Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns
March 17, 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).

Threatening Our Profitability: This week has brought extensive media coverage surrounding BSE, Canada, international trade and the beef industry.  Activist cattlemen’s claims regarding the safety of beef and threatening consumer confidence in our products swept the headlines. Such talk is advocating short-term gains and yet threatening long-term profitability for all cattle producers. There continues to be a fraction of this industry that evidently believes the key to maintaining strong prices and long-term profitability is to control and limit supply. As the largest and most historic organization representing the American rancher, NCBA simply just doesn’t buy that. Controlling and limiting supply might create some gains in the short term, but it is not a sustainable way to run our industry.

How do we maintain strong prices while assuring long-term profitability? The answer is simple. Profitability depends upon TWO objectives: (1) steady demand and (2) increased market opportunities. Questioning beef safety and calling for never-ending border closures can destroy both of these. For generations now, NCBA has been a powerful leader in maintaining profitability by growing beef demand, and thus growing opportunities for our industry – not shrinking them.

Making false scientific claims about beef in regards to trade with Canada only does TWO things: (1) threatens long-term border closures for all markets and (2) fires up new questions about beef safety from American consumers. Condemning Japan for not making trade decisions based on science, while making unscientific claims about Canadian beef is the ultimate hypocrisy.  This type of action increases the difficulty of reopening our export markets and regaining the $175 per head we lost December 23rd, 2003. NCBA has lead national and international efforts to assure consumers that BSE is simply not found in the muscle meat. But now, the old can of worms has been re-opened, and we must fight factions in our own industry and explain why all beef is safe from BSE.

Actions like these clearly have unintended consequences.  If we lose the beef demand we have gained in the last eight years by destroying consumer confidence, we will lose $200 per head.  Short term we may experience higher prices, but longer term we will experience lower prices and reduced profits. These unintended consequences jeopardize our future and the future of the next generation of cattle ranchers.  Loss of demand means lower prices and fewer cattlemen.  Loss of export markets means lower prices and fewer cattlemen.  More regulation means more concentration, increased costs, and fewer cattlemen. NCBA is calling for all cattle producers to stand firm and fight for solutions that ensure the future of our families and our legacy, not disparage beef products for personal gain.

USDA to Appeal Court Injunction: The USDA announced tonight it will appeal the U.S. District Court injunction of the BSE minimal risk rule. NCBA believes USDA’s decision to appeal the ruling will speed resolution of this issue and hopefully return this debate to a discussion of science and fact, versus politically-motivated litigation. NCBA continues to seek solutions that will grow our industry and assure long-term profitability for America’s cattle producers.

Secretary Johanns to Address NCBA this Spring: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has accepted NCBA’s invitation to address cattle producers at the 2005 Spring Conference on Friday morning, April 15. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear first-hand from the Ag Secretary on BSE, trade, and other cattle industry issues. The conference runs April 13-16, so make plans NOW to attend this important beef industry event. Hundreds of cattle producers from across the country will visit our nation’s capital and hear directly from top policymakers, meet face-to-face with key Congressional offices, government agency influencers and have the opportunity to articulate policy priorities for today’s cattle industry. More information is posted on our website at:  http://hill.beef.org/spring.  You can obtain a registration form by contacting NCBA’s Washington DC office at 202-347-0228 or download one directly from our website at http://hill.beef.org/pdfs/RegistrationForm.pdf. Please submit registration forms by Friday, April 1, 2005.

Central American Trade: When Congress goes on recess over the next two weeks, NCBA is urging all cattle producers to contact their members of Congress in the hometown offices and arrange one-on-one meetings to push for final passage of the CAFTA-DR. Please let NCBA know if you can help in this important trade fight for agriculture. This valuable agreement would open up further export markets for top-quality U.S. beef and is basically a win-win agreement for U.S. beef producers.  NCBA continues to urge support on Capitol Hill to get this positive message out in the countryside. For information on how to help with this effort, or to get more information including fact sheets, and analyses on how the CAFTA-DR impacts cattlemen, contact Michelle Reinke in NCBA’s Washington office, visit NCBA’s web site at http://hill.beef.org, or go to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative online at www.ustr.gov and click on the CAFTA-DR Briefing Book.

State Department Demands Reopening of Japan: The United States is calling on Japan to remove its restrictions on U.S. beef and beef products immediately, according to a statement released this week from the State Department.  Linnet F. Deily, U.S. permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) says there is clear and sufficient scientific evidence for Japan to remove restrictions on U.S. beef and beef products in accordance with the WTO sanitary and phytosanitary measures.  "Japan's continuing restriction on U.S. beef and beef products raise serious concerns under the WTO agreements," Deily said. The statement reiterates remarks Deilly gave at the WTO in Geneva on March 9 and was released this week just prior to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Japan.  Secretary Rice will meet with her Japanese counterparts and is expected to urge quick resolution to this matter.  

Congress Continues Push for Japan Fix:  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Minority Member Max Baucus (D-MT) along with Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Conrad Burns (R-MT), Larry Craig (R-ID), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Craig Thomas (R-WY) met with Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato March 14 to discuss beef trade issues.  This follows a meeting between the Ambassador and 13 other key members of Congress on March 11.  Media reports out of Japan indicate that Japan’s Food Safety Commission is making progress in discussions regarding resumption of trade of U.S. beef, and has tentatively decided to ease testing requirements for animals under 20 months of age. Still, the border remains closed to U.S. beef while U.S. officials and American cattlemen are growing increasingly frustrated.  NCBA was pleased to see a Wall Street Journal editorial address the issue this week: “The fact that science and health experts have exposed the safety concerns as overblown gives cause for concern that this is little more than old-fashioned protectionism at best.” 

Ag Day 2005:  U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns kicked off the annual celebration of National Agriculture Day (March 20, 2005) and National Ag Week (March 20-26, 2005) today, delivering the keynote address at a luncheon with a roomful of agriculture representatives from across the nation. Each year, on or around the first day of Spring, National Ag Day gives producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and others across America the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture. NCBA is a proud sponsor of Ag Day 2005. For more information, visit www.agday.org.

During today’s kickoff, beef was a hot topic and Johanns announced his continued dedication to reopening our export markets as soon as possible. He stated “trade is a two way street, and we cannot treat one country one way and the another country another.” He also re-iterated the importance of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which would cut tariffs on our agricultural products going into these countries. After his presentation, Johanns held a press briefing where beef was once again the hot topic. He discussed with reporters the re-structuring of the beef industry and production capacity due to border closures, stating “short-sighted lawsuits call for long-term consequences that are simply not good for our cow/calf people.”

Congressman Rob Portman Nominated for U.S. Trade Representative: President Bush today announced his intention to nominate Congressman Rob Portman (R-OH) to be the United States Trade Representative (USTR). With more than a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, he has extensive experience working with America’s top international trade issues.  Rep. Portman worked with Congress to secure Trade Promotion Authority, a top priority for NCBA, and has completed free trade agreements on five continents. NCBA would like to congratulate Rep. Portman on his nomination, and is very supportive of the President’s choice. Our organization looks forward to continuing our work together with the USTR on increasing export market opportunities for U.S. beef. Finally, we would like thank the outgoing USTR Robert Zoellick for his dedication to the expansion of beef export opportunities and hope to work with him in his new position as Deputy Secretary of State. Portman also played a key role in working to resolve the EU ban on U.S. beef and was a strong supporter of ‘carousel retaliation,’ a provision that NCBA supported in 1999 and 2000 and was passed into law.

USDA Staff Announcement:  President Bush announced March 11 the nomination of Chuck Conner as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.  Mr. Conner currently serves as Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Trade, and Food Assistance at the National Economic Council.  Prior to this position, he served as President of the Corn Refiners Association in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Conner previously served on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry for twelve years.  NCBA congratulates Mr. Conner on this nomination and looks forward to working with him in his new role. 

Myers Nomination:  The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today in favor of the nomination of William Myers to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Myers worked for NCBA and the Public Lands Council in the 1990’s. President Bush nominated him to the federal bench last year, but his vote was blocked due to political maneuvering in July 2003. President Bush re-nominated Myers on Feb. 14.  If confirmed, Myers’ jurisdiction would be the largest in the country, including the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, representing over 485 million acres of federal lands. The full Senate is expected to take up the vote following Easter recess.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director:  Interior Secretary Gale Norton has named Matthew J. Hogan as acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hogan will remain Acting Director President Bush finishes the nomination process and has been the serving as the FWS deputy director for three years. Before the FWS,  2002, Hogan directed the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation and served as legislative director for Congressman Pete Geren of Texas.

USDA Surveillance for BSE: USDA continues its enhanced BSE surveillance program which began June 1.  To date, 274,148 tests have been conducted 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 detects BSE at a rate of 1 in 10 million adult cattle at a 99 percent confidence level. Although the program has now passed its 268,500 targeted number, APHIS says it will continue its enhanced surveillance program for the 12-18 month time period. 

Walk-A-Mile Program Wins Award:  The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) will host its annual awards reception on Friday, March 18 in Arlington, Virginia where it will present its coveted Touchstone award to the NCBA/FWS “Walk A Mile in my Boots” program.  The WMI Touchstone Award is given “to a natural resource management professional or group of professionals in the public or private sector, whose innovative efforts and initiatives within the past 24 months have resulted in significant advances for resource conservation and management.” Steve Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NCBA’s Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt will accept the award.  More information is posted at http://www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org/pages/awards.html

Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative:  NCBA’s Environmental Issues Managers, Tamara Thies and Stacey Katseanes, are participating in meetings this week of the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) National Steering Committee. The mission of the GLCI is to provide high quality technical assistance on privately owned grazing lands on a voluntary basis and to increase the awareness of the importance of grazing land resources. Established in 1991, GLCI is carried out through coalitions of individuals and organizations functioning at the local, state, regional and national levels.  The coalitions include livestock producer organizations, scientific and professional grazing resource organizations, conservation and environmental groups, and state and federal natural resource and agriculture agencies.

California Agriculture Leadership Group in Washington:  NCBA’s Washington Office hosted members of the California Agriculture Leadership group March 14 for an informal meeting and luncheon. Executive Director Bryan Dierlam gave the group a policy update, spoke about NCBA, and talked to them about being an effective leader in today’s ag industry. 

Missouri ALOT Meeting:  NCBA’s Washington Office hosted members of the Missouri ALOT (Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow) group on March 16.  NCBA’s Jay Truitt, Gary Weber, and Gregg Doud reviewed NCBA’s priority issues and counseled the young leaders on how to be more effective in dealing with today’s complicated cattle industry issues. 

NCBA PAC to Raffle off John Deere Buck at Spring Conference!:  Here’s another great reason to attend the 2005 NCBA Spring Conference this April!  All registered conference attendees will have an opportunity to win a John Deere Buck while also supporting NCBA-PAC!  The Buck ATV is well-known for being both hardworking and versatile, easily hauling up to 1,100 pounds.  Raffle tickets may be purchased for $100.00 each throughout the Spring Conference.  The winner will be announced during the NCBA Washington Office Open House on Friday, April 15.  All proceeds from the raffle will benefit NCBA-PAC.  NCBA-PAC keeps the voice of the cattle and beef industry heard on Capitol Hill by supporting members of Congress who speak for and protect our policy initiatives. If you are registered to attend the NCBA Spring Conference and would like to pre-purchase raffle tickets, please contact Erin Vincent at 202-347-0229 or evincent@beef.org. 

Congressional Schedule:  Congress is busy this week wrapping up unfinished businesses before recessing for Easter. Easter recess runs March 21-31. 

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

This publication is funded by cattle producers and other industry supporters through their voluntary membership contributions to NCBA. To join the tens of thousands of cattle producers from across the U.S. in working to preserve our legacy, contact NCBA Member Services at 1-866-BEEF-USA or Membership@beef.org.

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