News Update
Nov. 20, 2008

Cow tax proposal would threaten agriculture viability

“With the economy in bad shape and the possibility of a deep recession looming, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to levy new taxes — on cows and pigs,” American Farm Bureau Federation Director of Regulatory Relations Rick Krause told Wyoming Farm Bureau members Nov. 7 at their annual meeting in Sheridan.

“This is no laughing matter,” Krause said. “The cow tax and the pig tax are parts of a larger scheme by the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

“Under the proposal, if a state charged the ‘presumptive minimum rate’ from the EPA, the cow tax would be $175 per dairy cow, $87.50 per head for beef cattle and a little more than $20 per pig,” Krause explained.

Krause explained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that a producer with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs would emit more than 100 tons of carbon and be subject to the permitting requirements. “These thresholds would impact 99% of dairy producers, more than 90% of beef producers and 95% of hog producers in the United States,” Krause stated.

According to Krause, the EPA has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in preparation to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA). “The regulation of automobile emissions automatically initiates other provisions of the CAA,” Krause explained. “One of those provisions requires permits from anyone who emits more than 100 tons of a regulated pollutant per year, and there are millions of sources that emit more than 100 tons of carbon.”

The Title V permits, which are essentially a cow and pig tax, are supposed to contain provisions designed to reduce or eliminate the emissions of the regulated pollutant. “Cows’ and pigs’ methane emissions come from natural and biological processes,” Krause stated. 

“The economic costs to producers from the cow and pig tax would be great and could cause the cost of beef, pork and dairy prices to rise,” Krause continued. “The cow and pig tax would impose severe penalties on livestock producers in the United States without effectively reducing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.”

You can send comments to www.stopepa.com or to Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460; RE: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0318. The comment deadline for the cow and pig tax is Friday, Nov. 28, but EPA has said that the docket will remain open.

The Wyoming Farm Bureau urges cattlemen to write or call their representatives in Congress and/or senators to ask them to prevent the imposition of a cow tax and a pig tax that would occur by the regulation of greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act.

Endangered species

In other national issues, Krause addressed endangered species issues, including the wolf.

“I remember back in 1993 we were talking about how they will continue to change the numbers of wolves required,” Krause said. “Unfortunately, our assumption was accurate and even though there are five times more packs than needed for recovery, it has come down to a federal judge in Montana.

“They are arguing there is no genetic exchange,” he said. “Well, the whole reason in the first place they were introduced is because they could not get here on their own. How are you going to have genetic interchange?

“So what are we going to expect from the Endangered Species Act in the next four years?” Krause asked. “While only time will tell, we can expect no amendments to the ESA as those who are opposed to common sense management will work to keep it as is.”

The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general agriculture organization. Members work together from the grassroots to develop agricultural policy, programs and services to enhance the rural lifestyle of Wyoming.

— Release adapted from Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation.

COOL labels now mandatory, retailers in grace period until March

Consumers soon will find country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, on many food products. Retailers currently are in a six-month grace period since the legislation went into effect at the end of September. By March, the labels will appear on beef, pork, lamb, chicken and goat meat, as well as perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, ginseng and macadamia nuts.

“Originally, country-of-origin labeling for red meat was part of the 2002 Farm Bill, but the program was made voluntary after difficulties with logistics were discovered,” said Gregg Rentfrow, extension meat specialist for the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture. “However, the call for mandatory COOL reappeared in the 2008 Farm Bill after safety concerns of imported foods arose, and President Bush signed the bill into existence, making the labels mandatory on Sept. 30.”

For red meat, all commodities packaged prior to Sept. 30 are exempt from the mandatory labeling legislation. If animals were in the United States and continuously remain in the United States on or before July 15, 2008, they are considered U.S. products. After July 15, only animals born, raised, fed and harvested in the United States can be labeled as a “Product of the U.S.”

“If an animal was born in another country, but raised, fed and harvested here in the United States, the resulting products will require both countries’ labels,” Rentfrow said. “If an animal is imported for immediate slaughter, it will have the original country’s label, and finished products imported into the United States will contain the exporting country’s label.”

Retailers must log each shipment, keep those records for at least one year and produce them within five days if requested. Products that are exempt from COOL are those intended for foodservice (restaurants) and those products where meat is an ingredient in the final processed product.

Rentfrow said seafood products have displayed country-of-origin labels for the past few years. In that time, retailers and consumers have grown comfortable with the program and realized that some products are not from U.S. sources.

“Some consumers may be uncomfortable with the globalization of the red meat industry and may not understand why a package reads ‘A Product of Canada and the U.S.’ when cattle and pigs are a common sight around the country,” Rentfrow said. “Ground meat products may create the most confusion, as a package may contain meat from several different animals from three to four different countries. A sound understanding of the details of the livestock industry will become crucial to retailers, as they will be responsible for answering the consumers’ questions and easing their concerns.”

Retailers are currently operating within the six-month grace period before the labels must be displayed. Labels can be posted either on the package or displayed on the meat case in front of the individual commodities. Livestock producers must generate an affidavit detailing the birth location of each animal at each point of sale. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the cost of implementation for the first year of the program will be $2.5 billion. Rentfrow said these costs will be covered partially by producers ($376 million) and retailers ($236 million) with the USDA funding the rest.

— Release provided by UK College of Agriculture.

— Compiled by Tosha Powell, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.