Jolley: NCBA’s Cattlemen To Cattlemen Announces New Season
07/27/2010 07:19AM
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July 27, at 8:30 p.m. EDT on RFD-TV. Broadcast as the NCBA Summer Conference begins in Denver, Host Kevin Ochsner takes a rare opportunity to put NCBA President Steve Foglesong, President-Elect Bill Donald, NCBA Federation of State Beef Councils Chairman Scott George and NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall on stage at the same time to talk with cattlemen about some of the critical issues impacting their operations.
Ochsner anticipates the new GIPSA livestock marketing proposal, the looming changes in the death tax and NCBA’s new governance proposal will be the most important and pressing subjects discussed on the show.
GIPSA’s Proposal
When the GIPSA proposal was announced on June 22, it came as a shock to many in the cattle industry and NCBA pushed hard for an extension on the comment period. Today’s announcement that a 90-day extension would be granted means comments will now be due by November 22, 2010. Because it allows some fundamental changes in GIPSA’s practices, its passage could mean a major shakeup in how cattle are marketed.
USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Edward Avalos, pressured by requests for and against extensions of the comment period, announced the extension by saying, “We take these requests very seriously. We feel it is important that producers and other stakeholders have adequate time to comment on the proposed rule.”
With the granting of the extension, Ochsner felt the timing of the live call-in couldn’t be better, “Cattlemen will have a chance to discuss the GIPSA proposal in detail with some of the people who have been working on it in Washington.”
The Death Tax
“If the death tax is allowed to jump back to 2009 rates on the first of the New Year, million dollar estates will be heavily taxed and a lot of ranches fall into that category,” said Ochsner. The NCBA has been a huge proponent of keeping the current tax rate in place. We expect a lot of questions about the tax and Colin Woodall will be prepared to answer them.”
Just last week NCBA and the Public Lands Council (PLC) announced their support of a rare bipartisan amendment by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to bring ”meaningful and permanent reform to the estate tax.”
Steve Foglesong said “For far too long, farmers and ranchers have faced uncertainty when it comes to planning ahead for the future of their estates. The Lincoln-Kyl amendment would provide much-needed relief to allow producers to keep their family farms in operation and pass them down to future generations.”
NCBA Governance
Another subject that could engender some interesting questions is the governance issue that created so much controversy this spring. After a lot of hard work and planning, the controversies surrounding the change caused NCBA to step back and take another look.
Call-in participant Scott George, division chair of NCBA’s Federation, said the new structure is not dead. ”The unintended controversy around NCBA’s governance proposal was getting in the way of an accurate discussion about the Federation.
Announcing the time out on June 28, he said, ”We want to do this right. The Federation effectively represents all cattle producers paying into the checkoff. Quite frankly, it is impossible to do so when there is so much controversy driving a divide within the industry. We have critical issues affecting this industry that requires us to be united, not divided. We are calling a timeout to clarify our role and wishes to all shareholders.”
Tuesday’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen may help clarify their role and the future of the governance proposal.
During the live broadcast, viewers can ask questions of any of the participants by calling 1-888-824-6688. Phone lines will be open about 10 minutes before airtime. “I know everybody can’t just drop what they’re doing and call in,” said Ochnser, so they can email their questions to me anytime at c2c@beef.org.
NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen new season begins with Tuesday’s live call-in and then change over to a taped series of new shows beginning in August, Ochsner said August will start with producer education topics including the role of a veterinarian on a cattle operation, deworming, pre-conditioning, proper vaccination programs and other emerging technologies. Baxter Black will also drop in to share his perspective on subjects that amuse him.