Little Apple Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On May 17, 2023, U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (KS-01), Chairman of the Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee, hosted American livestock producers on Capitol Hill to hear about the most pressing issues they face. The witnesses included:

• Todd Wilkinson, President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCSB)

• Scott Hayes, President of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)

• John Zimmerman, Vice President of the National Turkey Federation (NTF)

• Bryan Burns, Vice President & Association General Counsel at the North American Meat Institute (NAMI)

• Laurie Hubbard, Region I Director for the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI)

• Kelsey Scott, Director of Programs for the Intertribal Agriculture Agriculture Council

"As Congress works to craft livestock policy and to reauthorize the Farm Bill, it is vital that we hear from those directly involved in the day-to-day business of feeding the world,” said Chairman Mann. “That’s why today’s hearing was so important – it brought together leaders from across the entire livestock sector. I was eager to learn from them about whether existing Farm Bill programs needed to be tweaked or enhanced to ensure producer success, and ways regulation might be getting in their way.” 

Chairman Mann and members of the subcommittee received witness testimony and asked questions of the witnesses. Chairman Mann’s line of questioning centered around lessening the burden of unfunded mandates on producers, pushing back on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s unnecessary Packers and Stockyards rules, and strengthening markets for American protein exports.

"Today’s hearing goes to show that farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers are all in this together,” said Chairman Mann. "From commodity growers to livestock producers—everyone represents a piece of the American agriculture picture. We must remember that, for example, our commodity producers greatly benefit from a strong livestock sector as livestock consumes grain. The livestock sector benefits from the biofuels industry as that industry relies on them as an important feed source. Agriculture is extremely interconnected.”

Chairman Mann is the member of Congress for the Big First district of Kansas. The Big First is home to 60,000 farms and ranches, is the third-largest agriculture production district in the country, and Kansas agricultural producers sell $10 billion worth of livestock, dairy, poultry, and products like beef, milk, and eggs every year.

Original source can be found here.