In public policy, as in life, learning from past mistakes is a cardinal rule for success. That is why it was disappointing to see Thomas Gremillion from the Consumer Federation of America advocate for the reinstatement of mandatory country-of-origin labelling (MCOOL) for beef and pork in a recent guest opinion column on the Food Safety …
Secretary of Agriculture choice not as difficult as farm policy
When the bitter cold began spreading over rural America last month, the parlor guessing game around many a wood stove was guessing who President-elect Donald J. Trump would name as secretary of agriculture. But the time for that game has passed.
The past three presidents all named their ag bosses by the end of the…
Cattle Producer Associations Run From Hot to Cold on COOL
The move in Congress to repeal mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law for beef, pork and chicken is again turning up the fault lines among the three major organizations that represent American cattle producers. While there are numerous state and local affiliates, the three big groups are:
- National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), based in Denver and
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Cattlemen Object on Food-Safety Grounds to USDA Allowing More Brazilian Beef Imports
With beef prices in the U.S. reaching stratospheric levels, looking to one of our top-10 trading partners for increased supply would seem to be in the best interest of hard-pressed American consumers. But the Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says that action by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service opening the U.S. to importation…