The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council launched a grassroots campaign opposing the new BLM conservation rule, as it has the potential to limit access to grazing on public lands and set the doors open for radical environmentalists, against the ranching community, to advance their agendas.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Todd Wilkinson testified in a hearing titled “A Review of Animal Agriculture Stakeholder Priorities” on May 17. He spoke on the current state of the cattle industry and priorities the NCBA intends to focus on during the 118th Congress.

If passed, the DIRECT Act would allow for beef, pork and poultry producers to sell their products through e-commerce across state lines – without the current regulation of going through a USDA-inspected facility. Instead, the act would only require producers to follow state inspection programs.

In this episode, Tyrell and Ron Scott of Purina Animal Nutrition talk about the need for adapting nutrition guidelines as average cow size grows. Carrie also visits with Mary-Thomas Hart, Chief Counsel, Government Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association about the current state of the Waters of the U.S. rules and where that leaves cattle producers. David, Tyrell and Carrie also discuss the recent BLM announcement about public land use.

The U.S. Department of the Interior on March 30 published a proposal that could shift priorities on 245 million acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The rule would likely mark a sizable shift in BLM practices; according to an agency statement, it intends to put “conservation on equal footing with other uses,” which it says is “consistent with the BLM’s multiple use and sustained yield mission.”

The Biden administration’s controversial new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, initially issued on Dec. 30, 2022, went into effect throughout most of the country on March 30.

Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) on Feb. 22, triggering an automatic ban on beef exports to China.