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KCA and cattle producers meet with Rep. Boyda to share experienKansas Kansas Cattlemen's Association and its producer members met with Congresswoman Nancy Boyda recently to provide insight as to their operations and how they are affected by the large corporate packers. Producers came from various parts of the 2nd district to share their experiences as cattlemen. Roy Heiman has been in the cattle business for many years. Feeding with various yards, he explained that there was a time when cattle were bought and sold throughout the week. "Now they (packers) wait until late afternoon on Friday to buy," he said. Heiman also elaborated on the fact that independent cattlemen do not have the opportunity to compete and often must sell their cattle before they even know what price they are going to get for them. Gary Pfrang of Nemaha County provided details of a recent experience he had with one company, stating how it has restricted his delivery dates so that company cattle receive preferential treatment and premiums. KCA Vice President David Pfrang demonstrated the control of large corporations when he described how a producer in his area has had "his money returned after investing in a producer-funded processing plant after being told that he was now too small of a producer. The corporate facilities got in and eliminated the need for the independent producers." KCA Board member and Wilson County producer, Casey Kimberlin explained that the increase of captive supply negatively affects the cash market. Cattleman Jerry Cox expressed his concerns about the U.S. trade deficit. "We are the second largest cattle producing state, and yet the import business is bigger than our Kansas cattle industry. Importers are paying less money into the beef checkoff, and they still want to pass off their beef as U.S. beef." Cox continued by saying that the U.S. is not involved in fair trade and importers are able to take advantage of U.S. producers and consumers. In light of the comments made during the meeting, KCA Executive Director Brandy Carter asked Congresswoman Boyda to support two specific bills that have been introduced in the House. House Bill 2213 is the Captive Supply Reform Act, and House Bill 2135 is a general competition bill. KCA also asked the congresswoman to vote against tying animal I.D. to country of origin labeling in the farm bill. "In the first mark up of the farm bill by the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry subcommittee, there was a repeal of the 2002 farm bill that prohibited the use of animal I.D. as a verification system for COOL (Country Of Origin Labeling). It is important not to align the two." KCA Board member and Woodson County producer, Lee Robbins, asked Congresswoman Boyda for the opportunity to allow producers an avenue to market their products without attaching a costly, ineffective system to it. Robbins elaborated, "The most recent example of USDA working against me as a producer is USDA trying to tie mandatory identification to country of origin labeling. These two systems are different with unlike purposes and uses. I.D. is strictly an animal health issue. A simple hot iron brand will suffice for COOL and costs producers very little. Individual I.D. would be much more expensive to producers, be hard to implement, and will kill COOL in the long run." Congresswoman Boyda was receptive to the producers who shared their experiences and insight as to how they are affected by the lack of competition and the various struggles they face within the cattle industry. B 12 6/11/07 2 Star EK Date: 6/5/07
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