2007 CCC Archive
Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns
May 3, 2007
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’d like to include NCBA’s logo in your reprint, contact our office at 202-347-0228.
Senate Bill Seeks to Increase RFS for Feedgrain-Based Ethanol: NCBA is working to halt movement of S. 987, the Biofuels for Energy Security and Transportation Act of 2007, until Congress can fully understand the consequences this bill could have on cattle producers.
The bill proposes to increase the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to 36 billion gallons by 2022 and establish a mandate of 15 billion gallons of renewable fuels from feed grain products by 2015. NCBA policy opposes additional mandates or extensions for feedgrain-based ethanol that do not allow market forces to function in the development of bioenergy and renewable fuels.
An incredible 5.4 billion bushels of corn, equal to roughly 43 percent of all U.S. corn production, would be needed to produce the 15 billion gallons of feed-grains based ethanol proposed by this bill. NCBA says the impact of a 15 billion gallon RFS for feed-grains based ethanol will deal a serious blow to cattle producers if the United States experiences anything short of a new record for U.S. corn production.
S. 987 was approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on May 2nd, and now moves to the Senate floor for consideration along with a package of other energy-related bills.
U.S. Beef Selling in South Korea: A small amount of boneless U.S. beef is being sold to South Korean consumers this week. The first shipment of U.S. boneless beef in three years, four months and four days was allowed into South Korea last Friday. Two U.S. beef shipments – one from Creekstone and one from Iowa Pacific Processors (IPP) from beef that originated from Swift’s Dumas, Texas plant – cleared x-ray screenings in South Korea. Further, Korea has now agreed that if bone fragments are found in future shipments, the country’s inspectors will remove only the specific box and not reject the entire shipment, as they have in the past.
Each initial U.S. beef shipment a company makes to South Korea must also undergo a battery of residue tests including a test for dioxin, which can take up to 18 days. But this is only necessary on the first shipment from each company. Creekstone passed its dioxin/residue test last year only to have the entire shipment rejected due to a bone fragment.
Packing plants across the country now say they are getting boxed beef ready for shipment to South Korea. "We are getting product ready in the pipeline, and it's likely that we will be shipping that product in the next few weeks," said a Swift representative. There is still much work to be done with South Korea between now and June 30th, which is when President Bush is expected to officially sign the U.S. – South Korea Free Trade Agreement. There is no indication as to when Congress may vote to ratify this agreement.
Bush Pushes for Expanded Access for U.S. Beef in Japan: President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met last Friday to discuss a number of issues, including trade. President Bush said in a joint press conference: “I'm absolutely convinced the Japanese people will be better off when they eat American beef. It's good beef, it’s healthy beef; as a matter of fact, I'm going to feed the Prime Minister and his delegation a good hamburger today for lunch.”
Bush told Abe the United States wants fully restored beef export access as soon as possible. Japan is moving to ease its inspection requirements and possibly consider accepting beef from cattle older than 20 months. "I think we have reached a critical and positive turning point with Japan," said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt.
TPA Renewal Countdown: In less than two months, Congress must renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which is set to expire on June 30th unless reauthorized. This "fast-track" authority is extremely important when, after years of negotiations, final trade agreements are ready for passage. TPA assures that after trade agreements are finalized, Congress cannot make last-minute special interest concessions or amendments. Such activity destroys long-negotiated, collective and intricate agreements between nations as well as our negotiators’ ability to negotiate in good faith.
Between 1994 and 2002, when the President did not have TPA, America’s foreign competitors took advantage of opportunities to expand their presence in the international marketplace. The rest of the world was moving forward, signing trade deals that excluded the United States. In 2002, there were over 150 preferential trade agreements in the world, and the United States was a party to only three (the European Union was a party to 31 and Mexico was a party to 10.) U.S. cattlemen are urging that this not happen again and particularly at a time when Australia has entered into free trade negotiations with Japan.
NCBA members were leaders in the fight for Congressional passage of TPA in 2001-2002. We will continue to urge Congress for renewal of this important international trade legislation before the looming deadline! Call your Senators and Representatives TODAY and urge them to RENEW TPA!
Canada Confirms 10th BSE Case: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed May 2nd diagnosis of the country’s 10th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed supply. Officials report the BSE-positive animal was a 66-month-old dairy cow from British Columbia.
This latest finding helps illustrate the logic behind comments submitted by NCBA March 12 on USDA’s proposal to amend the BSE minimal risk region rule expanding trade of cattle and beef products from Canada into the United States. In its comments, NCBA raised some very specific issues regarding post-feed ban cases and called for USDA to address these issues before going forward with any expansion of imports.
Specifically, NCBA called for USDA to revisit and better explain its designated March 1, 1999, feed ban compliance date. While current information demonstrates that Canada now maintains effective feed ban compliance, it is not clear that this was the case in March 1999. NCBA has asked for a quantitative assessment of feed ban compliance in Canada. An accurate feed ban date is absolutely essential for this proposed rule. Once an effective feed ban date is determined, USDA must use this date to ensure cattle imported into the United States were born after the set date. In addition, NCBA member-directed policy calls for Canadian cattle to be permanently identified through harvest.
Oklahoma Passes Superfund Bill: Oklahoma's governor has signed a state law that declares animal manure is not a hazardous waste. The bill will protect Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers from frivolous lawsuits claiming animal manure is toxic waste. But this also sets a positive precedent for efforts in Washington in support of federal legislation to clarify that livestock manure isn’t subject to Superfund regulations. Oklahoma state representative Terry Hyman said, "This legislation will protect farmers and ranchers from people who can't tell the difference between a barnyard and Chernobyl." (see “Superfund Bills Update” below for information on the current efforts in the U.S. Congress.)
Superfund Bills Update: Cattlemen across the country are reaching out to their elected representatives to urge support for a pair of bills that will clarify that livestock manure shouldn’t be considered a Superfund material under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA).
S. 807 and H.R. 1398 were introduced March 8th by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) in the Senate, and Representatives Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ralph Hall (R-Texas) in the House. These bills will clarify that manure is not a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant under Superfund laws.
There are now 18 co-sponsors in the Senate. There are 104 co-sponsors in the House, with nine new cosponsors signing on last week. They are Reps. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), John Carter (R-Texas), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), Virgil Goode (R-Va.), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Thelma Drake (R-Va.), and Chris Cannon (R-Utah).
This is a priority issue for America’s ranchers! Continue contacting your Senators and Representatives at their offices by phone, fax or email, and urge them to sign-on! Download our full-color fact sheet on this issue at www.beefusa.org.
Death Tax Bill Update: Full and permanent repeal of the Death Tax remains a top priority for American ranchers. NCBA has worked tirelessly on this issue for decades because of the hardship it places on America’s farming and ranching families who wish to pass on their operations to the next generation.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) introduced legislation (H.R.1586) on March 20th that, if passed, would result in full and permanent repeal of the Death Tax. The bill currently has 70 co-sponsors with Representatives Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) signing on this week.
NCBA urges its cattle producer-members to contact their congressional representatives at their offices by phone, fax or email, and urge them to sign-on! Download our full-color fact sheet on this issue at www.beefusa.org.
Senate Hearing on Conservation Programs: The Senate Agriculture Committee hosted a hearing on Tuesday, May 1st on conservation policy recommendations for the Farm Bill. In written comments submitted for the congressional record, NCBA said conservation programs are a top priority for America’s cattle producers in this next Farm Bill.
“The conservation of our nation’s natural resources is imperative, and cattle producers have a vested interest in keeping land healthy and productive, keeping water and air clean, keeping wildlife abundant, and keeping ecosystems diverse,” says NCBA. “We strive to operate as environmentally friendly as possible, and it is through the conservation programs in the Farm Bill that we can achieve a partnership with the government to this end.”
NCBA also says it’s important that overlap and redundancy in Farm Bill conservation programs be eliminated, and efficiency of the programs must be improved. Specifically, NCBA points to the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). Because the program is so popular and has proven so effective, there is a substantial backlog of applications. NCBA supports increased funding for EQIP within the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill, so that the program can provide more producers with financial assistance as they work to implement good conservation practices.
USDA’s Release of Confidential Information: The House Ag Committee held a hearing on May 2nd to review USDA’s release of program beneficiaries’ Social Security numbers and of the Department’s information systems. The USDA learned April 13th that private identification information of as many as 38,700 Farm Service Agency (FSA) or USDA Rural Development (RD) funding recipients was accessible to the public on a government-wide website. NCBA monitored the hearing and will be -looking for assurances from USDA on its ability to maintain producers’ confidential data information. NCBA has said this is an example of why such sensitive information - such as producers’ animal identification information - needs to be housed within the private sector.
NCBA Submits Comments on Cloning: NCBA submitted its final comments this week to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its risk assessment related to the cloning of food animals. NCBA says it supports the development of cloning technology as another assisted reproduction tool that would be available to producers. “U.S. cattle producers have a rich and long history of being innovators and leaders to produce and maintain a healthy U.S. cattle herd. Cattlemen have been responsibly using safe, assisted reproduction methods for many years and cloning is just another one of these methods,” says NCBA in its comments.
NCBA policy supports the further development of cloning as one of many reproductive technologies that can be used to enhance the beef industry. But NCBA policy also urges all technology companies and owners of cloned animals to voluntarily keep these animals and their offspring out of the food supply until the FDA makes a final decision on its risk assessment.
Cloning is simply assisted reproduction that produces a “twin” (i.e. identical twins of donor animals, just born at different times); it does not add, change or modify genes to produce a new trait. Clones are virtually indistinguishable from their non-cloned counterparts and clones and their progeny are all born naturally.
Panama–U.S. Meetings on Screwworm Eradication: In 1994 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Panama Ministry of Agriculture (MIDA) entered into an agreement for the purposes of eradicating and preventing re-infestations of screwworms (Cochliomyia hominivorax) and establishing and operating a sterile screwworm fly production facility in the Republic of Panama. This agreement created the Panama – United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworms (COPEG).
NCBA Chief Veterinarian Elizabeth Parker is in Panama this week for the 9th Commissioners' Meeting in Panama City. This year's commissioners meeting is important because it is the initiation of a new, permanent phase in preventing re-infestation in Central America and the United States. Dr. Parker is also meeting separately with beef producer groups to tour production facilities.
NAFB Washington Watch Meeting: The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) wrapped up its annual Washington Watch meeting this week. Washington Watch hosts farm broadcasters from across the country in Washington for an intensive agenda of meetings with government groups, members of Congress, and industry leaders.
NCBA spokespersons participated in one of the meeting’s most popular events, the annual Issues Forum on Monday, May 1st. NCBA spokespersons Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Truitt, Chief Economist Gregg Doud, and Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Colin Woodall taped more than 25 radio interviews on the cattle industry’s most pressing issues including the Farm Bill, trade, corn prices and renewable energy, environmental issues and tax reform.
Don't Miss NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen: Tune into NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern time) this Saturday and we’ll take you to Nebraska to check out how cattle feeding and ethanol production now go hand in hand. Plus, we’ll also take a look at how new technologies are playing an important role in beef production. We’ll also hear from popular beef industry journalist Trent Loos and his proactive efforts on humane horse management.
On next week’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen episode, beginning Tuesday May 8th, we have a feature interview with our nation’s Chief Agricultural Negotiator Richard T. Crowder, with the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Ambassador Crowder is responsible for directing all U.S. agricultural trade negotiations everywhere in the world. We’ll highlight some outstanding ranches who find unusual ways to contribute to both the beef industry and the environment. Plus, we’ll have a first hand account of the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s travels to Taiwan.
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV provides weekly news and features for cattle producers across the country. The show airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. and is rebroadcast Wednesdays at 4:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 10 a.m. All times are Eastern. Make sure YOU tune into NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen on channel RFD-TV. For more information, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org.
Media Contact:
Tanya A. Camarra or Karen Batra at 202-347-0228, tacamarra@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.