NMPF Statement on Additional Covid Relief Package

“NMPF is grateful to Congress for working to enact additional COVID-19 stimulus legislation. The pending bill includes critical additional agriculture and nutrition support intended to help farmers, rural communities, and food-insecure households throughout the nation.

 

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government’s strong response has proven invaluable to dairy producers as they keep working, day-in and day-out, to sustainably provide families here at home and abroad with an abundant supply of nutritious dairy products. However, while the availability of a vaccine is cause for hope, difficult months remain ahead.

 

“NMPF appreciates the additional $3.6 billion Congress would provide to bolster food supply chains and facilitate additional purchases and donations of dairy and other food products to those who need them most. NMPF also supports the legislation’s increased funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which will provide dairy and other nutritious foods to those households and senior citizens who have faced added hardship and unique struggles during this challenging period.

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.