Kansas Livestock Association members gathered for their annual business meeting Dec. 1 in Wichita, Kan. They approved 72 policy resolutions for 2024, including these highlights:

Rural veterinary shortages. Policy resolutions included supporting the Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas with increased funding, as well as creating or expanding programs to incentivize large-animal veterinary training at accredited colleges with the goal of increasing the number of practicing large-animal veterinarians in rural Kansas. Another resolution called for KLA to put its support behind programs that allow technicians to work with licensed veterinarians to perform certain procedures such as pregnancy palpation and ultrasounds.

Small-scale meat processing. KLA members voted to support policy that calls for Kansas Department of Health and Environment plant design standards to be flexible and allow alternative methods of waste-handling that are both economically viable and minimize the effect on the environment.

Property rights. Members approved policy that would support any legislation that would protect the property rights of landowners adjoining, but not participating in, wind farm or commercial solar developments. And it would require those energy developers to have financially sufficient decommissioning plans to protect the property at the end of the infrastructure’s life. The resolution also opposes portfolio standards for wind or solar energy.

Animal disease traceability. Members voted to support National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and USDA efforts to develop a mandatory, national individual animal identification disease traceability system for all cattle, as long as the cost to producers is minimized, the private sector’s administration role is optimized, and individual owner records are kept confidential. The policy also backs expanding U.S. CattleTrace, further limiting the liability of exposure of producers.

Cattle marketing. KLA members reaffirmed their policy supporting industry-led changes to the current marketing system that improve the value discovery process, and members’ freedom to use the marketing program that best suits their needs. Additional policy was reauthorized that opposes any government attempts to narrow business options or limit individual freedom to innovate in management and marketing of what they produce.

NEW LEADERSHIP: KLA members elected Smith County rancher Philip Weltmer (right) as their new president during their annual membership meeting Dec. 1 in Wichita. They also elected Victoria-native Troy Sander (left), a cattle feeder now based in Oklahoma City, as the new KLA president-elect.

Members also elected new leadership during their business meeting. Smith Center, Kan., rancher Philip Weltmer will be the new president, with Troy Sander, a cattle feeder based in Oklahoma City as the new KLA president-elect.

Weltmer, a third-generation rancher, has worked with his grandfather, father and uncle to grow the operation to include a commercial cow-calf herd, a small, registered Angus herd, a feedyard and farming business. He’s a past chairman of the Kansas Beef Council and is the co-chair of the Checkoff Nutrition and Health Committee of the Federation of State Beef Councils.

Sander is the chief operations manager for Heritage Beef, with feedyards in Haskell and Labette counties. He’s a Victoria, Kan., native, with 32 years of experience in the cattle-feeding industry. He has served on the NCBA board of directors and was chairman of the NCBA Live Cattle Marketing Committee from 2022-23.

To learn more, visit kla.org.