Association Focus

Paul Walker, Illinois Beef Association President

Gosh, it has been a great fall, a little dry but awesome weather otherwise. I really enjoy living in the country and have come to appreciate the early morning hours when everything is quiet and peaceful.

Recently, I served as an instructor for Iowa’s Mortality Compost Workshop that provided training for people from multiple states seeking to become SME’s (subject matter experts). My take home message is that Illinois’ planning for catastrophic mortality disposal is far behind Iowa’s planning and preparation. Previously, IBA had been working with the IDOA, other state commodity organizations and UIUC Veterinary Extension to develop a just-in-case program for Illinois to handle mass-mortalities from a catastrophic event. IBA will continue along with IPPA and IFB to encourage the IDOA to be more progressive regarding this issue. Presence of the IBA continues to grow in Springfield at the state capital. The two lobbyists employed by IBA, and IBA Executive Vice President Josh St. Peters are highly respected among the legislators which makes IBA a go-to organization for information regarding all things livestock. Knowing about bills before they become bills provides IBA greater leverage in supporting the Illinois cattle industry.

These are just two reasons why being an IBA member is so important. The nominal dues members pay allow the IBA to serve in a pro-active way, helping to maintain a viable Illinois beef cattle industry. Active dues paying membership is important on many levels in today’s society. Yes, being an IBA member is important, but being a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association member is important, also.

It seems the days when all we had to worry about to make money in the cattle business was to buy low, sell high and feed cheap are long gone. Do not take me wrong, buying low, selling high and feeding cheap never was and never will be an easy thing to do, but today and going forward there are so many other factors that affect our ability to participate in the cattle business. By some indications feeder cattle and fat cattle prices should be on their way to record highs due to drought and decline in cow numbers. But as an economic recession threatens to expand, consumer demand for beef is in question. Consequently, a low cut out value for beef is struggling to maintain any profitability for packers. As a result, packers are decreasing harvest rates which may negatively impact finished cattle price. As if this was not enough for cattle producers to worry about, Google now offers information about the environmental impact of buying beef — with metrics heavily slanted against beef. The NCBA is urging Google to consider the science of beef production — U.S. beef cattle currently contribute only 2% of GHG production, removing beef from the diet would only reduce GHG emissions 0.36% globally — before making this new feature widely available.

In August 2022 environmental and advocacy groups sent a letter to the USEPA encouraging EPA to use its authority to provide more oversight of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The letter urges EPA to “end the regulatory exceptionalism for the industrial livestock agribusiness profiting from the exploitation of environmental justice communities.” If EPA accepts the premise of this letter the consequences could negatively affect how cattle producers operate their 300 head cattle barn or 1,000 head finishing facility. The NCBA is working with EPA to point out the inaccuracies of this letter and the potential negative ramifications of any inappropriate EPA action.

The NCBA is actively working in support of the Livestock Regulatory Protection Act (introduced by Senator John Thune / R – SD) that would ban EPA from requiring livestock operations to seek permits or to pay fees for methane and other biological livestock emissions.

The NCBA is emphasizing the need for a limited version of the Securities and Exchange Commission greenhouse gas discloser rule.

“The SEC’s proposed greenhouse gas discloser rule is aimed at large publicly traded companies but would lead to unintended consequences for small businesses like farms and ranches. The rule would require data that does not exist at the farm or ranch-level, and increase the regulatory burden on individual cattle producers. The NCBA is urging the SEC to limit the proposed rule to avoid unintentional impacts to farms and ranches.

The NCBA has submitted technical comments on the rule and individual cattle producers have sent over 7,406 emails to SEC commissioners and members of Congress expressing concern with the rule. The NCBA has encouraged the SEC to remove the requirements to disclose scope 3 emissions, which would lessen the burden on cattle producers.

Last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case-- National Pork Producer’s Council v. Ross. While this case is not directly about cattle producers, the precedent set by the case will determine whether states can regulate the production practices of livestock producers outside their state boundaries.

The issue in this case is a lesser-known constitutional concept called the Dormant Commerce Clause. The Dormant Commerce Clause holds that states should not create policies that are overly protectionist or disrupt interstate commerce. When California passed Proposition 12, which regulates hog production, the state added a restriction that would impact hog producers in other states like Illinois. NCBA has filed an amicus brief in this case urging the Supreme Court to side with the National Pork Producer’s Council. If states are allowed to regulate the production practices of livestock producers in other states, producers could face a complicated patchwork of laws covering things like antibiotic use, transportation and animal handling. NCBA is urging policymakers to instead focus on sound science and industryaccepted practices, rather than placing politically motivated rules on livestock producers.

These are just a few of the far too many issues with a negative impact for beef cattle producers the NCBA is addressing on our behalf. It is important to remember that the check-off we pay can not be used to directly counter these actions. Only the dues we pay to the NCBA and the IBA, and our PAC contribution can be used to address these issues. Active membership — it is what makes good things happen.

On a positive note, Vice President David Duzan was featured in an Illinois Farmer Today newsletter explaining how Dave has recreated his cattle enterprise to include a backgrounding operation. Phyllis Coulter’s article painted a positive image of the beef industry. And, did you know Josh St. Peters has been recognized as the Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient for 2022 by the UIUC Alumni Association. He is most deserving of this prestigious award. Congratulations, Josh!

Lastly, in a survey conducted by the Food Industry Association, shoppers express varied opinions on where they want to find plant-based items in food stores. Interestingly, and good for the beef industry, regarding meat alternatives, the top choice is not the meat department. The first choice is in a designated plant-based foods section, followed by the frozen foods section and a distant third is in the meat department. It is good that consumers do not identify plant-based alternatives as real meat. Yes, the cup is definitely half full.