A path forward: Ag industry must unite to tackle persistent problems and pave a path forward
Wyoming producers from every corner of the state convened in a central location for the eagerly-anticipated Wyoming Stock Growers Association Winter Roundup and Trade Show, held Dec. 9-11 at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Casper.
Themed “A Path Forward for our Industry,” the three-day event provided a full schedule of educational programming, guest speakers, committee meetings, award luncheons, organizational and legislative updates, networking opportunities and remarks from Gov. Mark Gordon.
Additionally, the convention provided a venue for those in the ag industry to share ideas, network, catch up with old friends and make new ones.
A new administration
On Dec. 10, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane kicked off the opening general session with an end-of-year industry update.
Lane started by addressing the elephant in the room – a new administration that many have seen as a huge win for the agricultural industry as a whole.
However, Lane noted, although the industry worked well with President-Elect Donald Trump during his last term, the new administration may present more of a unique challenge.
“We need to recognize the reality we are in a very different environment than what we are used to – even compared to the last Trump administration,” Lane said. “We are seeing this in his Cabinet picks. He picked fairly conventional choices for a lot of these roles last time, but we are seeing some non-traditional picks this time.”
Lane noted some of these choices have been met favorably by NCBA, including Brooke Rollins as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) secretary and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, while others have been met with more hesitation.
“Overall, we’ve seen some picks we are pretty happy with, and people we think we can work with,” Lane said.
However, while the new administration appears to be a friendly face, Lane explained the industry can’t sit back and hope things will start to look up.
“We can’t get in line. We can’t wait our turn. We can’t be patient. We can’t wait for everybody to get their act together. We can’t do what we did last time – whether it is grazing regulations or changes to the Endangered Species Act or any other issues important to our producers around the country,” he stated.
“If we do, we will be talking about missed opportunities 10 years from now, like we have been for the past 20 years,” he added. “This is the perspective our team is taking into this next couple of years with this new administration.”
Anti-agriculture movements
In addition to gaining the attention of those moving in to Capitol Hill, Lane noted the ag industry has had to up the ante on the anti-ag front in recent years.
“We’ve seen a dynamic change in the growth and onset of radical animal rights activist groups that have really changed their tactics over the last couple of years,” he said.
Lane explained around 10 years ago, groups such as the Humane Society of the U.S., the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals pushed the vegan diet, but when the trend faded, they decided to focus on climate change instead.
Although the issue of climate change was a sore spot for the ag industry in the beginning, proven scientific evidence has helped producers understand where they fit into the climate change conversation – and the context is not all negative.
“After years of research, policy and advocacy, we know you are not only producing the highest-quality beef the world has ever seen, you are doing it with the lowest environmental footprint the world has ever seen,” Lane said. “Nobody on planet Earth can compete with what you are doing and how you are doing it – not on taste, not on efficiency, not on quality and not on environmental footprint. That’s just a fact.”
Lane pointed out this progress, to a large degree, has led those in the animal rights community to abandon the climate argument and turn instead to advocating for small farms.
While this would seem to be beneficial to the industry, Lane explained this “weird new segment” of “Trump-loving, radical animal rights activists” backed by million-dollar organizations has created what NCBA calls “astro-turf” – the opposite of grassroots.
“It’s fake, it’s painted green and it’s supposed to look like you,” he said. “And how are members of Capitol Hill supposed to know the difference?”
Lane noted animal rights activists have adopted this blueprint as a way to defeat the conservative Supreme Court, creating – and in some cases winning – ballot initiatives such as Proposition 12 in California and the Slaughterhouse Ban in Denver.
“We are fighting back everywhere these groups show up,” Lane said. “Our smiling faces are there to counteract their arguments, and I’m pleased to tell you, at least for now, we haven’t seen this spread.”
He continued, “They are not gaining traction, but they are a voice, they are in the conversation and they are spending a ton of money. All it takes is one look on one issue to change the dynamic for us permanently in this country, so this is something we are spending a lot of time on.”
Policy priorities
To finish out his presentation, Lane provided an update on NCBA’s policy priorities.
First, he noted the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee released their scientific report, which helps inform the Department of Health and Human Resources and USDA in making final recommendations. The report has caused an uproar in the industry, as the committee suggests Americans replace red meat with beans, peas and lentils.
“They packed this thing full of “science” – most of it not peer-review – which, for people who are supposed to be scientists, is a really classy move,” Lane stated. “You’ll hear us strongly advocating the Trump administration throw this in the garbage and figure out a different way to attack the problem because the Dietary Guidelines for Americans isn’t working. No one is using it. It’s garbage science, and it isn’t helpful to anybody.”
Like many in the industry, Lane noted NCBA has also been pushing Congress to pass a new farm bill. He said the association was pleased with House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024, released in May, although it is unlikely this bill will pass.
Additionally, Lane pointed out the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires producers with under 20 employees provide beneficial ownership information to the federal government, was rolled back, meaning producers won’t have to comply starting Jan. 1.
However, Lane encouraged individuals to keep an eye on the issue since the injunction is temporary and will resurface.
Lastly, Lane debunked some myths about the hot button topic of the USDA’s Animal Disease Traceability Rule.
Lane reiterated the only change in the rule is that eartags must be both visually and electronically readable.
He assured producers data will reside within the state of Wyoming, and that they shouldn’t have to bear the costs of the tags.
Lane noted one of the biggest rumors circulating around this issue is electronic tags were used to take inventory of cattle in Ireland, resulting in a mass depopulation of 200,000 head of cattle.
According to Dale Crammond, Irish Embassy agriculture attaché, this rumor is the result of a leaked document outlining every possible option for mitigating emissions from livestock. Many of the options, including depopulating 200,000 cattle, were crossed off of the list and never happened.
Although working in the ag industry might feel like a constant uphill battle, Lane commended the producers in the room and encouraged them to keep fighting.
“We have a lot to be proud of and excited about. Just like the transition on climate change over the last 10 or 15 years, we need to be ready to throw our shoulders back and defend this industry even in good times and a friendly administration,” he said.
“This is no joke. We’re going to have to be really serious about tackling these problems, and we’re going to have to be unified, which we all know isn’t always our strong suit in the cattle industry,” he concluded.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
