Cattle Producers Lobby Washington

April 26, 2002

More than 300 cattle producers are back home after a visit to Washington for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) annual Spring Conference and one-on-one meetings with numerous members of Congress and government agencies. Their mission was to talk with members of Congress and regulators concerning key legislative and regulatory priorities for the American cattle industry.

Producers from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Virginia met with top government officials and members of Congress to discuss major policy issues, and were encouraged by what they heard. The agency meetings gave cattle producers an opportunity to hear what is happening in Washington, where industry regulations and legislation currently stand, and what is likely to happen in the future.

They urged legislators to oppose the Senate-passed Johnson amendment that would impose a prohibition on packers owning, feeding, or controlling livestock and told lawmakers that permanent repeal of the death tax is a major priority in order to keep farms and ranches in the family from one generation to the next.

Several NCBA members met with EPA's Director of the Office of Science and Technology Geoff Grubbs, and with Jean Mari Peltier, counselor to the administrator on agriculture policy. The meeting discussion focused on the proposed concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) regulations, and producers had a chance to express their concerns about the impact these proposed regulations could have on the cattle industry. NCBA has submitted extensive comments on the CAFO proposal.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) held a private meeting with NCBA members and hosted a press briefing following the meeting. NCBA asked the CFTC to investigate the impact a report of a suspected case of FMD had on the cattle market. CFTC issued an extensive report on cattle futures trading during March and April and said no wrongdoing has yet been found but stressed that its investigation continues.