Chuck Kiker
WSS, USCA, USDA Discuss Beef Checkoff
On May 26 USCA Vice President Chuck Kiker and I met with USDA officials John Ferrell and Ed Avalos. Chuck and I have spent a lot of time working with livestock industry stakeholders to ensure that the integrity and efficiency of the Beef Checkoff is preserved. The majority contractor is making significant changes that could jeopardize the integrity of the Beef Checkoff. Working with USDA to address this was a key topic for this meeting.
USCA Vice President Chuck Kiker, USDA Deputy Under Secretary John Ferrell, USDA AMS Under Secretary Ed Avalos, and Jess Peterson
Greetings from Las Vegas
Greetings from Las Vegas, Nevada! To those that say this job is glamorous, I say “yes, but…”
Case in point, I am lucky enough to have my flight and hotel room paid for in Las Vegas, Nevada during the National Finals Rodeo. I get to interact with great people and enjoy all the exciting action that Las Vegas has to offer; however, a recap of this day will probably discourage anyone from ever trading jobs with me.
I was up at the crack up dawn preparing for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association’s annual meeting. My first order of business was to get the latest scoop on the House passed H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Business Act, which passed the House by a vote of 224 – 199. According to a statement made by Representative Steve Rothman (D-NJ), “This legislation permanently extends the current exemption from the federal estate tax of $3.5 million per person as well as the maximum tax rate of 45 percent on estates. Without the bill, the estate tax would be eliminated entirely in 2010, and in 2011, the exemption would drop down to $1 million per individual while the estate tax rate would increase to 55 percent (from 45 percent this year).” This issue is of great importance to the membership of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association so I made some calls and finalized my talking points to ensure that I had the full scope of details.
Next up in my preparation involved finishing the project of uploading USCA’s policies into a power point presentation. I looked at my watch and realized I better quickly wrap up my actual legislative update PowerPoint also. Plus the conclusion of my “laid back” Vegas day included a flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association annual convention. So quickly packing up my bags was the final stage of my morning preparation.
The morning business for the USCA meeting was enjoyable as it’s always great to see the pleasant faces of USCA supporters and friends. This outfit has a top notch crew of the salt of the earth ranchers who feed the nation and world. Each USCA committee chair provides specific updates on committee progress and tasks. My position as Executive Vice President means that I provide assistance and service to each of these committees, so I was called upon several times to provide additional information and clarification.
USCA’s year in review has been filled with a mix of successful and motivational stories along with the valuable legislative and regulatory achievements. I enjoyed informing the membership about the success that this young association has achieved in a short period of time.
The afternoon session consisted of some excellent speakers including the Montana Department of Livestock’s Executive Director Christian Mackay, USDA RMA staff John Lockie and Tara Beley, and Tait Berlier with Silveus Insurance. I caught parts of their speeches as I edited USCA’s draft Federal Register comments on the USDA’s plan to update Bovine Tuberculosis plans. I finalized and submitted the comments just in time to play a role in USCA’s policy-making session. My role during this session involved typing the suggested policies and amendments. As the session came to a close, I realized I had just enough time to bid folks adieu and race to catch my flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
When I arrived at the airport, I found out my flight was delayed. This turned out to be a good thing as there was yet one more round of Federal Register comments that still needed to be filed. Fortunately USCA Animal Health Committee Co-Chair Chuck Kiker had prepared an excellent draft set of comments on USDA’s proposed changes to its Bovine Brucellosis plan. I edited the comments and literally submitted the comments online 23 minutes before the deadline and 2 minutes before the doors of the plane were closed.
As I looked down over the lights of Las Vegas, I thought, “Yes this is a very exciting and action packed job. It’s an honor and a privilege to work for America’s family farmers and ranchers…. but a laid day at the beach, it is not!”
USCA Fly-In off and running
The “Back for More Fall Fly-In 2009″ is off and running. Yesterday’s meetings dealt with USDA’s animal health, tracking, and marketing issues. USDA is planning to make an announcement on its animal tracking plans. Chuck Kiker did his best to get a little more info out of the officials and tried to get them to slip up and reveal some secret details. He wasn’t successful, but the meetings were very useful nonetheless as we discussed current animal tracking systems and how we can build on those.
The evening ended with a nice dinner with USCA’s trade council from Stewart and Stewart at the Palm!
USCA “Back for More Fall Fly-In 2009″
Sleep is put on a shelf, the crackberry lifeline is hooked tight, and my USA Beef binder is brimming full of extra schedules, talking points… it must be fly-in time! Awhile back my colleague Stacia asked me “Jess just what are these ‘fly-ins’ that you are always referencing?!” Well here in the next few days, I’ll do my best to describe this fly-in process as we kickoff the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) “Back for More Fall Fly-In 2009.”
Fortunately, this is a smaller group bound for Washington, D.C. Regardless, the meeting schedule is packed with a busy agenda was set up by yours truly. The talking points and the agenda for each meeting are placed in binders and will be handed to USCA leaders Jon Wooster (San Lucas, CA), Leo McDonnell (Columbus, MT), Chuck Kiker (Beaumont, TX), Brian Malaer (Harwood, TX), and Hollis “Peanut” Gilfillian (Stowell, TX) when they arrive today. Monday and Tuesday will find the whole lot of us making waves in Washington as we hammer out nine meetings in two days.
This particular fly-in will focus on high-level meetings with President Obama’s trade and agriculture officials. A top priority on this fly-in is USCA’s involvement in defending the country-of-origin labeling law. Currently Canada and Mexico are challenging this law at the WTO level. USCA will also discuss animal health, animal identification, anti-trust and competition, along with the Texas disaster recovery issues. It will be a fast-paced week, and very soon, I will wake up Wednesday morning, and the actual fly-in work will be over. ‘Course, post-fly-in is another work stage. Follow-up letters, information, and thank yous all have to be done. Look for stories and pictures to be posted all week!
Photos from the USCA Fly-in, July 22, 2009
Jess Peterson, USDA AMS Deputy Under Secretary John Ferrell, Chuck Kiker, Karen Yost, Tony Belcourt, and USDA AMS Deputy Administrator Craig Morris
Tony Belcourt and Karen Yost
Karen Yost, Chuck Kiker, USDA FAS Under Secretary Jim Miller, Tony Belcourt, and Jess Peterson
Wrapping up the USCA Fly-in
Just wrapped up a quick fly-in. U.S. Cattlemen leaders Chuck Kiker, Karen Yost, and Tony Belcourt spent yesterday in meetings on Capitol Hill and with the Administration. Some meeting topics included defending U.S. cattle producers’ position in the Canada and Mexico WTO case against the U.S. COOL law, expressing concerns regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gases emissions endangerment finding, and urging Congress to support the Beef Checkoff Modernization Act.
Chuck, Karen, and Tony did an outstanding job! It’s a true privilege and honor to walk the Hill with such good people. USCA is full of outstanding leaders like these individuals. The issues that USCA works on and the quality people who make it happen are the primary reason my job is so fulfilling and fun!
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- Naomi on Burgers, burgers and a trip to NY
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