August 2024 Newsletter

To read the August 2024 Newsletter CLICK HERE

WHO ARE THEY WORKING FOR??

Op-Ed by Gilles Stockton, Montana Cattlemen’s Association Director

Congress, and in particular the members of the House and Senate Agricultural Committees, should be ashamed of themselves. Voters should cull a few out this coming November because an entire year has passed and there is still no Farm Bill. It is looking likely that there will be no Farm Bill again this year. They did a draft of sorts, but the Senate and House versions are very different, meaning that there is no consensus. However, some of what they do agree upon is disturbing. For instance, restoration of Country-of-Origin Labeling of beef (COOL) is not in the Farm Bill but the Amplifying Processing in Livestock in the United States (A-Plus Act) is. Ninety percent of Americans (approximately 297,000,000 people) say that they would like to know the country of origin of their beef purchases. Meanwhile, the A-Plus Act would benefit at most a few dozen people. This is what passes as representative government in today’s Congress. You are probably asking, “What on earth is the A-Plus Act?” That is the point; you never heard of it because the sponsors are pulling a fast one on the cattle industry…… (read it all in the newsletter!!)