Kristina Harris Butts is the Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). She sat down with me during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference to give me an update on a policy that hasn’t been so top of mind for policymakers these past few months due to their work on the budget. And that’s the 2012 Farm Bill. I asked her what some of the key points were for the cattle industry that need to be included in this bill.

During the meeting, NCBA put forth a Guidance Document that is the foundation of what the members would like NCBA to pursue in the Farm Bill. The Guidance Document doesn’t replace current policy but rather illustrates those priorities, explained Butts.

One key issue is maintaining the conservation programs that NCBA producers take part in. Like so many other programs, it has been cut. “We’re trying to figure out how we can maximize all these cost share programs where producers put in money and the government matches the dollars,” said Butts.

Another area that has been heavily debated is research. The research, says Butts, includes production research on animal diseases, production measures, genetics, and how we the producers can continue to use natural resources to produce the most amount of meat possible to not only feed our country but a growing world population.

Butts said there is a running joke that the Farm Bill is the nutrition bill since so much focus of the bill is on nutrition. But she says NCBA members support nutrition efforts and understand that beef is a healthy part of a diet and also believe that the USDA is the right agency for the programs being administered.

You can learn much more about the 2012 Farm Bill by listening to my interview with Kristina Harris Butts here: A Farm Bill for the Cattle Industry

Photos from the conference are posted to this photo album: 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album.