Dave Maples: Thoughts from Dave

Dave Maples Executive Vice President

As I have stated many times working for a trade association, and in my case the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, I get to engage in many different issues and projects. Some are fun and enjoyable others being not fun and appealing at all, but you have to deal with them. Most often we talk about cattle and the process of raising cattle. However, there are many other issues that a trade association has the opportunity to comment on. To name a few that we are tracking are solar panels, or as I am learning Agrivoltaics. There is a Senate Ag/ House Ag/Energy hearing on the issue and an upcoming webinar series on the issue. Another issue that will affect us all are the implications that pertain to changes to the federal tax policy and the effects that they will have on family-owned agriculture businesses. Having a business relationship with NCBA’s Senior Executive Director of Government Affairs, Danielle Beck, is for sure a strong tool in the tool box when it comes to a complicated issue like federal taxes. As a NCBA staffer, Danielle was Co-Chair of the Tax Aggie Coalition that spearheaded a letter to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee leadership urging them to consider the consequences that changes to federal tax policy will have on our farming operations. Nearly 330 trade associations representing family-owned food, agriculture and related businesses agree that, when drafting legislation to implement President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda, it is critical that the “American Families Plan” must also support family farms and ranches. It was nice to see the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association along with Kentucky Farm Bureau, Kentucky Corn Growers and the Kentucky Soybean Association on the letter with so many American Agriculture organizations. Closer to home the issue of the shortage of Kentucky Rural Veterinary Practitioners has been a topic of conversation for several years. The issue has been tossed around and discussed many times. Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine along with the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association and USDA will be addressing the issue and reporting on the USDA program that helps fund the placement of veterinarians in the underserved areas. Having the opportunity to talk about the challenges to rural practices with Auburn’s Dean of the Veterinary School, Dr. Calvin Johnson along with Dr. Glen Sellers and Dr. Melinda Camus is a welcoming opportunity for KCA. There have been many conversations about packing plants and the shortage of packing capacity. The beef industry has basically four major packing plants and the pandemic has not been kind to the packing industry just like many other industries. Labor shortages have been a big issue. There has been an announcement that there will be USDA money allocated to help with the issue. Kentucky has been in the news and several visits have been made by some of the mid to larger food processing companies that have an interest in locating in the eastern half of the country. With all the drought and the population shift to the east I could see why a beef processing company would consider locating in a state like Kentucky. There is a lot of interest around the topic but it is always about timing and the local communities welcoming a modern facility.