Insights Into Changing AG Policy Priorities

Mar 16, 2021

By Brad Lubben

This column was first published by Nebraska Farmer on March 12, 2021. A preview is excerpted here with permission from Nebraska Farmer/Farm Progress.

The first 100 days of a new president’s term are often looked at as the window for setting the policy agenda for the administration. While the 100-day mark may be an artificial deadline, it certainly provides a picture of the administration’s priorities.

As of the time of this writing in early March, the first 100 days in both the new White House and the new Congress are not yet over. However, there are already some insights from what has and has not been addressed thus far, including some important lessons for agriculture.

The first and certainly the overwhelming policy priority has been a continuation of the focus from late last year on further COVID-19 relief. Even though another round of relief was just passed in December, further assistance immediately became a goal of Democrats as they gained political control of both the White House and the Senate and kept control of the House.

Source : unl.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.