“We’re viewing this as one of the
most—if not the most—important presidential elections in the
history of modern agriculture,” says Colin Woodall, Executive
Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association (NCBA). “This is a watershed moment for
agriculture because neither presidential candidate has any
direct ties to agriculture.”
Early testament to this reality is that no one inside the
Washington Beltway has a clue of who might emerge as Agriculture
Secretary, whether John McCain or Barack Obama is elected the
next president of the United States.
The growing distance between
livestock producers and the Congressional leadership
representing them is nothing new. Woodall points out there are
only a handful of truly rural congressional districts left. But
the fact there’s been so little interaction between these
presidential candidates and agriculture suggests, as Woodall
does, that we’re entering a new era of policy making where the
leaders have no relationship, let alone experience, with what
makes the livestock industry tick.
Whoever begins bunking at the
White House next January, Woodall expects them to have more zest
for new regulations than President Bush.
As of the middle of June, most
polls indicated it was pretty much of a coin-toss between McCain
and Obama.
Key Issues
Though there’s an endless number of legislative and policy
issues that will impact the beef cattle industry as the next
U.S. President takes the reins, Woodall boils the focus down to
three key issues: renewable fuels, environmental policy and
animal rights activists.
By now, every cattle producer understands the havoc wrought by a
renewable fuels policy that welds food and energy together as
one via federally mandated and subsidized grain-based ethanol
production.
“We understand the need for this
nation to be more energy independent, but not at the expense of
an entire industry, that industry being cattle,” says Woodall.
He reminds that President Bush is the one who signed the
Renewable Fuels Act, yet he’s considered by many to be the most
cattle-friendly president in modern times.
In terms of environmental issues,
Woodall says, “We have a feeling that we’ll see more liberal
environmental policy, regardless of which candidate is elected.”
In other words environmental policy under the next presidency
will likely be more like that of the Clinton era than either of
the Bushes.
It’s not like environmental
issues are easy, even in the best of times. Woodall points to
the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Laws currently
being used by attorney generals in some states to sue cattle
producers to repair watersheds that the producers played no part
in impairing.
“We need the administration to
understand that yes clean air and water are important, but so is
a healthy beef cattle industry,” says Woodall. “Our industry
plays a vital role in this nation’s ability to maintain clean
air and clean water.”
Then there are the animal rights
activist and their organizations like the Humane Society (HSUS)
of the United States that make no secret of their ultimate goal
to ban animal agriculture production in the United States,
period.
“Senator Obama has aligned
himself with HSUS on more than one occasion,” notes Woodall.
Close behind these issues,
Woodall points to international trade policy. He explains, “Our
cattle producers in the U.S. don’t receive the government
subsidies that producers in some other countries receive. We
know that trade is the name of the game for us to maintain what
we have and to grow what we have.”
NCBA has not endorsed a
presidential candidate. However, Woodall says, “We’re
encouraging our members to learn where each of the presidential
candidates stands on these issues.”
Good Luck.
A visit to both candidates’
campaign websites reveal little about their thinking on
agricultural issues. Obama supports banning packers from owning
livestock ahead of slaughter. Best as we can tell, McCain voted
against it a year or so ago. Neither candidate submitted a vote
either way on the recently passed Farm Bill. Obama’s site says
he’ll promote regional food systems and raise the minimum wage.
McCain’s mentions a common sense approach to environmental
policy and his opposition to ethanol subsidies.
Again, good luck. |
