Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: October 28, 2004

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns 
October 28, 2004

The 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).

5 Days Till Election 2004: This is the last edition of the CCC before Presidential Election Day 2004, and it’s dedicated to urging all cattle industry members, from all across the nation, to get to the polls next Tuesday. No matter what your choice in the voting booth, it is imperative that we get out the vote across the nation. You really can make a difference. This year’s election is one of the most critical in our lifetime. As you have heard, this year NCBA-PAC has taken an unprecedented action in our 106-year history by endorsing Bush-Cheney for re-election in 2004.  President Bush has demonstrated a proven track record of supporting issues that will allow rural communities and small businesses to prosper during his 2nd Term in office, and he needs a supportive Congress to realize these goals. Right now, NCBA-PAC is helping President Bush because he clearly understands our industry.  He supports tax relief for small business, farmers, and ranchers, personal property rights,  has fostered an aggressive trade policy opening markets worldwide for our products and is committed to working with producers and our industry on efforts to better ensure the health of our cattle herd.

NCBA hopes you will go to the polls to support President Bush, and asks you to take friends and family with you.  Regardless of whom you support, however, we hope that you vote – it is both a duty and a privilege that we as Americans are fortunate to have! For last-minute election information, go to http://hill.beef.org/election for questions about the upcoming election and voting information for your hometown.

Resumption of U.S. Beef to Japan:  The Bush administration announced Oct. 23 that Japan and the U.S. have agreed on a framework that will result in the resumption of U.S. beef exports to Japan. This is great news for U.S cattlemen and represents an important first step toward regaining full access to the largest export market for U.S. beef.  We’re hopeful that this U.S./Japan agreement will pave the way for resumption of trade with other overseas markets. As expected, this week has brought much discussion amongst media outlets and industry groups following Saturday’s announcement. It is important to understand that this agreement provides a trading framework, which effectively ends the stalemate in reopening what was the largest market for U.S. beef exports prior to Dec. 23, 2003. This is the first major movement in the re-opening of this important export market for U.S. beef. The door has been opened. It is now incumbent upon the industry and government officials to fulfill the requirements of the framework so that we can regain full access to these important markets, which represented $60/head on fed cattle prior to December 23. We are confident we will achieve this goal.

Japan Export Requirements: The USDA has announced that next Wednesday Nov. 3rd, from 1pm-5pm Central Time, USDA's Ag Marketing Service (AMS) will hold a meeting/ teleconference with the industry in Kansas City to explain the requirements needed to support the new Japanese Beef Export Verification (BEV) program. Since it is anticipated that this effort will require the involvement of a significant portion of the U.S. cattle feeding industry, it is important that the news of this meeting be distributed throughout the cattle feeding sector. There are a limited number of lines, which is why a "pre-registration" process is being requested. If you have questions regarding the meeting, please contact NCBA at (202) 347-0228.

Taiwan Trade: Also this week, Taiwan announced it will resume imports of U.S. beef and beef products. America’s cattle producers are very pleased with Taiwan’s announcement, which comes on the heels of the announcement by Japan to resume beef trade with the U.S., and we are encouraged by the progress being made to reopen our Asian markets.  There is still much work to do in regaining the market share we had prior to Dec. 23, 2003, but the progress we are seeing this week is a tremendous step toward that goal. Taiwan has been one of our fastest growing markets in recent years.  Trade of U.S. beef and beef products to Taiwan doubled between 1998 and 2000.  In 2003, the U.S. exported a record $76.3 million in beef and beef variety meats to Taiwan, with total beef product trade to Taiwan in 2003 amounting to $325 million.  NCBA applauds President Bush and the Administration’s trade team for making the re-opening of these vital markets a top priority.  The U.S. government and NCBA are working proactively toward the goal of regaining complete access to the markets we had prior to the BSE case discovered last year. 

FCSA Update: Last Thursday, Omaha-based Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA) announced the termination of an acquisition agreement with Rabobank.  This comes nearly three months after the July 30th announcement that FCSA had entered into an agreement to be purchased by Rabobank.  At the 2004 Summer Conference in August, NCBA members passed a resolution urging members who were also shareholders of FCSA to thoroughly study the issue before voting.  FCSA is an affiliate of the Farm Credit Administration and provides credit to agriculture and rural interests in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

The Board of Directors of FCSA considered a variety of factors and determined it was in the best interests of its shareholders to terminate the agreement.  These factors, as stated in FCSA's news release, included increasing likelihood that approval for the transaction would be delayed and the risks faced by such a delay; a clarification in regulatory position that affects FCSA's allowance for loan losses; changes in funding practices by AgriBank, FCB which is the funding source for FCSA; Rabobank's offer to increase the purchase price to $750 million; and the activities of third parties since the original announcement.

In the same action, FCSA unanimously rejected an offer to merge with neighboring Farm Credit System affiliate, Mankato, Minnesota-based AgStar Financial Services.  Citing concerns about the merged association's capital position, balance sheet restructuring, and preferred stock, FCSA was concerned that they would not be able to sustain a cash patronage program and a competitive interest rate pricing structure for their customers. 

Conservation Programs:  In a statement Oct. 22, NCBA applauds the Bush Administration’s process for conservation program policy development.  This is a collaborative process which allows for participation by any member of the public with the state technical committees.  NCBA criticized attempts by environmental groups to litigate against the Administration due to their dislike of those policies.  NCBA says attempts by litigation-eager groups to continually resort to our legal system to pursue their agenda do little to achieve real conservation goals and impair the programs we have in place which actually benefit our land.

USAHA Meeting:  The Unites States Animal Health Association annual meeting is still taking place this week in Greensboro, N.C. (Oct. 21-28).  NCBA Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs Gary Weber is in attendance, and on Tuesday he will facilitate a discussion on Plum Island foreign animal disease research efforts. 

Animal ID:  Florida producers need to be aware that USDA is conducting another listening session on Animal Identification in the Kissimmee, Fla area.  The session is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004, 9:00 am - 11:30 am at the Florida Cattlemen's Association State Office, 800 Shakerag Rd.  For directions, call 407-846-6221.

USDA Surveillance for BSE: In related news, USDA continues its BSE surveillance program which began on June 1. APHIS posts the test results on their website at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov.  To date, 92,371 tests have been conducted with no positives reported. 

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.

For more information, please visit our web site at hill.beef.org.

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