N A T I O N A L CATTLEMEN
To be the trusted leader and definitive voice of the U.S. cattle and beef industry. JULY 2022 • Vol. 38, No. 10 • NCBA.org
MARKET SNAPSHOT WEEK OF 6/20/2022
CURRENT VS. LAST YEAR SOUTH CENTRAL 500-600 LB. STEERS
$182.92
$162.39
12.6%
LIVE FED STEERS
$122.84
17.0%
$143.73
CHOICE BOXED BEEF
$329.72
18.6%
$268.32
OMAHA CASH CORN
$6.32
32.7%
$8.38
IN THIS ISSUE 4
PARASITE CONTROL
6
MARKETING ONLINE
11
REGION ll REPORT
NCBA’s experts give practical advice to manage parasites in the summer. There are many ways for producers to market their cattle. Online options are becoming more popular.
Region II is taking regulatory action and increasing processing capacity.
12
MARKET MATTERS
14
CHECKOFF NEWS
Calf slaughter numbers remain similar to 2021, and beef demand remains steady despite economic obstacles.
Health professionals are an important part of increasing the awareness of beef’s great benefits.
15
FEDERATION
NATIONAL CATTLEMEN’S BEEF ASSOCIATION 9110 E. NICHOLS AVENUE, SUITE 300 CENTENNIAL, CO 80112
PAID
HATTIESBURG, MS PERMIT 142
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE
State Beef Councils take advantage of increased travel after COVID-19.
NCBA Fights Against Overreaching SEC Climate Rule Founded after the wild stock market drops of the 1920s, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the federal agency tasked with regulating publicly traded companies and major investors. From the days of stockbrokers shouting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to the rise of digital investing, the SEC has always been a Wall Street watchdog, but recently the SEC reached beyond its authority by proposing a rule that will impact private companies, including agricultural operations. In March, the SEC proposed a sweeping climate rule that would indirectly require private businesses, like family farms and ranches, to collect and report GHG emissions data. “The SEC is far beyond their statutory jurisdiction by proposing a rule that could impact thousands of small businesses, farms and ranches across the United States,” said NCBA Environmental Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart. “The SEC has no sense of how this onerous rule will burden farmers and ranchers.” The proposed rule would require publicly traded companies to report their scope one, scope two and scope three emissions. Scope one emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions, like those coming from factories, stores or trucks. Scope two emissions count energy and electricity use. Scope three emissions count emissions from each step of a company’s supply chain — scope three is where cattle producers are at risk. “Picture a steakhouse serving beef or a grocery store stocking the meat counter. Those companies would need to report not only their direct emissions from the restaurant or store, but also the emissions from every producer who sold them beef, including cow-calf operators, stockers, backgrounders and feeders,” said Hart. “The entire cattle industry could be impacted by this rule.” Measuring emissions from individual operations is already difficult, if not impossible, and estimates will likely be incorrect. This also poses another risk in the form of legal liability. If publicly traded companies or their shareholders feel that farm-level emissions data is incorrect, producers could be liable to lawsuits. On average, publicly traded companies are spending more than half a million dollars on climate disclosures according to a survey of companies conducted by the SustainAbility Institute by ERM.1 As investors and activists push companies to provide more climate data, the cost to comply with these requirements is only expected to rise. These costs are vastly higher than what producers can afford, and compliance requires attorneys and consultants to understand complex climate disclosure rules. “With producers facing rampant inflation and soaring input costs, another complicated, expensive climate rule is unaffordable. NCBA has urged policymakers in Washington to focus on addressing the real issues hurting producers
now, rather than try to craft massive new environmental rules,” said Hart. Since the rule was first announced, NCBA has taken swift action to push back on the SEC. NCBA submitted comments on the proposed rule urging the SEC to limit the rule to only direct and energy emissions from publicly traded companies and completely remove the scope three (supply chain) requirement that emissions from cattle operations would be counted under. NCBA also highlighted that the federal government already collects industrywide emissions data through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions inventory and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Life Cycle Assessments. This data is how we know the cattle industry is sustainable because the data continually shows that greenhouse gas emissions from cattle account for just 2% of total U.S. emissions. “This existing data should more than satisfy any emissions reporting requirement from the cattle industry,” said Hart. Adding to the list of problems with this rule is its impact on farmer data privacy. Previous Supreme Court cases like American Farm Bureau Federation v. EPA solidified the idea that producers have the right to keep operational data private. Cattle production varies widely between regions and even between neighboring operations, and producers should be able to keep their practices private to keep producing high-quality cattle. The SEC rule would force the release of personal business information, placing privacy at risk. With the many issues this rule would pose to the cattle industry, ensuring the SEC heard directly from individual cattlemen and women was a top priority. NCBA launched a grassroots campaign that provided a way for producers to submit comments directly to the commissioners of the SEC and members of Congress. In just a few short weeks, more than 6,700 messages were sent to policymakers, sending a strong message that this overreach proposal is harmful to agriculture. “Hearing from grassroots cattle producers — the people who would be impacted every day — is incredibly important,” said Hart. “The people writing these rules spend their day behind a desk in Washington and don’t understand the day-to-day realities of life on the farm or ranch. Sharing your story is essential.” NCBA will always lead the fight against overreaching regulations and ensure that cattle producers have the freedom to thrive and build successful operations. 1. https://www.erm.com/news/survey-reveals-costs-andbenefits-of-climate-related-disclosure-for-companies-andinvestors/