It's that one week out of the year when you see significant numbers of cowboys in boots and hats, roaming the halls of Congress and the streets of Washington D.C. The National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., the National Corn Growers and other groups journey to the Puzzle Palaces on the Potomac each spring to lobby their legislators on issues of concern to the industry and meet with officials at the federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A handful of goofy oddballs like Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar and his brother, Congressman John, wear boots and hats regularly in Washington, but mostly the industry is represented by buttoned down professional lobbyists that look like all the other armtwisters, backslappers, and deal cutters.
There's always some issue that the annual trip focuses on, and this year it was foreign beef trade, and the Congressmen and feds gave the expected optimistic pronouncements that Japan, South Korea and other Asian markets were close to opening up for U.S. beef. We've been hearing this for months, with few actual results. If indeed the proof is in the pudding, we in the beef industry are still waiting for the actual pudding, not just the aroma.
Farm state senators and congressmen always throw out the welcome mat, with lots of free tour passes and meals in the House and Senate cafeterias, to impress their homestate constituents. And after the week's over, the solons may have a few passing thoughts about agricultural subjects due to their rural visitors.
But longterm results from this annual trek of several decades' standing are rare. But everyone feels good afterwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment