The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is holding its winter policy meeting.
Leaders gave an update on the state of the industry, including relief available for farmers and ranchers from the pandemic, and last week’s brutal winter storm. They also talked about priorities for Washington.
NCBA’s Vice President of Government Affairs says that he is encouraged to see the Biden administration already considering grazing.
According to Ethan Lane, “You don’t get to accomplish any conservation objectives in this country without grazing, without cattle production. We are such an important key... to managing fuel loads, sequestering carbon in the soil, making sure that there’s the kind of bigger that we need on those grasslands around the country, to protect wildlife, to keep open spaces open, prevent all the development and parcel splitting that we see in other parts of the country. None of that happens without cattle production and without the U.S. cattle industry doing what we do every day.”
Cattle producers expressed concern about a growing number of executive orders coming from the White House. Lane says that there will be opportunities for public comment before the administration can make significant changes.