MCOOL Cut From the House Farm Bill; R-Calf Disappointed

The Farm Bill has passed. A farm bill has passed through the House of Representatives and is now on the way to the Senate. However, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling was rejected on the House floor. This has been a long-running priority for our calf United Stock Growers of America CEO Bill Bullard.

“The rumor has it that it may be late, May, early June that the Senate will begin serious discussions on the farm bill. We need to pass legislation to promote competition, and the way to do that is to reinstate mandatory country warrants and labels.”

With the farm bill now heading to the Senate. Bullard says the R-CALF USA is looking to the USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, to help advance Mandatory Country of Origin labeling.

“We know that Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has expressed support for mandatory Country Awards and labeling, so we're hopeful that she will help on the Senate side to encourage the Senate to include it in the Farm Bill. And of course, we have the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, is the primary sponsor of the Senate version of the American Beef Labeling Act that would restore country-of-origin labeling. So our hopes are high that we can get this passed in the Senate, and I think it would certainly fare very well. I think on the Senate floor, people understand that consumers have the right to choose, and the only way they can choose it is if they have the information as to origin.”

R-CALF USA is Bill Bullard.