Agricultural News
NCBA Seeks to Get Farm Bill Back on Track Despite Government Shutdown
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 15:37:42 CDT
The 2013 farm bill is still in limbo in Washington, D.C., and it is leaving livestock producers in South Dakota in limbo as well. An early blizzard has left tens of thousands of cattle dead and the lack of a farm bill has left producers without the livestock disaster assistance safety net.
Kristina Butts, executive director of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says that not only are South Dakota beef producers trying to pick up the pieces without government assistance, so are ranchers hit hard by drought and wildfires in many areas of the country. She spoke recently with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays. (You can listen to their conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.)
Even with portions of the federal government shut down due to an impasse in Congress, Butts says she and her colleagues are still working to get a farm bill back on track on Capitol Hill.
"The one thing that NCBA continues to talk about and continues to support even today and this week on Capitol Hill is that we need to get a five-year farm bill done. Even though the government is shut down, we're still pressing those conversations on Capitol Hill. We're hearing that the House should be appointing their conferees this week so that actually start moving the farm bill conversation in a positive direction for America's cattle farmers and ranchers."
The shutdown is not without precedent, but Butts says, the last one was nearly two decades ago and this means navigating in uncharted waters for most people in Washington and for many in agriculture.
"The shutdown has been pretty unique. Obviously it's the first shutdown in many years and most of us are new to the shutdown experience here in D.C. A lot of the agencies are completely shut down, which means a lot of the Farm Service Agencies throughout the country. The one great thing is that with the mandate that the Congress gave to the Department of Agriculture to make sure that we always have FSIS, the Food Safety Inspection Service inspectors in our livestock plants, in our beef plants to make sure that they're up and running, those folks are still on the job. So, that is a positive even though we are still in the second week of a shutdown."
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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