CALIFORNIA CATTLE COUNCIL

CATTLE COUNCIL PUTTING PRODUCERS’ DOLLARS TO WORK AS ROADMAP TAKES SHAPE

by California Cattle Council Executive Director Justin Oldfield

26 California Cattleman March 2020 Since our last update in California Cattleman, the California Cattle Council (Council) has been busy working to complete the necessary tasks that will allow the organization to fully realize its mission to serve as a strong advocate for California cattle producers.

The most critical and ongoing effort is the adoption of a strategic plan. The strategic plan will serve as a roadmap for the Council and ensure the organization and its resources target the most significant issues that face the industry today. We remain on track to roll out a plan this spring. In addition to reinforcing the mission, vision and larger strategic priorities of the Council, the plan will also provide metrics to evaluate short and long-term success of each project or initiative.

The Council sought early on to capture feedback from cattle producers across the state. An anonymous survey was released and made available during December and January to provide an opportunity for producers to individually participate in the strategic planning process. I can report back that numerous producers elected to complete the survey and for that we are thankful.

Producers expect Council funds to be invested effectively and the Council firmly embraces this commitment. Once the strategic plan is completed, the Council will bring the full weight of its resources to bear by pushing forward with the larger and more comprehensive campaigns, projects and initiatives to promote and defend California’s cattle industry.

We also understand that producers want to see an immediate return on their investment since collections began in November of 2019. The Council established an interim budget that will carry the organization through the end of March and in doing so allocated a portion of the interim budget to fund shovel ready projects that will serve an immediate benefit to cattle producers. The Council received numerous high-quality proposals and in January, after careful review, selected a series of proposals to fund.

For example, the Council was excited to award a grant to the University of California Cooperative Extension to complete a study that will calculate the amount of forage consumed by livestock on an annual basis, enabling us to quantify the greenhouse gas and particulate emissions that otherwise would be released had the forage been burned and not grazed. In addition, the project will assist the Council and

our industry partners in promoting new opportunities for grazing with decision makers as a means to effectively reduce fuel loads and slow the intensity of wildfires, particularly on public lands.

The Council also pledged a contribution to Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., to support his ongoing work to highlight the factual, not sensationalized, environmental footprint of animal agriculture. For those that do not know or who have not had the opportunity to hear Mitloehner, he is a world-renowned scientist specializing in air quality and livestock production. Science, research and data continues to show that beef and dairy production in the United States has a minimal greenhouse gas impact and in fact provides significant benefits to sequestering carbon, diverting byproducts to feed rather than landfills and producing high quality organic fertilizers in the form of compost.

The Council is also partnering with CCA to host a series of tours for legislative officials in Sacramento. The tours will provide an opportunity to promote California’s cattle industry and the social, economic and environmental benefits provided by you each and every day.

Further details on shovel-ready projects supported by the Council can be found on our website at www. calcattlecouncil.org. As always, the website is an excellent resource to find agendas for upcoming meetings and past meeting minutes. Council board meetings are open to producers and we always encourage those interested to attend.

We continue to thank you for your support and patience while the Council works to complete our strategic plan. Never hesitate to contact me at (916) 444-2697 or justin@calcattlecouncil.org if you have questions, ideas or simply would like to learn more about the Council and the value it will provide to this great industry.

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