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October 2009

Annual Convention Scheduled for November 11-13 in Sparks

by Meghan Brown

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association staff and officers have been hard at work on this year’s Convention. The 74th Annual Nevada Cattlemen’s Association Convention will be held in Sparks this year joint with California Cattlemen’s Association. This year we are working to bring you a convention that will be full of good speakers, educational opportunities, and a chance to be part of the policy development of your association.

This year we will be having several joint sessions with California to discuss issues pertaining to animal health, public lands, and private land issues. These joint forums will bring in leaders of federal and state agencies. The setup will be a forum where audience and panel members can interact and questions and solutions can be discussed. We feel that it is important for us to join together on issues that affect both states. There are only so many opportunities we have to join together and this year we are going to take full advantage of that.

The convention will kick off November 11th at the Nugget in Sparks, and end November 13th with the annual awards banquet. Be on the lookout for registration packets in the mail. If you are interested in participating in convention and are not a member we would love to see you there. Please find enclosed a copy of the schedule. Call the office at 1-775-738-9214 and we would be happy to mail or fax you a copy of the registration. If you are interested in sponsoring an event or meal we are still looking for sponsorship. Without individuals and businesses that sponsor convention we would not be able to put such an event together.

Besides working on convention the association has been working on issues as well. Last week several members of NCA traveled to Washington DC to advocate for you and your operation. There are several legislative actions going on back in DC that could affect your operation. As you have been aware, animal health and food safety has been on the front page of many magazines and newspapers. There are several pieces of legislation that are before the House on this issue: H.R. 1549, H.R. 3187, and H.R. 503. The food safety bill has passed the house and is waiting for a senate version to be drafted. This is something that we need to keep an eye on as society wants to take a closer look at how we do business.

Another area of legislation that we spoke to our Congressmen and Congresswomen about was Transportation and Taxation. There are two bills on the House Floor and one on the Senate that would increase truck weights so that producers can be more efficient, productive, and competitive. This is crucial in a state like Nevada where many of our cattle leave for California and trucks cannot be fully loaded. These bills, if passed, would have a national average for truck weights. Be on the lookout for H.R. 1799 and H.R. 1220/S. 639.

The estate tax has been an issue that many past presidents of the association have worked on and something that both the national and state cattle organizations are working on. H.R. 3524 is a bill that would exempt agricultural lands from the estate tax if kept in production. The California Cattlemen’s Association has worked hard with their Congressman to help make this legislation possible.

If you are interested in learning more about the bills mentioned here or any other bill you can visit several web sites that will have the full text of the bill, where the bill is, who the co-sponsors are, and if there have been any votes. I suggest http://www.govtrack.us/ or http://thomas.loc.gov/. You will find great information that will help you make informed decisions regarding legislation, and help direct you to the individuals that you need to contact to support or oppose the legislation. As always the NCA office is available to help with any questions regarding legislation.

 

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