WASHINGTON, D.C. — From wildfires on the Plains to avian influenza, the last

few weeks for the American livestock industry have been a particularly ongoing

challenge.

 

Policies in place for sheep, cattle, poultry and pork farmers were a focus last

week as the House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Livestock and

Foreign Agriculture continues to examine the current farm bill and how to improve

it. Proposed rule changes for the USDA Grain Inspection Packers and

Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) were widely discussed during the meeting as a

cause for concern.

 

“The rule has been opposed by the vast majority of cattle producers since it was

first introduced in 2010,” said Craig Uden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef

Assoc. (NCBA). “(Meat) packers have indicated that they are not willing to open

themselves up to frivolous lawsuits and the legal risks this change in the competitive

injury standard would create.”

 

Uden said any attempt to restrict ownership of livestock should also be avoided.

The language that has previously been proposed would limit a packer’s ability to own livestock.

 

“These types of restrictions would limit the marketing options available to our producers and would represent interference in the marketplace by the federal government which we adamantly oppose,” he said.

 

Among other issues, NCBA also opposes mandatory country-of-origin labeling,

or COOL, programs, he explained. Uden said the group supports keeping conservation

programs and research programs in the farm bill, and testified that a footand-

mouth disease (FMD) vaccination bank needs to be stocked better in the

United States. “FMD is highly contagious and has the potential to spread widely

and rapidly, debilitating cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, swine, and

sheep … An FMD outbreak in the United States could potentially cost our nation’s

livestock producers billions of dollars in the first 12 months alone,” he added.

In addition to concerns about FMB and the need for a bank, Bob Buchholz – a

member of the board of directors of the American Sheep Industry Assoc. and

past president of the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Assoc. – said sheep producers

are worried about predatory wildlife, which cost producers about $137 million

annually, legal immigrant agriculture workers and mandatory price reporting.

He said trade is needed by the industry because 50 percent of American wool is

exported.

 

Pork is another industry that relies heavily on international trade, said David

Herring, vice president of the National Pork Producers Council.