Agricultural News
NCBA's Ethan Lane Tells Bird Stories- Talking Buzzards and Lesser Prairie Chickens with Ron Hays
Wed, 27 Nov 2019 06:52:23 CST
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Ethan Lane, the new Senior Vice President for Governmental Affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasters annual convention. Lane's been busy working on several things in Washington, D.C, that would benefit cattle producers.
One of the things that Lane has taken an interest in is a letter that was put together by several members of Congress concerning Avian predators. For example, in our part of the world, the predators of greatest interest are black buzzards. Lane says, "The bipartisan letter that was sent to the department of interior is really a positive sign. Dozens of members of Congress, senators, bicameral, bipartisan, voicing their support with producers for some kind of movement on this issue."
Lane reminds us that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is not the endangered species act. It is a multi-country treaty for managing these migrating birds, but Lane says its working too well, "We have 4.6 million black vultures and climbing in this country. And anyone who has them on their operation knows that they have a lot more than they need. You know when you get into the calving season, and you see these predators really start to have an impact on producers' bottom lines, we need to make sure they have the flexibility to take enough of those birds to manage the population down to a healthy point."
Lane says that is not happening right now, but he thinks the flexibility can be put into the system, and he is happy to see members of Congress from both parties sending those signals to the fish and wildlife service, letting them know that we need that flexibility.
USMCA is still at a standstill due to all the political talks about impeachment. Lane agrees its a problem, "It's challenging for all of us that have a list of things we want to get done. We have an administration that is wrapping up four years. We have some regulatory stuff that we want to make sure we get across the finish line. So for all of us that are that are in productive Washington, this kind of circus act is REALLY not helpful."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the complete interview with Ethan Lane as he talks With Ron Hays.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is 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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