Daily News Update, Dec. 21, 2007

Appropriations bill

A final Omnibus Appropriations bill was passed by Congress this week. For cattle producers hurt by floods, wildfires, drought and other natural disasters, $600 million was allocated to agriculture disaster assistance programs.

Also, the eligibility date for disaster assistance coverage was extended to include producers who faced hardships after February 2007. The eligibility dates for the Crop Disaster Program, the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) were extended to December 31, 2007.

In the emergency supplemental bill passed earlier this year, Congress included agriculture disaster assistance, but the cut-off date for eligibility was previously February 28, 2007, which excluded producers who experienced losses this year.

For public lands ranchers, a provision was included to allow for categorical exclusions to help agencies streamline their environmental compliance for permit issuance. The provision will help the Forest Service issue more permits as it struggles to meet environmental documentation obligations.

NCBA and the Public Lands Council have worked for years to ensure that the livelihood of public lands ranchers is not threatened because a grazing permit is interrupted to complete analysis required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Of concern to cattle producers, the following resulted from consideration of the final Omnibus package:

• A provision was included which prevents USDA from collecting fee-for-service for horse processing. NCBA opposed this language due to the precedent it could set for banning the consumption of other meats for reasons other than science, safety, or public health. In addition, the removal of processing as a management option for horses actually poses a greater risk to horse welfare.
   

• A provision was included that prohibits funding for the Administration's demonstration project to allow Mexican trucking unfettered access to the United States outside of the border commercial zones. Under NAFTA, the Administration was to implement the program to broaden the transportation access for Mexican trucks. This program was put off until this year, and now, there is no funding to allow the program to move forward. For cattle producers, this action could have unintended consequences as Mexico is threatening retaliatory action. Mexico is currently our largest beef export market.
   

• Funding was not included for the Livestock Marketing Information System.  The Livestock Marketing Information Center (www.lmic.info) has provided economic analysis and market projections concerning the livestock industry since 1955. This development will make it difficult for the LMIC to continue its economic analysis of the marketing side of the industry. NCBA will work to support their funding requests for Fiscal year 2009.