March 2016
TOP TOPSTORIES STORIES GMO labeling bill
Members attending the American Farm Bureau Issues Advisory Committee meetings in Washington. D.C. included (left to right) Tom DePuydt, Gary Heibertshausen, Bruce Wright, Charlene and Larry Switzer and Turk Stovall.
Committees meet in nation’s capital Members of Montana Farm Bureau traveled to Washington, D.C. for the American Farm Bureau Issues Advisory Committee Meetings and Agricultural Advocacy Conference. The meetings, held February 22-25, centered around topics of importance to farmers and ranchers. MFBF members were appointed to serve on five of the 15 committees. Turk Stovall, a rancher from Billings serving on the Animal Care Committee, talked about challenges of the initiative of turning buffalo out on rangeland. “I explained why this isn’t only a property rights problem, but a disease issue with the concern of brucellosis. If we start spreading bison across the state, there could be a real threat to livestock and public health.” Bruce Wright, a small agricultural business owner from Bozeman, serves on the Farm Policy Committee. “Our commit-
tee’s position is it would be harmful to readjust funding in the new farm bill when we are barely half way into implementing it. Trying to tamper with the farm bill after all the work that has gone into it is not good,” said Wright. Larry Switzer, a Richey cattle rancher, said the meeting of the Market Structures Committee primarily revisited a resolution they had developed at last year’s meetings on bonding requirements for livestock dealers and the current cost of cattle. “We had a speaker from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission talk to us about high frequency trading,” Switzer said. “Apparently high frequency trading means they can do 200 trades per second. The belief is we need to slow that down for commodities, as it’s not viable to use it for hedging and it’s just a paper trade that does nothing for commodity producers.” Continued on page 3.
To label or not to label? That is not only the question, but it’s a very important discussion currently taking place in the halls of Congress. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts’ bill that would preempt state GMO labeling mandates was approved by the bi-partisan Ag Committee and is now heading to the Senate for a vote. “Farm Bureau is concerned that without congressional action to make labeling uniform, consumers will be left with a confusing labeling scheme that will increase food costs and limit choice. “A 50-state patchwork of GMO labeling laws would mislead consumers, raise the price of groceries for American families and do nothing to advance food safety,” MFBF President Bob Hanson explained. “Access to current biotech traits help crops resist pests, disease and drought and allows farmers to grow more food using less inputs.” Over 90 percent of U.S. corn, cotton and soybeans are produced using biotechnology. If there are increasing requirements that biotech foods carry what amounts to a warning label, farmers will lose access to a beneficial technology that makes up $64 billion worth of corn, $38 billion worth of soybeans and nearly $8 billion worth of cotton. Montana Farm Bureau urges its members to contact Senator Jon Tester and let him know why a national voluntary labeling bill is important to pass. Senator Steve Daines recently issued a press announcement supporting the bill and biotechnology.