Livestock producers in Kansas and the rest of the United States are breathing a little easier following the passage of an amendment in Washington D.C. late June 18 that blocked legislation that would have regulated livestock as a source of greenhouse gases.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, put forth the amendment that blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from mandating Clean Air Act permits greenhouse gases emitted by livestock, according to a press release from the Tiahrt press office Friday morning.
Tiahrt had lots of support from both Democrats and Republicans for the amendment.
“Farmers and ranchers could soon face unprecedented taxes, excessive reporting requirements and hefty fees if the government decides to regulate livestock greenhouse gas sources,” said Tiahrt in the press release. “By blocking the EPA from regulating livestock emissions, we won an important victory for agriculture producers whose businesses could have seen profits erased.
“President Obama has made it clear he supports regulating all greenhouse gases. If his plan is enacted, regulations and fees would strangle small and large farm operations alike. EPA permits could cost as much as $175 per milk cow and more than $85 per head for beef cattle — nearly the profit margin.”
While the House Appropriations Committee has adopted the amendment, it has not become law yet. It still has to make it through the Senate and then get the president’s signature, said Matt Teagarden, Kansas Livestock Association director of industry relations.
“We hope the language remains in the bill that is ultimately signed by the president,” Teagarden said.
If the greenhouse gas regulation had gone into effect it would have cut even further into the cattle industry profit margin that has not faired well over the last two years.
“For the last couple of years our feed yards have lost money on every head that they feed,”
Teagarden said. “Those kinds of numbers won’t work for livestock producers.”
Those numbers add up to some serious dollar amounts for producers and especially feed lots where the last few months have seen $100 to $200 per head losses. If another $85 for greenhouse gasses is added there probably wouldn’t be any reason for feedlots to be in business for very long, said Jerry Bohn, general manager of Pratt Feeders.
“It would have had a real drastic affect,” Bohn said.
The last two years have seen the worst equity loss in the industry because of increases in energy and grain costs coupled with a slow down in both domestic demand and in export markets, Bohn said.
Pratt Feeders handled 100,000 head of cattle in 2008. With a greenhouse gas fee of $85 per head it would cost them $8.5 million in fees for just one year.
Bohn said the EPA figures show that the livestock industry counts for six percent of greenhouse emissions and that is for the entire country. And the beef industry is responsible for about one third of that.
It seems kind of silly that with that low of a percentage the government would bother trying to regulate those greenhouse emissions, Bohn said.
“It’s another example of overreaching government,” said Bohn who believes that there is a hidden agenda to push all animal agriculture out of business in favor of a vegetarian diet and to control all greenhouse gas emissions.
The amendment will only block those gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane.
Other legislation is under consideration that would regulate farm pond drainage and a whole new list of water currently not federally regulated, Teagarden said.
The KLA appreciates Tiahrt’s efforts and fully supports the amendment, Teagarden said.
Pratt, Kan. —
