House Subcommittee Hears Animal Ag ‘Stakeholder Priorities’

America’s farmers and ranchers “know well what can happen to the farm when the government gets in the way,” according to Rep. Tracey Mann, (R-KS) U.S. House of Representatives Chairman of the Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee.

In his opening remarks to Wednesday’s hearing titled, "A Review of Animal Agriculture Stakeholder Priorities,” Mann said he is concerned about what he called “the Biden Administration’s false narrative about the protein sector’s contribution” to food inflation; the Administration’s “push for a set of controversial Packers and Stockyards rules;” and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold California’s Proposition 12, a ruling he said “opens the door to unthinkable, unscientific regulatory overreach.”

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, (R-PA) also singled out the Biden Administration’s “blame game” with industry and inserted into the record Monday’s Wall Street Journal editorial, “Big Meat Conspiracy Theory Unravels.” Thompson also lamented what he called the Administration’s “lack of certainty regarding our pork and poultry processors’ ability to efficiently operate at speeds proven safe and reliable for decades.”

Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim Costa, (D-CA), said it is “critical that we enact policies that benefit the entire livestock industry. The pandemic exposed some issues in our supply chains and led to incredibly difficult circumstances for many producers across the livestock industry, and I believe there is work to do to address those problems.”

Costa also called the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), and the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), “essential tools for producers”

The hearing included witnesses for industry groups representing cattle, hogs, turkeys, sheep, meat packers and the Intertribal Agriculture Council.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Todd Wilkinson, South Dakota, highlighted stronger market conditions in the cattle industry and discussed new challenges facing farmers and ranchers from burdensome regulations and inflation. He also said cattlemen face threats of a foreign animal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s overreaching Packers and Stockyards rules, and activist attacks against the Beef Checkoff.

Specifically, Wilkinson identified key priorities for the cattle industry would be for Congress to pass the 2023 Farm Bill, nullify the Packers and Stockyards rule that “injects heavy-handed government mandates,” and defending the Beef Checkoff, “which supports the cattle industry’s long-term success.” Wilkinson also urged reauthorizing Livestock Mandatory Reporting to provide cattlemen with consistent, timely and transparent market information.

Bryan Burns, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, North American Meat Institute said the meat and poultry industry faces economic headwinds, challenges in the courts and hurdles with new regulations but remains resilient with record production.

“I want to emphasize that the industry is incredibly resilient, despite claims to the contrary,” said Burns. “Against challenges such as COVID, supply chain disruptions, labor availability, and the impact of drought, beef production set new records for four consecutive years from 2019 through 2022. Pork production has seen its highest four-year totals over the same period.”

Burns also criticized the recent Proposition 12 decision, claiming, “It will embolden anti-animal ag groups to pursue burdensome laws elsewhere and will open the door to chaos in interstate commerce through state-by-state trade barriers, not just for meat and poultry products, but for any products not meeting the standards set by another state.”

Burns told lawmakers the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows meat and poultry processing is a $266.99 billion industry employing 526,849 people directly and supporting many more jobs up and down stream in the value chain across both rural and urban communities.

Scott Hays, president, National Pork Producers Council, told the committee it is a challenging time for America’s pork producers, “with hog producers losing on average $40 per head of hogs marketed. While current markets are within the range typically seen at this point in the marketing year, input costs have risen by some 50 percent in the past year. This is putting a pinch on the pork industry and will lead to greater consolidation as producers may be forced to exit the industry due to this economic reality.”