Daily News Update, Jan. 4, 2008

Farm bill update

Congressional staff are working on the farm bill, which will now head to conference, but conferees have yet to be named. For cattlemen, NCBA's top focus will be to remove language from the Senate version of the bill which bans packer ownership of cattle.

"NCBA policy supports a competitive, free-enterprise market," says Jay Truitt, NCBA's vice president of government affairs. "It is unfortunate that the Senate chose to include legislative language that puts the government–not cattlemen–in charge of how cattle are marketed. This provision must be removed so that the heavy hand of government does not interfere with a cattle producer's ability to provide the beef products that consumers want."

A Statement of Administration Policy released by the White House says the Administration also strongly opposes the prohibition on packer ownership and the provision regulating production contracts, "because they would unduly interfere with the freedom to contract, require the divestiture of assets by entities that have operated lawfully, limit opportunities for farmers and ranchers to participate in marketing alliances, and increase prices for American consumers."

A final agreement on the farm bill should be reached by March 15, 2008, when the extension of the 2002 bill expires.