Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns
May 22, 2008

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.

Majority of Farm Bill Becomes Law Via Override; Only Trade Title Outstanding: On Wednesday, May 21, President Bush followed through on his threat to veto the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419), saying, “At a time of high food prices and record farm income, this bill lacks program reform and fiscal discipline.”

The House of Representatives moved quickly to immediately override the veto by a margin of 316 – 108.  The Senate followed suit with a strong vote of 82 – 13. 

With these votes, most of the new Farm Bill became law. However, one portion of the bill remains outstanding.   An enrollment error occurred when the Farm Bill was printed, so the actual bill vetoed by the President - and subsequently passed into law today - was missing Title III, which deals with trade and food aid. 

Questions are now being raised about how Congress should best address Title III, and NCBA will continue to monitor that issue. But cattle producers are pleased that the other portions of the bill are now enacted. While NCBA agrees with some criticisms of the legislation, it is strongly preferred over a reversion to the permanent farm policy law passed in 1949, or a long-term extension of the 2002 Farm Bill.

“Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have worked very hard to deliver a Farm Bill that provides a certain level of stability and consistency for agricultural producers.” said Colin Woodall, NCBA’s executive director of legislative affairs. “No agricultural group is coming away with everything it wanted, but it’s a bill we can all live with.” 

The new Farm Bill clarifies and simplifies livestock record-keeping requirements for mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), which is set to take effect this fall. It also moves the grandfather date for domestic livestock in the COOL law from Jan. 1, 2008, to July 15, 2008.

The Conservation title provides additional funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) - conservation programs that have benefited many cattle operations, as well as the general public.

Cattlemen also support a provision of the Farm Bill that allows for meat processed at state-inspected plants to be shipped to customers across state lines – a practice currently permitted only for federally inspected facilities. This will allow many small processing plants the opportunity to grow their business presence, and could increase local marketing options for cattle producers.

NCBA also applauds inclusion of $3.807 billion for a permanent ag disaster aid program. Under this program, farmers and ranchers who purchase Non-insured Agricultural Program (NAP) coverage could be eligible to receive compensation for extreme forage or livestock losses resulting from disasters such as drought, wildfires and floods.

Importantly, the new Farm Bill does not limit marketing options for livestock producers by banning packer ownership of livestock more than 14 days before slaughter. This provision had been included in the Senate version of the bill, but was voted down by the Conference Committee and did not become law.

“Through the grassroots efforts of our members, NCBA achieved some very important victories in this Farm Bill - both in terms of what was included and also what we were able to keep out of the legislation,” said Woodall. “Overriding the President’s veto and passing this bill into law was the best option right now for the nation’s cattle producers.”

NCBA President-elect Testifies for New National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility: In testimony delivered today before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, NCBA President-elect Gary Voogt emphasized the importance of foreign animal disease research and the need for a new diagnostic and research facility to protect American agriculture from foreign animal diseases. Voogt, a cattle producer from Marne, Mich., addressed committee members about the devastating impact that could be felt nationwide as a result of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

“It’s the most contagious animal disease known. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States could devastate the cattle industry,” Voogt said.  “The direct cost would be between $10 billion and $34 billion. The indirect cost could be even more serious.”

NCBA feels the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, located off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., has not been adequately funded or maintained for the purposes it is intended to fulfill. Cattlemen support construction of a state-of-the-art foreign animal disease research facility to replace Plum Island, but the organization is not advocating for a specific location.

“We believe modern bio-containment technology is adequate to protect our industry and to allow for safe research and diagnostics regardless of location,” said Voogt. 

NCBA supports the construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility because this new facility will give USDA and the Department of Homeland Security better tools to study and protect against foreign animal diseases.  NCBA's support is contingent upon the ability of USDA to retain its mission of conducting research on all foreign animal diseases.  It is also contingent upon seeing a commitment from Congress and the Administration to ensure this facility is properly funded and maintained, so this facility does not fall into poor condition in a manner similar to Plum Island.

“We need a commitment from Congress and the Administration that this new facility will be properly funded and maintained for the long haul,” Voogt said.

Hutchison Bill is Latest Effort to Revisit Renewable Fuels Mandates: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and a group of ten Senate cosponsors filed legislation on May 19 calling for a freeze (at the 2008 level) in the corn-based ethanol mandate that was passed in December 2007.  The energy bill requires an annual increase in the amount of ethanol produced domestically - mandating nine billion gallons of grain-based ethanol this year and growing the requirement to 15 billion gallons by 2015. 

“The ethanol mandate is clearly causing unintended consequences on food prices for American consumers,” said Sen. Hutchison in a news release.  “Freezing the mandate is in the best interests of consumers, who cannot afford the increasing prices at the grocery store due to the mandate diverting corn from food to fuel.”

NCBA opposed increasing the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) mandate for corn-based ethanol in the 2007 energy legislation, and NCBA policy supports the objective of the Hutchison bill to halt any further hikes in the RFS.

Mandatory Price Reporting Rule to Take Effect July 15:  The final rule implementing a law requiring meat packers to report prices paid to livestock producers was issued last week by USDA.  This rule facilitates open, transparent price discovery, and provides all market participants with comparable levels of market information for cattle, swine, sheep, beef, and lamb meat.

The Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act was initially approved in 1999, and reauthorized in October 2006. Its purpose was to establish a program regarding the marketing of livestock that provides information that can be readily understood by producers; improves the price and supply reporting services of the Department of Agriculture; and encourages competition in the marketplace for livestock and livestock products.

Packers have been voluntarily reporting livestock prices since the law expired in 2005, but NCBA policy strongly supports the reauthorized price reporting law and the rule completing implementation. The new rule appeared in the May 16 Federal Register and will take effect July 15.

Patience urged with Korea on Market Opening:  The South Korean market was expected to reopen to U.S. beef exports on Thursday, May 15. At that time, Korea was scheduled permit all U.S. beef and beef products from 31 approved plants, with no age restrictions. But recently, activist and political groups within Korea have been protesting the importation of U.S. beef, resulting in a delay of the market opening. Korea’s Agriculture Minister speculated the delay would last only seven to ten days, and NCBA continues to monitor the situation carefully.

“This delay is very frustrating, because we are very eager to resume beef trade with Korea,” said NCBA President Andy Groseta, who visited Seoul in February as part of the official U.S. delegation attending the inauguration of newly elected President Lee Myung-bak. “But I have great confidence in President Lee to bring U.S. beef back into Korea, so I would urge everyone to be patient while we work through these last remaining issues.”

Live Cattle Trade with Mexico Opens, but with Excessive Red Tape: The first shipments of U.S. breeding stock have crossed into Mexico under a new trade protocol agreed to earlier this spring. Since 2003, the only live cattle eligible for export to Mexico had been dairy heifers under the age of 24 months.

Mexico’s demand for U.S. breeding stock had declined due to an extended period of drought beginning in the late 1990s. But range conditions in Mexico have improved, and demand for U.S. breeding stock appears to be strong as Mexican ranchers are now in expansion mode for the first time in a decade. The Texas Department of Agriculture marked the occasion of the border reopening by organizing a ceremony May 21 to celebrate the first truckload of Texas bulls to cross the border in almost five years.

However, complaints are already mounting about excessive notification and inspection requirements being imposed by the government of Mexico. These obstacles are making live cattle trade extremely difficult, and will greatly slow the movement of animals across the border. USDA officials have been made aware of the issue, and NCBA and its state affiliates will be working to resolve these problems.

Don't Miss the Award-Winning NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen:  On this week’s episode - airing May 20-25 and sponsored by Ft. Dodge Animal Health - Cattlemen to Cattlemen reporter Kevin Ochsner will moderate an in-depth panel discussion with experts from Ft. Dodge answering questions and offering advice on effective parasite control.

A panel of NCBA officers will be featured on the program airing May 27-June 1. NCBA President Andy Groseta will share his goals and vision for NCBA and the beef industry. Policy Division Chairman Bill Donald discusses trade, tax and environmental issues, and the need for cattlemen to be active in advocating NCBA policy on Capitol Hill. Federation Division Chairman Alan Albright discusses recent successes achieved by the Beef Checkoff Program, and the challenges facing the industry as it strives to build beef demand.

NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV provides weekly news and features for cattle producers across the country. It airs every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, with repeat episodes on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Sundays at midnight (all times Eastern). It is also available online at www.CattlementoCattlemen.org. The program’s sponsors include Purina Mills, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer Animal Health, and McDonald’s. 

For more information or to check out past episodes, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org.

Contact Joe Schuele jschuele@beef.org or 303/850-3360.

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