Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Anybody who has read me for a while knows I talk about R-Calf USA sometimes. I have also been following the recent upset in the R-calf ranks which has led a large number of the founding members to leave the organization and start another new organization, United States Cattleman's Association (USCA). A while ago the USCA website was up and running but there was not much information on it and there still isn't. I have been waiting but nothing appeared to be happening.

Finally I have found something, an interview with Jon Wooster, the head of USCA. It's an interesting interview if you are at all interested in this new organization. A couple of things that really struck me were the information on the lobbyists they have retained in Washington and the comments on animal id and COOL being linked.

R-Calf all but has no representation in Washington. That was what caused the split in R-Calf. Militant R-calf members wanted to only use litigation to advance their cause and the new leaders of USCA wanted to present their ideas to Congress through Lobbyists to get the point across without expensive and fruitless litigation. Knowing that USCA is forging ahead with representation in Washington is nice to know.

Now the answer to linking animal id and COOL was to say the least, sparse. Jon points out some advantages of COOL and then tells how producers are opposed to NAIS but he doesn't give any solutions to the dilemma. I feel he needs to offer Congress alternatives to linking the two together. How can COOL be run that doesn't require animal id? That needs to be answered instead of just pointing out nobody likes NAIS.

It really looks like USCA is taking off. I am glad to see this. As I have stated, I was never sure about the R-Calf method of using the courts to try to solve their problems. Representation in Washington is more effective and cheaper in the long run. I will keep an eye on the USCA to see what happens. It looks promising.

What's important is promising something to the people, not actually keeping those promises. The people have always lived on hope alone. Hermann Broch