Sheep Industry News July 2024

President’s Notes BRAD BONER ASI PRESIDENT

Let’s Work Together to Secure the Future

I am writing this column while attending the Livestock Marketing Association’s Convention in Oklahoma City. The executive board of LMA has deemed it important to their members to begin an initiative that looks to incentivize producers to stay in business and to assist the “next generation” to take over that business when the time comes. In order for this to happen, we need to seek out solutions to strengthen producers’ bottom lines and incentivize the next generation. The livestock industry must unify around these solutions and then educate and inform with one voice our political representatives, government agencies and others who support us on these solutions. The ASI Executive Board and staff agree wholeheartedly with LMA’s efforts and ASI’s willingness to join the livestock industry in this ef fort is the reason for my attendance here in Oklahoma City. Producer profitability has been negatively impacted by overregulation, labor costs, land costs and availability, along with unfunded mandates from government agencies. Without a doubt the livestock industry can accomplish more by working together on important topics than any one group can do individually. We will probably not agree on every topic, but the leaders of ASI believe we can certainly agree on several important

topics that will help increase producer profitability and incen tivize these operations to remain in the livestock business. If all the groups who represent the livestock industry can include those important issues in their “asks” of our political representatives and government agencies, then the unified voice will give us a greater opportunity to have favorable out comes on these issues. A few of the issues that are being discussed as potential ar eas to unify around include, the death tax, lack of incentives to keep land in livestock and forage production, and efforts to level the competitive playing field when it comes to competi tion for land and the margins associated with that land. Through these efforts, it is our mission as livestock produc ers that we will continue to provide consumers with the high est quality and safest food supply in the world and thereby secure the food independence that is critical to maintaining the freedoms we enjoy today for future generations of Ameri cans. Until next time, keep it on the sunny side.

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