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Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns
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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. |
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NCBA Member Testifies During Congressional Estate Tax Hearing
Arthur Uhl, member of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and chairman of NCBA's Tax and Credit Committee, testified on Wednesday at a U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee hearing on the estate tax. Uhl, a rancher, cattle producer and attorney from San Antonio, Texas, highlighted the need for swift reform of this burdensome tax-considered one of the leading causes of the breakup of multi-generation family farms and ranches.
"At the end of the day, all we really want is to keep our farms and ranches in production," said Uhl. "This is not a tax cut for the rich. This is money that America's farmers and ranchers need to re-invest in order to grow the family business and hand it down to future generations."
The following is an excerpt from Uhl's testimony:
"The estate tax is fundamentally unfair, inefficient, economically stifling and particularly devastating to our business, which requires very highly valued assets to produce minimal economic returns. Cattle producers understand and appreciate the role of taxes in maintaining and improving our nation, but they also believe that the most effective tax code is a fair one. NCBA members fundamentally disagree with the taxing of assets that have already been taxed, sometimes two and three times over. In the eyes of American farmers and ranchers, death should not be a taxable event for either the estate or its heirs.
"The current onerous estate tax system is also at odds with our important national goals of preserving natural resources and open space. Family farms and ranches provide an abundant and necessary source of food and fiber to feed the growing global population, as well as Americans right here at home. Not only are they producing nutritious food, America's farmers and ranchers are taking care of the land, air, and water that make our way of life possible. The Death tax breaks up farm and ranch land and displaces family generational farms and ranches, expediting their conversion to strip malls and condo complexes and doing a great disserve to the American public and the rural way of life.
"Our members recognize full repeal is not an option at this time, so we are simply asking Congress to reform the estate tax to give some relief and certainty to dedicated farming and ranching families who continue to work and preserve the land."
Farmers, ranchers and small businesses deserve more than just a simple extension of current law. NCBA is calling for additional estate tax relief on top of the current 2009 law, as well as an agriculture exemption. For more information, visit: http://www.beefusa.org/NEWSNCBAContinuestoCallforDeathTaxReform39731.aspx |
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Kerry/Boxer Climate Change Bill Clears Committee
Earlier today, the Environment and Public Works Committee reported without amendment S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (Kerry/Boxer Climate Change Bill) by a vote of 10-1. No Republicans were present at the vote. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) is extremely concerned about the stifling economic impacts this legislation would have on agriculture. The Kerry/Boxer bill, as reported, would raise costs of fuel, electricity, feed, fertilizer, equipment, and other inputs necessary to maintain a cattle operation-severely impeding our ability to produce high-quality, affordable food for our growing population.
Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was the lone Democrat to vote against the bill. NCBA sent a letter to Senator Baucus in appreciation for his vote, as well as his intention to offer amendments to the bill during markup that would have helped protect agriculture from regulation. Unfortunately, he was not able to offer them since no votes were allowed on amendments.
"Cattle producers will continue to work every day to protect and improve the environment so that we and future generations will be able to continue to live off the land and feed our nation and the rest of the world," sated Voogt in a letter to Senator Baucus. "We thank you for your recognition of our beneficial impact, and we look forward to working with you and the rest of the Senate to protect agriculture and show that we are part of the solution and not part of the problem."
Separately, NCBA wrote a letter of thanks and support to Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) for her efforts in developing an agricultural offsets and allowances package that may be considered in the Agriculture Committee.
"NCBA supports your package as it will go far towards making offset participation a reality for many agriculture producers, as well as providing other benefits and protection," stated NCBA President Gary Voogt in a letter to Senator Stabenow. "Nevertheless, despite these improvements, we continue to have significant concerns with the overall climate change legislation." |
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Chief Agriculture Negotiator Nominee Testifies Before Senate
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing yesterday to consider several of President Obama's nominees, including Dr. Isi Siddiqui as chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). In his testimony, Siddiqui emphasized the importance of working to remove non-tariff trade barriers and pursuing trade deals that benefit America's farmers and ranchers, particularly in the Doha Round.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) recently joined with a group of nearly 50 food and agricultural organizations in urging the Senate Finance Committee to move forward on Dr. Siddiqui's nomination as soon as possible.
"Dr. Siddiqui brings to the position a wealth of valuable experience from his four decades of work in agriculture as a respected doctor of plant science and as an expert in international trade policy," stated the groups in a letter to Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley on Oct. 21.
The position of chief agricultural negotiator with the rank of ambassador was created by Congress in 1997 for the express purpose of ensuring that U.S. agriculture is fully represented in trade negotiations at the highest possible level with the support of the U.S. Congress. |
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Cattlemen Urge EPA Not to Regulate Agriculture Out of Business
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) is criticizing flawed and inconclusive science in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (i.e. dust). The study was done as part of a required review of the coarse particulate matter standards.
"Coarse particulate matter is nothing more than the dust kicked up by cars or trucks traveling on dirt roads, a tractor tilling a field, or cattle moving around on dirt," explains Tamara Thies, NCBA's Chief Environmental Council. "Studies do not show that rural dust is a health concern."
In 2006, EPA set coarse particulate matter standard of 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air. When EPA began reviewing the NAAQS in 2008, they determined that the evidence of health effects from this level of coarse particulate matter was inconclusive.
In July 2009, however, EPA reinterpreted that inconclusive evidence and made use of a flawed study to suggest that there are adverse health effects from dust at levels that are ten times lower than the current standard.
"EPA is suggesting a level of 12 to 15 micrograms of dust per cubic meter of air," says Thies. "That is below naturally occurring levels of dust throughout many Western states-including pristine National parks."
If EPA were to set the air standards at this level, much of the country would be over the limit. "Cattle producers are concerned about this because it would limit our ability to raise livestock, who kick up dust as they walk around," Thies says. "But this issue goes well beyond agriculture. States would be required to impose extreme control requirements and limitations on many businesses to ensure that the standard is met."
"We are urging EPA to reject this faulty study and refrain from setting an air quality standard for dust lower than naturally occurring levels, and effectively halting economic growth and development," Thies continued. |
Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen!
Don't miss a special edition of NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen, November 10-14! We'll sit down with the experts from Land O'Lakes Purina Feed to learn more about how nutrition programs play an important role on your operation.
NCBA'S Cattlemen to Cattlemen is now an hour long! The show debuts Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. and airs again Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. (all times are Eastern). Don't forget, you can watch NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen online anytime by visiting www.CattlemenToCattlemen.org. Follow us on Twitter at NCBA C2C and become a fan of the show on Facebook by searching NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen. |
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NATIONAL CATTLEMEN'S BEEF ASSOCIATION
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20004 | | Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - October 29, 2009 (10/29/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - October 15, 2009 (10/15/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - October 8, 2009 (10/8/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - October 1, 2009 (10/1/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - September 24, 2009 (9/24/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - September 17, 2009 (9/17/2009) Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns - September 10, 2009 (9/10/2009)
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