GoodFuels

Livestock Alignment

I was disappointed to see the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association align itself with the anti-ethanol “Food Before Fuel” campaign that was officially launched today.

As an “agriblogger,” the beef cattle industry is among our many clients. We blog for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board annual and summer meetings and the Missouri Beef Industry Council has been our client since we started the company four years ago. I can tell you that not all cattle producers agree with the general policy of the NCBA regarding ethanol production. One industry member told me that it is “not in their best interest” to oppose ethanol because “we know what it’s like to be the target of misinformation campaigns” and the agricultural industry should stick together and show a united front for an industry that has long-term benefits for rural communities and America in general.

In fact, their official policy statement reads:
NCBA’s producer-members support our nation’s commitment to reduce dependence on foreign energy, and efforts to develop forms of renewable energy. This commitment is creating both opportunities and challenges for our nation’s agricultural producers. NCBA supports research and development of renewable fuels that may provide additional benefits for the livestock industry.

However, they were opposed to increasing the RFS and support sunsetting the existing blending tax credit (VEETC) and the ethanol import tariffs as scheduled and not allowing for renewal in their current form.

As you read the list of groups aligned with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, one that is notably missing is the pork producers. This is interesting because 70 percent of their production costs are feed and they have been hit exceptionally hard by the higher feed costs. They also are less able to use DDGs than cattle producers.

(I have been corrected on this. The NPPC is indeed on the list, apparently they were just left off the press release that went out, for some reason. That makes Bryan Black’s comments all the more interesting.)

When I attended World Pork Expo last week, I heard the president of the National Pork Producers Council talk about the issue.

“This is not specifically an ethanol problem,” said Bryan Black, a hog farmer from Ohio. “The world demand for grain, the total energy price crisis and shortages of grain across the world have led to this situation and we are not pointing the finger at any one particular one.”

The livestock industry’s alignment with the GMA group is literally biting the hand that feeds them. I hope they change their mind.