A Look Into Issues on the Hill Cattle Markets Fair, competitive and transparent markets are essential to the profitability of cattle producers in every sector of our industry. NCBA is working to support efforts that return market leverage to producers. The Regional Triggers Subgroup continues to implement and evaluate NCBA’s Voluntary Approach to Achieve Robust Price Discovery in the Fed Cattle Market that was developed following the 2020 Summer Business Meeting. This framework explores a voluntary, industry-led solution to achieving robust price discovery via increased levels of negotiated trade. The subgroup reported that a major trigger was tripped in Q1 of 2021, and no major trigger was tripped in Q2. If another major trigger is tripped in 2021, NCBA will pursue a legislative or regulatory solution to increase negotiated trade. Significant progress has been made on this front, and NCBA continues to lead the way to improve price discovery. At the 2021 Annual Convention in Nashville, Tenn., the Live Cattle Marketing Committee passed a policy directive to establish a working group that will explore potential improvements to the reporting and availability of market data. No matter how our members choose to market their live cattle, there is no one silver bullet solution to address these complex challenges. NCBA is tackling the issue from multiple angles by: •
Working with USDA and Congress to support the expansion of beef processing capacity, specifically among independent, regional and local packing facilities.
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Working with Congress to secure reauthorization of Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR). This legislation requires packers to report market information to USDAAMS, who then report it to the public.
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Applying pressure to the U.S. Department of Justice to release the findings of their investigation into whether the packing sector is engaging in anticompetitive or antitrust practices.
Transportation Transporting live cattle in a manner that is humane, safe and efficient is a top priority for our producers and livestock haulers. Transportation directly impacts animal safety and well-being, as well as the security of a reliable, efficient beef supply chain. The existing hours of service (HOS) regulations for livestock haulers limit on-duty time to 14 hours, with a maximum drive time of 11 consecutive hours. The driver must then rest for 10 consecutive hours before returning to duty. For the great majority of trips made by our livestock haulers, this is simply not enough drive time to accommodate the realities of hauling live animals across the country. NCBA is working hard to ensure federal regulations are flexible enough to allow our drivers to do their jobs safely and humanely, while keeping grocery store shelves stocked with beef. NCBA is doing this by: •
Asking Congress to provide another ELD exemption for livestock haulers through the appropriations process.
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Securing an extension of the HOS exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the most recent of which extends through Nov. 30, 2021.
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Ensuring the current 150 air-mile exemption allows anyone hauling agricultural commodities to be exempt from hours-of-service rules until they are outside of the 150-air mile radius (172 road miles) of their starting point for the day. We are working to permanently secure the same exemption for the back end of agricultural commodity hauls to provide added flexibility during the unloading period.
ESA/Wildlife Cattle producers play a vital role in the conservation of wildlife species and habitat, but the Endangered Species Act (ESA) creates significant additional burdens in these efforts. An imbalanced focus on the listing phase, unclear or constantly changing population targets, and inefficient procedures within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), have left species languishing on the list long after FWS has publicly declared them as recovered. This wastes time, creates uncertainty for
S TAT E O F
NCBA 10
NATIONAL CATTLEMEN
DIRECTIONS 2021
