Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: September 30, 2004

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns 
September 30, 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).

Disaster Relief:  President Bush sent Congress this week an emergency supplemental request for $7.1 billion in disaster relief funds to assist with clean up efforts in the wake of hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne. The President previously requested two supplementals totaling $5.1 billion for disaster assistance after hurricanes Charley and Frances. The latest request includes $400 million to compensate agriculture producers. Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) is also seeking $700 million for ag producers in his state. The disaster funding will likely be attached to the FY05 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which is still awaiting conference. Action is expected before adjournment tentatively scheduled for Oct. 8.

Mandatory Price Reporting:  NCBA is working with Congress and emphasizing the importance of a one-year reauthorization of Mandatory Price Reporting.  NCBA expects the law will be reauthorized.  The original statute would sunset the provision Oct. 22.   

Feed Rule:  NCBA told government officials this week that a risk/benefit and cost/benefit analysis on proposed changes to the feed rule will show removing all specified risk materials (SRMs) from all animal feed is not necessary to further reduce the BSE risk in the U.S.  Pointing to the results of USDA’s expanded surveillance program, NCBA says BSE tests on nearly 70,000 animals to date have yet to produce a positive case, and this is further evidence that our current feed restrictions are working.  NCBA says anything other than a science-based approach to amending the feed rule will be harmful to cattle producers and offer no real benefit to our industry or to consumers.  NCBA submitted formal comments to the FDA on the feed rule last month.  They are posted on NCBA’s website at:  http://hill.beef.org/pdfs/NCBAFDAANPRComments.pdf

USDA Surveillance for BSE: In related news, USDA continues its expanded BSE surveillance program which began on June 1. APHIS posts the test results on their website at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov.  To date, 68,295 tests have been conducted with no positives reported. 

Canadian Feed Rules:  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a discussion paper Sept. 29 outlining proposed changes to their feed rule. The new measures are intended to enhance the CFIA’s existing BSE safeguards, and specially call for keeping specified risk materials (SRMs) out of livestock feed to prevent cross-contamination at production plants and farms.  The new rules may call for plants to have dedicated lines to handle older cattle, and for dedicated plants to handle disposal of prohibited materials. The agency may also require rendering and feed plants to have dedicated equipment to handle other cattle protein still allowed for use in pig and poultry feed. Since 1997, Canada and the U.S. have banned the practice of feeding protein from cattle and other ruminants back to ruminants. The CFIA will take comments on the proposal prior to releasing the final regulations. The paper is posted on the CFIA website at:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml

Public Lands:  The Public Lands Council Annual Meeting is going on this week, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, in Glasgow, Montana. Topics of discussion include Forest Service’s on-the-ground permit administration issues, range management and monitoring issues, ESA issues including Sage Grouse and Gray Wolf, a report from the Wild Horse and Burro task force, an update on the National Fire Plan, and state reports. The meeting will also include presentations and discussion on enhancing range education and strengthening public land ranching.  We’ll have more coverage on this meeting in next week’s CCC.

Japanese Cabinet Changes:  Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has replaced some of his Cabinet in an effort to shore up support for his governing coalition. As part of the shake-up, Yoshinobu Shimamura was appointed minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, replacing Yoshiyuki Kamei. Shimamura, elected eight times to the House of Representatives, has held several key Liberal Democratic Party and Cabinet positions, including the posts of farm minister and education minister.  There are no indications regarding how this will impact the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Japan to resume trade of U.S. beef.

Nutrition:  NCBA submitted written comments Sept. 27 on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, after giving oral comments to the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services in Washington last week.  NCBA supports the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s overall theme: eating more nutrient-rich foods and being more active are essential to achieving a healthful weight and lifestyle.  NCBA recommended "Research shows consumers respond better to ‘do’s’ rather than to ‘don’ts’. Instructing people to choose lean meat, skinless poultry, and other lean protein sources is more actionable than telling them to reduce saturated fat intake. And today, people can easily select one of 19 cuts of beef that meet government standards for lean."  The Final 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is expected to be released early next year.  NCBA comments are posted on our web site at: http://hill.beef.org/pdfs/NCBADGACreportcomments9-27-04.pdf.

Conservation Workshop: NCBA’s Llangollen Farms Conservation Workshop is taking place today, Sept. 30, in Upperville, Virginia.  Llangollen Farms is a regional winner of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program, and is hosting this on-farm conservation workshop experience for area producers, media and anyone interested within the ag and environmental communities.  The families will be demonstrating the innovative practices they have implemented, and officials from the Natural Resources Conservation Service will be available to discuss participation in the Farm Bill Cost Share programs.  NCBA will have plenty of photographs and other information from the workshop to share with area publications.  If interested, contact Tanya Augustson taugustson@beef.org or call 202-347-0228.

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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