The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today its intent to publish in the Federal Register on Fri., April 13, 2012, its final Guidance 209 and a draft proposed rule on veterinary feed directives. Tom Talbot, a California beef producer, large animal veterinarian and current chairman of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association's (NCBA) Cattle Health and Well-Being Committee, issued the following statement....More

Concerns about food safety, animal welfare, sustainability and the environment are here to stay. And if you thought the last 20 years produced a regulatory world fraught with land mines, the next 20 years will only see the velocity of the regulatory environment increase. Can cattlemen survive? Can they have a place at the table and influence the regulatory environment so they can stay in business? Yes, but it will mean finding groups the industry can work with and seeking common ground....More

Ours is the Age of Monoculture. Farmers reap ever-increasing annual harvests by planting hybrid varieties, pumping them up with fossil fuel fertilizers, and managing them with pesticides, herbicides and industrial machinery. A drive through rural America can appear eerily sterile -- feed corn, soybeans, wheat or cotton as far as the eye can see, uninterrupted by so much as an acre of natural habitat....More

The U.S. Cattlemen's Association (USCA) says it is pleased with the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) decision to appeal a World Trade Organization's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Panel ruling against the U.S. country of origin (COOL) law. On March 23, the USTR notified the WTO of its decision to appeal the Dispute Settlement Panel's ruling issued in November 2011....More

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack delivered the keynote address at last week’s Commodity Classic, where he focused on the need for Congress to pass a farm bill this year....More

A total of 643 organizations, representing tens of millions of Americans, expressed strong support for the Conservation Title of the U.S. Farm Bill in a letter sent to Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee; and Frank Lucas (R-OK), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee; as well as the ranking members of those committees....More

International trade bolsters job creation here at home and helps foster economic activity in communities across the country. The beef industry plays a big role in the United States' trade portfolio. Last year alone, U.S. beef producers exported to countries around the world nearly $5.5 billion worth of product. And, it's generally agreed upon that increasing exports are the key to increasing demand for U.S. beef products. Unfortunately, our own government is hindering progress in opening new markets for these products....More

Kansas officials were stunned and upset to learn that President Barack Obama recommended no additional funding for construction of a new biosecurity lab to replace the one at Plum Island, jeopardizing a high-visibility project that the state had seen as a powerful engine of economic growth....More