Chuck Kiker
USCA presents to USDA
Chuck Kiker is now in Washington, D.C., and the games have begun!
We had a nice time last night catching up with friends and colleagues. One thing about it, when Chuck comes to town, you will spend some time telling tall tales!
Early this morning, we were finalizing Chuck’s oral testimony for the USDA’s animal ID meeting. With my “coaching,” some coffee, a stop watch (did you know you can find those online?), and a marker pen, Chuck had his comments polished up and ready for his 5-minute presentation time limit.
Only problem was – as expected – the meeting time approached a bit faster than expected!
Fortunately, we are close to the Foggy Bottom Metro station.
Chuck and I grab a train, and within minutes, we arrived at the Smithsonian Metro station.
I walk Chuck to the USDA office door, and for now, my mission is complete. The meeting only allows entrance for the invited 35 participants. Which means, I won’t be staffing Chuck. He is on his own, and I am back on the train heading to the office to get things ready for the afternoon meetings!
USCA Director visits DC
Today is a big day. Beaumont, Texas rancher and rice farmer USCA Director Chuck Kiker is coming to Washington, D.C. Any time Chuck comes to DC, it’s always a good time. I don’t know if it’s the Texas style of taking in DC or if it’s just the unpredictability of taking Chuck around town. Put it this way–DC will experience some cowboy common sense, whether it wants to or not!
Chuck will be representing the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association in tomorrow’s meeting with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The meeting will involve over thirty livestock and agriculture groups, and the topic is animal identification.
In the afternoon, I will be going with Chuck to various meetings with House and Senate staff.
Call with USDA Veterinary Services Management Team regarding its updated VS Memorandum on Premises Identification Numbers
Chuck Kiker and I participated on this call today. USDA VS Officials outlined the updated memorandum. First off all, USDA announced that it had canceled its Sept. 22nd VS Memorandum. USDA will now send the corrected information to the Federal Register early in 2009. A few basic points outlined during this call included:
• Livestock markets will not assign a premises ID to a cattle producer; rather, if a producer without a premises ID sells cattle at a livestock market, then those cattle will be traced to the livestock market premises ID and a producer will not be assigned a premises ID. (Mark Ellis, you can thank Chuck Kiker for bringing this up and clarifying this point!)
• VS has established a procedure for producers who request their premises record be removed from the NAIS premises database.
• A State PIN will be issued in the administration of animal disease program activities when the State or producer (or person responsible) for the premises elects not to have a standardized PIN assigned to the premises.
All in all, I think that the USDA listened to the concerns we raised on behalf of U.S. Cattlemen’s Association. We received A LOT of negative feedback regarding the Sept. 22nd memo, and USCA relayed all of that info on to USDA. Hopefully we can continue a positive working dialogue with USDA on this issue.
If you like the sounds of the updated memo and USCA’s work on it, please call or email me. If you hate it and are really worked up about it, please call Chuck Kiker! All kidding aside, we welcome your input and guidance on this very important issue.
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