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Question for MRJ

Econ101

Well-known member
MRJ, where are the policy analysts at the NCBA and what are their opinions on the various issues we discuss here like mcool, competition, bse, GIPSA, oversight, global beef trade, etc.?

It seems that all the analysis I have seen has been from the packer perspective, not the producer prospective.

What is the NCBA doing if not working for the packer's perspective all the time?
 

mrj

Well-known member
Econ101 said:
MRJ, where are the policy analysts at the NCBA and what are their opinions on the various issues we discuss here like mcool, competition, bse, GIPSA, oversight, global beef trade, etc.?

It seems that all the analysis I have seen has been from the packer perspective, not the producer prospective.

What is the NCBA doing if not working for the packer's perspective all the time?


Econ, I'm not going to answer your question directly at this time. You pooh-pooh my points about being busy, but it is true! For example:

1. I've had an extremely debilitating bronchitis and sinus infection for the past ten days. It has begun to lessen, and the work load has increased.

2. yesterday, I cooked dinner for six cowboys, drove 65 miles to the chiropractor/accupruncture guy for treatment, and got a desperately needed perm and did grocery shopping so as to make the trip costs do triple duty, arriving home at 9:30 PM, I went quickly to bed....and coughed for two hours due to inhaling some cigarette smoke from a passerby while in town.

3. Up at 4:AM this morning, fixed 'real' breakfast (meat, eggs, fruit, toast, grits, as opposed to oatmeal or cold cereal which is breakfast when not working cattle all day), put dinner for 12 cowboys into the over. Am now taking a quick break due to a coughing attack, but have to load the hot food into an ice chest doubling as a hot box to keep the food HOT in while driving 8 miles to the corrals where preg testing is in progress. I'm lucky today, the guys will make the coffee in the horse trailer which they cleaned out as best they could, and tarped to make it a bit warmer for all of us since the projected high today is about 35% with a fair breeze. Not to mention the fact that I've washed my hands about 40 jillion times to keep from 'infecting' the Cowboy Beans & Ham, peas, and peach cobbler I'm cooking for dinner. Cowboy Beans & Ham are properly eaten on top of a slice of purchased bread (home made just isn't quite 'right' for this dish, so they say). The dishes will be carried in the chest to keep warm, so the food won't go cold while eating it. Lots of stuff to pack and carry. Then come home and reverse the process, putting away any left-over food, washing all the dishes.


4. Take a nap!!!!


5. If my luck is typical and my daughter-in-law has to work, I will start preparations for tomorrow, when the same bunch of cowboys will be preg testing more cows 26 miles from home. It it is half-way good luck, she will have had time today to make some stew for me to carry to that site. Also good luck that we have a shack there which holds heat from a little propane heater fairly well and breaks the wind better than tarps in a trailer.

It isn't like this every week, but it isn't unusual, either. There are several intense weeks in spring, summer and fall, and if the winter is mild it is more often chores and building or repairing fences, corrals, water systems, with most meals at each home, rather than at mine. Many weeks are fairly easy, with just normal ranch family meals, laundry, community/church events, errands, etc.

I'm not saying there aren't other familes as hard working......most of those extra cowboys today provide their own labor at home and all of them trade work with us and/or other neighbors and friends. Most of their wives are much younger than I and have off ranch jobs, as do my daughters-in-law.

BTW, have you emailed anyone, or checked the various websites of NCBA to find answers to your questions? I'm simply a member, no one has solicited my activity here, re. NCBA questions/attacks. I do ask for answers if I don't know them or can't look them up myself.

I do know that policy issues come from the grass-roots members. I know that NCBA did not like MCOOL because of the exemptions for food service, it does nothing to improve the quality of beef, and prevents trace-back which would allow producers to improve our product.

I do know that NCBA had told Johanns that we were not happy with GIPSA, and that things did change and are improving with the appointment of Mr. Link.

NCBA, since it became known to us, supported the best of science re. BSE and other cattle diseases.

NCBA and Mike John most certainly are going to compete in ALL beef trade.

I'm curious as to why you ask these questions, many of which I have answered previously, and for which you continuously throw bogus claims against NCBA, and against me for posting them.

Times up. I've got a timer ringing. Later.

MRJ
 

Mike

Well-known member
MCOOL prevents trace-back

Will you tell us just how MCOOL prevented traceback?

From what I read in the law it said that the retailer must provide a verifiable record of where the cattle/beef came from. How is that possible without traceback?

Yoy must remember that the law expressly prohibited any one "System" of traceback but recognized that traceback was necessary to meet requirements.

You are very uninformed here MRJ. Quit spewing lies.

Have another shot of "Gin" too. It'll make you feel better.
 

Econ101

Well-known member
MRJ,

The first part of your response seems to be trying to appeal to the tribal nature in people. Everyone has a lot to do but we don't all brag on it. I do hope you are able to get a better handle on things and hope you do not remain sick.

The second part of your post which hits more directly at my questions:

MRJ
1. I do know that policy issues come from the grass-roots members. I know that NCBA did not like MCOOL because of the exemptions for food service, it does nothing to improve the quality of beef, and prevents trace-back which would allow producers to improve our product.

2. I do know that NCBA had told Johanns that we were not happy with GIPSA, and that things did change and are improving with the appointment of Mr. Link.

3. NCBA, since it became known to us, supported the best of science re. BSE and other cattle diseases.

4. NCBA and Mike John most certainly are going to compete in ALL beef trade.

5. I'm curious as to why you ask these questions, many of which I have answered previously, and for which you continuously throw bogus claims against NCBA, and against me for posting them.

Times up. I've got a timer ringing. Later.

MRJ

1. I do know that policy issues come from the grass-roots members. I know that NCBA did not like MCOOL because of the exemptions for food service, it does nothing to improve the quality of beef, and prevents trace-back which would allow producers to improve our product.

What happened to the grass roots directives that were turned over by the NCBA leadership? BMR seems to have the same problem in Canada. Can you not recognize that the grass roots doesn't have a voice anymore in your beloved NCBA or are you just blind? The meteoric rise of rcalf is the result and you can only yawn.

2. I do know that NCBA had told Johanns that we were not happy with GIPSA, and that things did change and are improving with the appointment of Mr. Link.

Things have not changed with the appointment of Mr. Link. He is just another figurehead in the agency. Have the problems that were expressed in the OIG report been fixed? Have the investigations that were shuffled aside by the head of the USDA remedied?

I can tell you they have not based on real observations of the agency and inside information. Where did you get your information? The NCBA? While information regarding the confidential investigations was relayed to the packers, they were not and have not been remedied. Instead the information on the investigation has been hidden. Saxby Chambliss has covered up the report's findings by not holding the agency accountable in open hearings. His party is still gathering campaign contributions from the industry.

Where is the NCBA's stance on this and are they just providing lip service? The answer seems to be a resounding yes.

3. NCBA, since it became known to us, supported the best of science re. BSE and other cattle diseases.

Do you really believe that? You seem to be so far out of touch with what has been discussed on this board. If it is a matter of too many chores to have the time to figure out what is going on, just say so. If it is tribalism, that is just who you are.

4. NCBA and Mike John most certainly are going to compete in ALL beef trade.

Have the policies coming out of the USDA in regards to bse and other issues allowed smaller packers to compete for those lucrative global markets or have they shut them to the detriment of producers?

5. I'm curious as to why you ask these questions, many of which I have answered previously, and for which you continuously throw bogus claims against NCBA, and against me for posting them.

I ask these questions to let everyone know just exactly why you support the big packer policies of the NCBA take advantage of the producers.

Maybe some of them will smarten up to what happens when they go to bed with the packers.

Didn't you realize when I posted about Bond becoming pres. of the AMI is just as much a threat to the beef industry as having the checkoff taken away? Bond is pres. of Tyson Foods, largest chicken processor in the world.

Why don't you "get it"?
 

alabama

Well-known member
I have question about the "cowboys" you cook for.
But first I hope you feel better soon. A cold or the flue can make even the easy jobs a pain. Take care of yourself and get some rest.

Are the cowboys family or hired hands? Do they all live on your place?
Do you cook for them every day? Do you have other workers to do the tractor work or do the cowboys do it all? ect ect.

Chicken soup. It is still the best cure.
 
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