WV Farm Bureau Magazine August 2016 | Page 4

4 West Virginia Farm Bureau News

PRESIDENTIAL PARADIGMS Brazilian Beef Imports Endanger U . S . Consumers , Cattle

Charles Wilfong , President , West Virginia Farm Bureau

Farmers & Ranchers Are Strongest When We Stand Together

across the country .
The Obama administration has struck another terrible blow to U . S . agriculture . On August 1 , 2016 , Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced that he was reopening the U . S . market to unlimited amounts of raw Brazilian beef .
Prior to August 1 , shipments of fresh beef from Brazil had been blocked due to their continuing battle with foot-and-mouth disease and other dangerous cattle diseases . Our health and safety standards have been lowered to accommodate Brazil . Lowering these standards for Brazil puts U . S . consumers and cattle herds at risk of foreign diseases . Under provisions of this agreement , Brazil will be able to compete with some other foreign countries to send tens of thousands of tons of beef to the U . S . - tariff free . Additionally , they can send unlimited amounts of beef here if they pay an out-of-quota tariff of 26.4 %. It seems very likely that they will be willing to pay the tariff so they can have unlimited access to our market .
This action by USDA gives tremendous advantage
Zippy Duvall , President , American Farm Bureau Federation
Neighbors helping neighbors is a cornerstone on which Farm Bureau was founded . It ’ s how we get things done . The more I travel across this land , the more I ’ m convinced we all need to understand the issues our fellow farmers and ranchers are facing , whether ten miles down the road or thousands of miles
The challenges facing agriculture are very much like a diverse ecosystem , but when you take a closer look , you ’ ll find that most American farmers are all tackling to multinational meat packers like JBS , which is based in Brazil . JBS controls a huge chunk of our U . S . beef processing .
The move comes at a time when U . S . cattle prices are already greatly depressed , and these actions will likely drive prices down even further . Our domestic cattle herd is the lowest it has been for decades and we continue to witness the loss of more U . S . cattle producers . Feedlots are operating well below capacity due to lack of return on feeding cattle .
Once again the Obama administration has chosen to advance the interests of others over the interests of U . S . producers .
These actions also highlight why we , as producers and consumers , truly need country-of-origin labeling for beef . Consumers deserve to have the ability to know where their food comes from . Our country of origin labeling for beef was struck down because it apparently violated provisions of certain trade agreements . It is amazing that we continue to elect leaders who don ’ t put the interests and well-being of our people first .
one common invasive species : a federal system that too often lacks respect for individual property rights , economic competitiveness and fairness in general . From the Waters of the U . S . rulemaking and the Endangered Species Act , to public lands and water rights — the federal government continues to slap burdensome regulations on farmers without considering what it takes to keep an agricultural business up and running .
As your AFBF president , I want to see firsthand what you ’ re facing on your farms and ranches , so I can tell your stories to our lawmakers on Capitol Hill and to farmers in other regions . On my recent travels
see Duvall , page 26