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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (Feb. 4, 2005) — The Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee meeting Feb. 4 during the 2005 Cattle Industry Annual Convention in San Antonio included talks by members from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as well as a member discussion and working group reports about important issues facing the beef industry.
Jon Scholl, EPA counselor to the administrator for ag policy, expressed his goal to have the ag community work with the EPA to make positive changes. He discussed the status of individual issues, such as the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), whether cattle operations could be considered in the definition of “fugitive emissions,” and how the federal and state governments plan to work with producers to help them meet the deadlines for their concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) regulations. He recognized “the positive contribution that agriculture gives to the environment,” and said that the best thing the beef industry could do is “keep funneling the facts,” as scientific information has proved to be very persuasive.
Bruce Knight, NRCS chief, spoke to the group about the expansions and changes to conservation programs, as well as the help that will be coming from the government to make programs like the CAFO regulations work. His first point echoed a point of contention throughout the committee about the different conservation programs and whether or not they actually had any real effects. Some noted that the money spent rewarding those who conserve the land would be better spent “on the ground” to help more efforts. Some cattlemen were also concerned about protecting their livestock from predators, especially protected species. Policy changes were made to reflect this.
— by Brooke Byrd, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.
© Copyright 2005 Angus Productions Inc.
Editor’s Note: This article was written under contract or by staff of Angus Productions Inc. (API), which claims copyright to this article. It may not be published or distributed without the express permission of Angus Productions Inc. To request reprint permission and guidelines, contact Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, at (816) 383-5270 or shermel@angusjournal.com.
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