‘Thanks for the Facts’ on mCOOL and Checkoff, Reader Says

Editor’s note: The following letter from Dr. Terry Slaten was emailed to Drovers and columnist Nevil Speer regarding his recent column about the Opportunities For Fairness Act (OFF). It is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

I am a small cattleman in Alabama and have been a veterinarian, working for the Alabama Department of Ag and Industries for almost thirty years.  Prior to that I was a large animal practitioner in Montana, Mississippi and Alabama for ten years.  I have been around for a long time and have always loved and appreciated the beef cattle business.  I have a small herd of cattle, but it has been cattle people who have allowed me to make a living around the industry I am passionate about.

Earlier this week I was in Washington, DC and had a chance to meet with several of our congressional delegation from Alabama.  It was a very eye-opening experience for me.  I met one of the staffers for one of our congressmen who is on the House Ag Committee.  I met another staffer who works for a ranking member on the House Ag Committee.  These staffers do the deep dives into ag-related issues.  They both have reasonable ag backgrounds, but I realized that no one can be an expert on every issue and that our representatives and senators rely on these staffers to give them the bullet points on the subjects they are about to vote on.  I am somewhat concerned that the information that our staffers get may not always come from the most reliable sources.

Two of the issues that one of our staffers asked me about was mCOOL and the Checkoff.  I told the staffer that she should Google Nevil Speer and COOL.  I believe you are the most informative, factual source out there when it comes to COOL and other subjects you write about.  I received an email yesterday from the Alabama staffer that I told to Google your articles.  She had done so and said she very much appreciated the article, “OFF...Uffda,” that was published by Drovers.  It was accurate and to the point.

I have followed your articles about COOL for some time.  I believe that the only way that someone can read those articles and still believe that COOL is the panacea for the industry is to just refuse to believe the facts.  And for sure there are those out there who just don’t want to change their position.  

I just want to thank you for what you do and for writing articles that are based on facts and very readable so that even people like me can understand them.  Most of the issues that divide us in the cattle industry are very complex and you allow us to get a handle on the issues and at least arm ourselves with facts.  If someone does not choose to believe the facts, that is quite another story.

Terry Slaten, DVM

Alabama