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President’s Address...

published: August 6th 2010
by: Rosalee Coleman
source: ICA Of Texas

Another NCBA Con-vention is just around the corner. Summer meetings are more convenient, because everything takes place in one hotel. Winter meetings mean scattered locations for hotels, and long walks down various convention center hallways looking for meetings. I am feeling more relaxed about this meeting because NCBA has delayed voting on its new governance plan, and I won't have to vote against it. It is difficult being one of the few in a room of several hundred to vote against proposed NCBA policy, but I have done it several times in order to stay true to ICA policy. The main reason we are voting against the new governance plan is that it blurs the lines between the Federation (state beef councils) and NCBA (a policy organization with an agenda). We believe these two entities should be separate and apart, even though NCBA is the major contractor for Cattlemen's Beef Board projects. We have some other concerns as well, but there is not room here for that discussion.
    Last month, right after our convention, I visited the TSCRA summer meeting in Grapevine, as a courtesy. They always invite our presidents to their meetings, just as we invite their presidents to ours. I felt welcome, and found their issues presentations to be the same as ours in several cases.
    Especially interesting was an assessment of the coming health care overhaul, which affects us all. It seems as though we may have less care available, and may pay more money for what we do get. Private insurance has a good chance of being priced out of the market, which will leave only the government to supply coverage. I hope things will turn out better than they look at this time.
    I also attended the Gonzales ICA Chapter meeting this month. "Billy Bob" Low cooked some wonderful brisket and beans, and his wife, Joann, made delicious potato salad, so the meal alone made the trip worthwhile. I saw many of my ICA friends and met some new ones, too. The program was about brush control.
    If you live in Texas, you have a brush problem, so it is always good to hear the latest methods available for eradication, or at least, a measure of control. In addition, Bill Hyman gave us an update on current issues facing the cattle Industry. Animal welfare guidelines, water rights, ending the cattle Brucellosis program, border security, and tick control are all on the front burners.
    We lost some ground this month when a bill intended to curb the power of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate agriculture failed. The EPA continues to claim the right to regulate all things agriculture, including the dust created in a feed yard or the water that flows by. While we want to take care of the environment, too, it seems very dangerous to allow a governmental agency, that answers to no one, to make the rules. A better solution would be the U.S. Congress, where we at least have the right to testify and tell our story. This is one issue in which all the various agriculture organizations agree--USCA, NCBA, Farm Bureau, NFU, just to name a few national ones. We will all have to keep trying on this one.
    I saw the first suggested animal welfare guidelines published this week, in an article by Dr. Temple Grandin. I have been wondering how they would define the problems, much less the solutions, but her outline is a start.
    For ranch and feedlot, she recommends:
    (1) a score system for body condition (2 and better for 90 percent of the cows).
    (2) lameness (a sign of general health in a herd--not to exceed 5 percent).
    (3) mud control (more for a feedlot); percentage score system for amount of mud and soil on their bodies, and whether it reaches the top of their hooves.
    (4) cancer eye (animal must be euthanized on the farm).
    Dr. Grandin goes on to suggest coat condition scoring and heat stress scoring. All this may seem obvious, but I can see where a sheriff's department could use this sort of scorecard if they were called by a well-meaning individual who thought he or she was reporting abuse. We need something consistent, so everyone can assess general herd health. Again, the cattle industry will work together to get these principles down on paper in a usable form.
    I hope some of you can go to the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course in August. In the General Session August 2, Phil Sadler, ICA first vice-president, and Jim McAdams, past president of NCBA, will discuss animal rights activists and the threats they pose. I'm sure it will be an eye-opening program and one of the highlights of the meeting.
    August is right around the corner. We are still experiencing good rains in South Texas, and it has been a summer to remember with pleasure. Until next time, Rosalee