U.S. Cattlemen’s Association
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
U.S. Cattlemen’s Association delegation to American Agri-Women Reception
US Cattlemen’s Association delegation to the American Agri-Women Reception
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.
U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Heads to DC for Capitol Hill Fly-In
UNITED STATES CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 339 – San Lucas, CA 93954
Email: usca@uscattlemen.org Web Site: www.uscattlemen.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 3, 2009
Contact: Jess Peterson 202/870-3867
U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Heads to DC for Capitol Hill Fly-In
USCA (March 3, 2009) – U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) members and supporters from fifteen states will be in Washington, DC the week of March 8 for the “Making Change Work” fly-in. An intense schedule of meetings with administration officials and congressional members has been planned for participants.
U.S. ranchers from California to Maryland and Texas to North Dakota will converge on Capitol Hill to advance the interests of their industry on major issues USCA is committed to, including Argentina and other international trade issues, country of origin labeling, beef checkoff reform, blocking a mandatory animal identification system and addressing animal health issues.
“The best lobbyists on earth are constituents themselves,” noted Jess Peterson, USCA Executive Vice-President. “It is a significant investment of resources, but it’s well worth it to have ranchers on the Hill to give personal voice to the issues so important to cattlemen everywhere. This will be an action-packed week for the two dozen cattle producers who will be here. This is our opportunity to introduce the Obama Administration to the live cattle industry, to forge new relationships and renew old ones. I look forward to a tremendously successful event.”
Established in March 2007, USCA is committed to concentrating its efforts in Washington, DC to enhance and expand the cattle industry’s voice on Capitol Hill. USCA has a full-time presence in Washington, giving cattle producers across the country a strong influence on policy development. For more information go to www.uscattlemen.org.
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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