After six years of serving as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Forrest Roberts has announced his resignation, effective July 31. Roberts is leaving NCBA to “pursue other opportunities in the cattle industry and agribusiness” but will remain with the organization until the end of July to help with the transition of staff leadership and …
Agriculture Reacts to WOTUS Final Rule
Agricultural organizations are analyzing the final Clean Water Act Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule released today to determine whether it answers the concerns they have raised about the impact the regulation would have on farmers and ranchers, but most express reservations. “We are undertaking a thorough analysis of the final WOTUS rule to determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency …
Ag Urges Senate to Pass TPA
Senate Republicans and agriculture industry leaders held a press conference in Washington today to discuss the ways new trade deals could benefit the agriculture community and urge passage of the bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation. Senators speaking on behalf of TPA included Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) …
Ag Day 2015
National Ag Day activities are conducted by the Agriculture Council of America. This year’s Chair is Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. In this week’s program I talked with Colin about the work of the ACA and this year’s activities. I also spoke with Amy Bradford, GROWMARK, an Ag Day sponsor and sponsor of my coverage of Ag Day activities …
House Panel Hears Testimony on WOTUS
Representatives of agricultural organizations unanimously condemned the proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule during a hearing held Tuesday by the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry. American Farm Bureau Federation General Counsel Ellen Steen told the panel that “unless dramatically altered,” the rule will create enormous uncertainty and vulnerability for farmers and ranchers nationwide. “It is impossible to …
Ag Groups Comment on Proposed Dietary Guidelines
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee submitted their recommendations to the Health and Human Services Secretary Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and USDA will consider this report, along with input from other federal agencies and comments from the public as they develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015, to be released …
First Woman NCBA President Honored
The first female president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, who was instrumental in getting the beef checkoff passed, was awarded the Swan Family Leadership Award today at the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. The award, which recognizes worthy individuals who have made a difference during a lifetime of dedication and leadership to the beef industry, was presented …
USFRA Charts Course into the Future
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) was officially launched four years ago at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention and this year the organization announced a new chair. Nancy Kavazanjian takes the seat following in the footsteps of American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman. Nancy hails from Wisconsin where she is a corn and soybean farmer, also …
WTO Announces Decision on COOL
The United States’ Country of Origin labeling (COOL) is still not cool with the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the compliance panel report released today, the WTO found that “the amended COOL measure violates Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement because it accords to Canadian and Mexican livestock less favourable treatment than that accorded to like US livestock.” In particular, …
NCBA Concerns About Beef Checkoff
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met earlier this week with the Beef Checkoff working group and reportedly told them he’s planning on implementing a new checkoff program for the industry by January, 2016. The action would be taken under the 1996 Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act, also called the “generic checkoff act,” and would be separate from and in addition …