06/11/08 Cattleman Get Together

Cattleman Get Together. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Members of the Oregon Cattleman's Association are getting set to hold their annual meeting and with the new farm bill along with issues like country of origin labeling, this promises to be a good meeting with lots of topics according to Kay Teisl, Executive Director of the association. TEISL: Climate change, farm labor, of course biofuels production and being energy independent and there is also a potential state meat inspection program that's being kicked around that we'll be discussing  what would be best for our cattleman here in Oregon. We always have issues with public land grazing and of course the Oregon Department of Ag Grant program, we're still working on a solution to make that sustainable into the future. The Oregon Cattleman's Association was formed in 1918 and helps producers with legislative issues on the state and national front. Teisl talks about what producers can expect at this years meeting. TEISL: Well our mid-year trade show and conference will be held in Madras on June 19th to the 21st. We have a great trade show and the associate council is going to be holding a gold scramble again this year and then following that the social and barbeque at the Desert Peaks Golf Club. Our meeting starts Friday, June 20th and will kick off with a speaker from the OSU College of Veterinarian Medicine. The meeting will have some chances for early-risers to get additional knowledge on topics of interest. TEISL: We have some educational opportunities both Thursday morning at 6:30; we have OSU Extension putting on a seminar called "Increasing Calf Values with Age & Source Verification." And this is an excellent opportunity to learn how this can play a role in the Country of Origin Labeling that's going to be implemented and how calf operators can meet the basic requirements of source verification. There are a number of other issues plaguing cattle operations and are sure to be brought up at the conference. TEISL: Water is always a huge issue and this year the NPDES permit for CAFO's is up for renewal actually in July so we're going to be going over that proposed draft permit and talking about the changes and what our position should be on that. And the governors water strategy, Headwaters to Ocean Initiative will also be a key issue in our water committee www.orcattle.com. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.