Tag: National Cattlemen Beef Association

American, Mexican, and Canadian Cattle Producers Sign Joint Statement and Send Letter Raising Brazilian Beef Concerns

Posted on by Twin Rivers Media

American, Mexican, and Canadian Cattle Producers Sign Joint Statement and Send Letter Raising Brazilian Beef Concerns

Statement Strengthens Oversight of Lab-Grown Protein and Promotes Cattle Health

Article courtesy of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)

HERMOSILLO, Mexico (May 15, 2024) – Today, leaders of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas (CNOG), and Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) signed a joint statement to continue advocating for greater oversight of emerging lab-grown proteins, protecting cattle from animal diseases, and promoting the sustainability of the cattle industry. This action builds on the recent statement signing with Cattle Australia and furthers the international partnerships between cattle producers.
 


“The signing of this joint statement is an important step that unites cattle producers across North America and around the world to promote and protect efficient cattle production,” said NCBA President and Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele.
 


Following the joint statement signing, NCBA, CNOG, and CCA also signed a letter addressed to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Secretaria de Economía Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez, and Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng urging the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian governments to re-engage in opening markets for beef exports and provide stronger science-based oversight of beef imports. Unfortunately, the three governments have expanded market access for beef imports while providing little opportunities for beef exports. If this continues, it will place North American cattle producers at a competitive disadvantage to other beef producers, including South America.



“I am also pleased that American, Mexican, and Canadian cattle producers are standing together to hold our trade partners accountable. For the United States, we have significant concerns that Brazil continues to have access to the U.S. market even though they have a repeated history of failing to disclose animal health concerns, including cases of atypical BSE,” Eisele added. “We continue urging our respective governments to protect the beef supply by blocking Brazilian imports. We are pleased to be partners on these issues and act as the voice of cattle farmers and ranchers to our respective governments.”
 


NCBA has previously raised concerns with Brazil’s access to the American market due to the country’s failure to report cases of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a timely manner to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). These atypical cases occur spontaneously, but countries are required to report any cases within 24 hours to WOAH. The United States has upheld the 24 hour requirement continuously, but Brazil has often delayed reporting cases from anywhere between 35 days and nearly 2 years. That lack of transparency increases the risk to food safety and makes Brazil an unreputable trading partner.  
 


The letter and joint statement were signed at the CNOG 2024 convention in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico by NCBA President Mark Eisele, CNOG President Sr. Homero García de la Llata, and CCA President Nathan Phinney.
 


View the statement here.

View the letter to U.S., Mexican, and Canadian trade officials here.

Background
 
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) represents America’s beef cattle farmers and ranchers. Initiated in 1898, NCBA has members in all 50 U.S. states and also represents producers through a network of 44 state affiliate organizations.
 
Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas (CNOG), created in 1935, represents Mexican ranchers, local livestock associations, regional livestock unions, registered livestock associations, and regional livestock unions of pig farmers.
 
The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) represents Canada’s 60,000 beef farms and feedlots. CCA is a non-profit federation comprised of nine provincial member cattle associations that provide representation to a national, producer-led board of directors.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has represented America’s cattle producers since 1898, preserving the heritage and strength of the industry through education and public policy.  As the largest association of cattle producers, NCBA works to create new markets and increase demand for beef.  Efforts are made possible through membership contributions. To join, contact NCBA at 1-866-BEEF-USA or membership@beef.org.

NCBA Statement on USDA Final Traceability Rule

Posted on by Twin Rivers Media

NCBA Statement on USDA Final Traceability Rule

Article courtesy of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

WASHINGTON (April 26, 2024) – Today, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final traceability rule:

“USDA’s final traceability rule updates the existing requirement for animal identification that has been in place since 2013, switching from solely visual tags to tags that are both electronically and visually readable for certain classes of cattle moving interstate. Many producers are already familiar with using these visual tags and under the new rule, they will instead use electronic tags. NCBA has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change. We also remain committed to safeguarding producers’ private data and continuing to reduce the cost of ear tags for farmers and ranchers. Our industry faces a tremendous threat from the risk of a future foreign animal disease on American soil. To avoid devastating financial losses during a potential outbreak and to help producers quickly return to commerce, we need an efficient animal disease traceability system.”  
 
Background 

The USDA final traceability rule amends a previous 2013 rule that requires sexually intact cattle 18 months of age or older, rodeo and exhibition cattle, and dairy cattle moving interstate to have an official form of animal identification. The 2013 rule, which cattle producers already comply with, instituted visual ID tags for interstate movement. The new final rule switches producers to electronic ID tags, which are easier to read and would yield a faster traceability response during a foreign animal disease outbreak. The cattle industry faces immense threats from foreign animal diseases, which can be carried into the country by individual travelers, on contraband products, or through regular commerce. It is estimated that a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the U.S. would lead to $221 billion in economic losses. Only 11% of the U.S. cattle herd is impacted by this final rule. The rule will not take effect for six months to provide time for producers to prepare.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has represented America’s cattle producers since 1898, preserving the heritage and strength of the industry through education and public policy.  As the largest association of cattle producers, NCBA works to create new markets and increase demand for beef.  Efforts are made possible through membership contributions. To join, contact NCBA at 1-866-BEEF-USA or membership@beef.org.

NCBA Urges USDA to Reverse Decision to End Reporting of Critical Cattle Industry Data

Posted on by Twin Rivers Media

NCBA Urges USDA to Reverse Decision to End Reporting of Critical Cattle Industry Data

Article courtesy of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Services’ (USDA-NASS) decision to cancel the July Cattle Report and discontinue the County Estimates for Crops and Livestock, among other changes. These reports provide critical data and the decision to end them is completely misguided.

“It is disingenuous for the same agency which touts its commitment to transparency in livestock markets to arbitrarily cease publication of reports which provide just that. While it may be politically expedient to blame appropriators in Congress for today’s decision, cattle producers know better than to believe discontinuing a handful of reports will result in substantive cost savings for the Department,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “NCBA calls on USDA-NASS to immediately reverse this decision and continue delivering on its stated mission of providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U.S. agriculture.”

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has represented America’s cattle producers since 1898, preserving the heritage and strength of the industry through education and public policy.  As the largest association of cattle producers, NCBA works to create new markets and increase demand for beef.  Efforts are made possible through membership contributions. To join, contact NCBA at 1-866-BEEF-USA or membership@beef.org.

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