News Update
October 17, 2017
NAFTA Negotiators:
Do No Harm to Agriculture, Please
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations are under way. With Rounds 1 and 2 already in the books, the goal is to finalize the agreement by the year’s end. Many in agriculture, especially the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Mexico’s Consejo Nacional Agropecuario (CNA), believe NAFTA has exponentially grown reciprocal trade between the three countries.
On Aug. 16 leaders from the three national organizations –– Zippy Duvall, AFBF; Ron Bonnett, CFA; and Bosco de la Vega, CNA –– sent a joint letter to negotiators. The letter outlined NAFTA’s successes for agriculture and five ways the three countries can increase agricultural trade volumes. Negotiators were encouraged to consider the following:
- seek increased and improved regulatory alignment;
- improve the flow of goods at border crossings;
- further align sanitary and phytosanitary measures;
- eliminate technical barriers to trade; and
- adapt the agreement to technological advances since the implementation, such as digital trade, etc.
Following the ceremonial signing of the letter, Duvall, Bonnett and Vega commented in a press conference on the progress the three countries have made regarding trade during NAFTA and their hopes for its future.
Continue reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Partners in Land, Not Cattle
The offer was on the table. Tom Houret sat listening to the hum of the air conditioning, his fitted suit slightly unbuttoned. In a month he’d cross the Oklahoma State University stage with more than a diploma.
There would be a shift: He’d walk on as a California rancher’s son and walk off as whoever he wanted to be.
Consulting, sales or financial advising? A bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a minor in marketing afforded the young grad many options, and they all had one thing in common: They weren’t cattle.
“I had a pretty great idea of what this was like,” he says of days spent on the ranch by 2009. “It was as if I’d already had a 10-year career in the cattle business. I needed to know if anything else was out there.”
The 22-year-old had long set his sights on something, anything other than ranch life. Back home in La Grange, Calif., his dad Paul would move forward regardless, so the decision, like many before and after, belonged only to Tom.
View the full Angus Journal article online.
U.S. Forest Service Actively Involved
in California Wildfire Response
Alongside its local, state and federal partners, the USDA’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) remains actively involved in response to wildfires in California. While these fires are not on National Forest System lands, the Forest Service provides additional firefighting personnel, incident management teams and equipment resources to support the state of California and other federal agencies whose resources are challenged by the size, numbers and severity of these fatal fires.
“The people of California are not in this alone. This is a unified effort that involves the dedication of the whole firefighting community,” said USFS Chief Tony Tooke. “The Forest Service has boots on the ground and is providing other critical resources in California, as well as other parts of the American West, and we will remain as long as necessary.”
While Cal Fire is leading overall operations, as of Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, the Forest Service has committed more than 1,500 firefighters to the effort.
Read the full USDA news release online.
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
With a smile lingering on his wind-chapped face, he wakes up every morning, brews his coffee and heads out to feed his herd just as the rising sun peeks over the barn. He checks his cattle; fixes fence; rakes hay; wipes his brow; checks the cows again; repairs his old, green tractor; checks up on his herd one last time; then heads in at noon for a home-cooked meal of homegrown Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) steak, fried potatoes and gravy.
He kicks back in his chair, thinking of the endless labor that must be finished before sundown.
He sees himself as just a regular man, doing what he has done all of his life. Yet, as I sit across from him, I see he is so much more.
His eyes, steel blue, are exuberant with life. I can tell by the way he holds his gaze that he has seen much during his time on Earth. I notice the kindness in the way he welcomes conversation, shifting his eyes from speaker to speaker, listening intently.
Learn more in the full Angus Journal article online.
Stockmen’s Association Re-elects Top Officers
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association (NDSA) members tapped Gackle, N.D., rancher Warren Zenker for a second term as the organization’s president at the 88th Annual Convention & Trade Show, “Boots on the Ground,” in Fargo, N.D., in September.
The 24-year NDSA member and his wife, Linda, manage a 400-head cow-calf herd, a 2,000-head permitted feedlot and farm alongside their son Brooks and their nephews. Zenkers’ daughter Jordan Becker and her husband, David, live in nearby Napoleon, N.D.
In his remarks during the opening session, Zenker reminisced about the challenging year that North Dakota cattle producers faced — ranging from a cold, snowy winter debuting with a couple feet of snow to one of the worst droughts in state history.
“[In times like these,] it would be easy for us to throw in the towel and walk away; however, that is not the nature of those of us born and raised in this industry. We’ve learned that we must persevere through good and bad times alike,” he said.
That’s the spirit the NDSA used to help identify resources for producers in the drought and continues to use as it investigates other options to advance its no-posting, private property rights policy after important legislation was defeated earlier this year, Zenker said.
For more information, please read the NDSA news release online.
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