. NCBA and other ag and food industry groups support the delay in implementation to give Congress more time to pass an alterative labeling bill which will be more workable for cattlemen. NCBA is supporting the "Meat Promotion Act of 2005" (H.R. 2068) introduced by House Ag Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR) and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), which currently has 42 co-sponsors. Also contained in the Ag Appropriations bill are provisions funding enhancement of our nation’s animal health infrastructure and funding for nutritional research.

NCBA, Producers to Participate in USDA BSE Meeting: NCBA staff, leadership and area cattle producers are visiting the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus for a roundtable discussion on BSE in North America. USDA is hosting the meeting to bring together experts from the USDA, producers, packers, academia and others to discuss the safety of U.S. beef and the economic impact of border closings. NCBA’s President-elect and Missouri cattle producer Mike John is among roundtable participants. John spoke about the multiple firewall approach (feed ban, SRM removal) that minimizes the risk of BSE in North America and called for resumption and normalization of global trade. "Bottom line, the multiple firewall approach ensures this diminishing disease has no effect on public or animal health. That’s why we believe it’s time we bring America’s beef back to the world’s plate."

Smithfield Announces Packerland Closure: Smithfield’s Packerland beef plant in Gering, Nebraska announced Tuesday it will close. According to news reports, Senior Vice President for Packerland Packing Steve Van Lannen said, "We based our decision to close the Gering plant on the fact that procuring cattle to maintain production levels at this facility is a unique challenge, a situation largely due to the ban on importing cattle from Canada into the United States." NCBA Vice President and North Carolina cattle producer John Queen says these cutbacks have already hurt cattle feeders in the Northwest. Now the trend is spreading to the center of the country. "The effect on cow-calf producers won’t be far behind," says Queen.

YCC in Washington this week!: NCBA’s annual Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC) national tour is in Washington this week. The 26-year-old YCC program is designed to develop leadership qualities in young beef industry leaders who were nominated by their respective affiliate (state and breed) associations. More than 45 cattle industry leaders are in town for three days participating in meetings and events with Congressional members and staff and Administration officials as part of the YCC educational tour. Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) addressed the group Tuesday evening and stressed the importance of producer involvement in Washington. On Wednesday, the group hosted over 300 Congressional leaders and Hill staffers at the annual Beef Caucus Picnic on Capitol Hill, and spent the afternoon visiting with their members of Congress and articulating their position on key cattle industry issues. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) spoke to the YCC tour as part of Wednesday’s public policy briefing. When asked about efforts to repeal the Death Tax, a priority issue for NCBA, Weldon said the Death Tax is "morally and ethically wrong" and "equates to double taxation." Cattlemen are urging support for S.420, The Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act. This is the companion legislation to the 2005 House bill which passed April 13. The Senate will vote on S. 420 this summer.

Portman Lauds CAFTA in White House Speech: In related news, U.S. Trade Ambassador Rob Portman spoke to the Hispanic Alliance for Free Trade at the White House today and described the benefits that CAFTA holds for the U.S., Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. "CAFTA-DR is strongly in the economic and security interests of the United States. With more than $32 billion in two-way trade, these six countries combined represent a substantial market for our products," Portman said. "The vast majority of the region’s products already enjoy duty-free access in the United States. What CAFTA-DR will do is open their markets to our workers, farmers and service providers."

South Korean Beef Trade: A delegation of South Korean government officials are visiting the U.S. this week for their third series of meetings aimed at resuming trade of U.S. beef to South Korea. South Korea is the U.S. beef industry’s third largest export market. In 2003, South Korea imported 199,000 tons of beef from the U.S., about 68 percent of all beef imports that year.

Bill Myers Nomination: As the Senate continues its debate on President Bush’s judicial nominees, producer-members of NCBA and Public Lands Council (PLC) are reminded to urge Senate support for nominee Bill Myers. Myers is nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over nine Western states and over 485 million acres of federal lands. Myers’ work as solicitor at the Department of Interior and his vast experience in protecting natural resources and preserving federal lands qualify him for this post. Cattlemen should contact their U.S. Senators and ask them to confirm Bill Myers to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Montana Stockgrowers Association Meeting: NCBA President Jim McAdams is in Helena today for the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) mid-year convention. As part of the MSGA program, McAdams and Leo McDonnell, president of R-CALF USA explained their organizations’ vision for the future of our industry and took questions from attendees on issues each organization is addressing on behalf of its members. Founded in 1898, NCBA is the oldest and largest organization representing America’s cattle ranchers and distinguishes itself as the only cattle organization representing ALL the issues facing cattlemen. NCBA policy is established by its member-producers and is grounded in the basic philosophy of cattlemen to:

Montana Conservation Workshop This Week!: NCBA, along with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Montana Stockgrowers Association, will host a Conservation Workshop on Friday, June 10. Held in conjunction with Montana Stockgrowers Association Mid-Year meeting in Helena, the workshop will focus on Working Lands Conservation in Beef Cattle Production in Montana and will include information on how to participate in NRCS cost-share programs. The workshop will consist of a range tour where producers, the media and public will hear about environmental issues facing cattle producers, see firsthand conservation and stewardship efforts of Montana producers and learn more about the Environmental Stewardship Awards Program.

USDA Announces Public Meeting on CRP: USDA announced June 6 plans to host a public meeting on their Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on Friday, June 24, 2005 in Riverdale, Md. In their announcement, USDA says "landowners can advise USDA on how best to re-enroll and extend certain CRP contracts that are expiring soon." Of the 34.8 million acres now enrolled in CRP, some 28 million acres - about 80 percent - are scheduled to come out of the program in fiscal years 2007 through 2010. Through CRP, landowners can receive annual rental payments and cost- share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers on eligible farmland. NCBA will participate in the meeting.

Producer Comments on Animal ID Due July 6!: Producers are reminded to submit their comments on USDA’s NAIS Draft Strategic Plan and the NAIS Draft Program Standards. Of particular importance is that producers address the questions posed by USDA regarding a private-sector animal ID system. Producers may submit comments by July 6, 2005, by either of the following methods:

- Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send four copies of your comment (an original and three copies) to
Docket No. 05-015-1
Regulatory Analysis and Development
PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71
4700 River Road, Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. 05-015-1.

USDA Staff News: USDA announced this week the resignation of Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bill Hawks. In a statement released June 7, USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said "Over the past four years, Bill has worked on some of USDA's most challenging issues to protect and promote U.S. agriculture in the areas of animal and plant disease at home and abroad, while also helping the Bush Administration's efforts to break down sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to U.S. exports." Hawks will remain in his post until a replacement is named.

Congressional Schedule: Congress is back in session this week after last week’s Memorial Day recess. Both the Senate and the House are scheduled to remain in session until July 4 recess.

USDA BSE Surveillance Program: USDA’s enhanced BSE surveillance program began June 1, 2004, and to date has tested 375,360 animals with no positive cases reported. APHIS’s goal is to test as many cattle from the high-risk population as possible in a 12- to 18-month period. Testing 268,500 animals could detect BSE at a rate of 1 in 10 million adult cattle at a 99 percent confidence level. Cattlemen are waiting for USDA to announce how long they will continue the enhanced surveillance program.

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