The president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a five-year farm bill. Buck Wehrbein of Nebraska told the U.S. Senate Ag Committee during a hearing this week he’d liked to see it passed sooner rather than later. “There are too many people that are up in the air not knowing when things are going to happen,” he says. “You get these continuing resolutions and there’s no continuity knowing that this in place for five years.”
Wehrbein says he also told Senators the Beef Checkoff plays a vital role in producer profitability. “It was instrumental and a big part of why our demand turned around,” he says. “Our demand is so good now, and it’s not the only reason, but it’s one of the big reasons for it.”
He tells Brownfield, “All the good that it does, and it doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. It’s funded by producers and run by producers.”
Wehrbein says the group would like to see additional tax relief as Congress works on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and additional funding to invest in facilities to increase sterile fly production to prevent New World Screwworm from entering the U.S.
