Market challenges, foreign animal disease, beef import safety, the state beef checkoff and the estate tax issue garnered the most attention at last week’s Iowa Cattle Industry Leadership Summit. The summit, which was held on December 10 in Ames, combined educational sessions with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association policy committee meetings and the ICA annual meeting.

 The ICA has three policy committees: Beef Products, Business Issues and Cattle Production. The committee meetings are open to any ICA members, and generate organizational positions related to important topics affecting Iowa’s beef business. These policies drive the efforts of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and are used by staff and leaders in discussions with local and national elected officials and regulatory agencies.

Policy discussions this year revolved around cattle marketing, foreign animal disease preparedness, beef import safety, the state beef checkoff and estate tax.

Beef Products Committee passed two key policy recommendations
In the Beef Products Committee, significant discussion surrounded the safety of imported beef from countries with known cases of foot and mouth disease. Iowa cattlemen are concerned that the inspection of imported beef is not robust enough to safeguard against foreign animal diseases that may be introduced to our country through beef products. The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association passed a resolution encouraging the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to work with USDA to enforce the same inspection rules on imported beef that are currently being used on U.S. produced beef, to identify imported products through a certification system, and to ensure that imported beef is free of foreign disease at port of origin.

The Beef Products Committee also passed policy regarding the state beef checkoff, stating that ICA would continue to gather input from producers around the state on industry needs and work with the Iowa Beef Industry Council to fulfill those needs. Mark Putney, chair of the Beef Products Committee, was pleased that the referendum to reinstate the state beef checkoff passed. “Last year, we passed a directive to move forward with the state beef checkoff referendum process and it is gratifying to see that it was a success. We gathered producer input throughout the entire process and we will continue to do so as plans are made to invest the new state beef checkoff fund in beef promotion, production research and more.”

Cattle Production Committee is focused on market challenges
The Cattle Production Committee tackled market challenges and foreign animal disease response. “The topics covered in the Cattle Production Committee meeting have been on the minds of producers around the state for some time,” says Isaiah Shnurman, chair of the ICA Cattle Production Committee chairman.

Cattle marketing is the highest priority of the association this year, and input on the policies discussed has been coming from cattlemen across the state through listening sessions, phone calls, emails and more. “While this is not an easy topic to address, the ICA Feedlot Council has done a great job gathering ideas and facts to initiate association policy discussions on live cattle marketing policies,” says Shnurman.

The committee, with input from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association’s Feedlot Council, amended and adopted policies aimed at increasing price discovery, limiting market volatility, and reforming the CME’s Live Cattle Futures Contract.

ICA policy now includes these new resolutions:

Committee approved policy related to foreign animal disease:

Business Issues committee calls for repeal of estate taxes
The ICA’s Business Issues committee reinstated several expiring policies and strengthened the existing estate tax policy to support a complete repeal of federal and state estate taxes.

At the end of the day, ICA members ratified the new and amended policies at the annual meeting. Outgoing president Phil Reemtsma turned over the leadership of the ICA to Mike Cline from Elgin, Iowa, who will serve as president of ICA for one year.

“We’ve got a lot on our plate for 2017, with a new administration in the White House and a newly elected U.S. Congress at the national level. There is uncertainty with trade issues and market challenges,” says Cline. “But there are a lot of positive signs, as well. The passage of the state beef checkoff referendum here in Iowa shows that people believe in our industry, and overall, the mood is still positive. As we face challenges in the future, we can all help and pitch in. Working together with our executive committee, our board of directors and our members, we will continue to strengthen Iowa’s beef business just as we have in the past.”

About the Iowa Cattlemen's Association: The ICA represents nearly 10,000 beef-producing families and associated companies dedicated to the future of Iowa’s beef industry. ICA’s mission is “Grow Iowa’s beef business through advocacy, leadership and education.” The new, amended and renewed policies will be added to the 2016 ICA Policy Handbook. In the meantime, they can be found here: Beef Products; Business Issues; Cattle Production.