At the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in New Orleans, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, caught up with the Vice President of Operations at Farm Data Services and Oklahoma cattle producer, Clay Burtrum and talked about what Burtrum sees being some of the highlights of discussion this week.
The 2023 Cattle Industry Convention coverage is being powered by Performance Ranch, a part of Zoetis, and by Farm Data Services located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
“When you come to cattle convention, it is all about meeting and greeting and seeing those folks that maybe you haven’t seen in a year, establishing those connections, but really focusing in and driving down on those policy and checkoff issues that really drive us, and that is the reason that we are here to focus on those issues,” Burtrum said.
Regarding the discussion on the 2023 Farm Bill and risk management, Burtrum said newer tools for the cattle industry that protect prices and the livelihood of cattle producers who utilize those programs are going to be important.
“We have got all these crop insurance tools,” Burtrum said. “Livestock risk protection, annual forage, pasture rainfall forage insurance- all of these tools are available to use, and we have to protect those in this upcoming farm bill.”
Because there will be no new spending, Burtrum said it will be critical to protect the programs that exist and make sure that producers are aware of those programs and how to utilize them.
“We have to make sure there is money available to educate the producers, and we have to make sure there are producers like NCBA and the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, that are willing to step behind us and get behind us and push those educational resource tools to the front,” Burtrum said.
Regulations will be another hot topic at the convention, including WOTUS (Waters of the United States) and the lesser prairie chicken issue.
“We have to look and push back the regulations,” Burtrum said. “We don’t need them in our business; we need them out of our business so that we can focus on what we do.”
Burtrum also talked about the state of the marketplace, with most issues relating to Covid now in the rearview mirror.
“We have to be looking for what may be out there,” Burtrum said.
Tools such as livestock risk protection are a valuable asset, Burtrum said to protect producers from the unforeseen future.
“We have to be able to protect that bottom line and leave our topside potential open of what might not be out there,” Burtrum said.
With a lower cowherd in the U.S., Burtrum said there are many factors to consider when looking at what the future will hold, including available protein and what the competition is doing. The cattle industry trade show and convention is valuable, Burtrum said, because it allows the industry to collaborate and work together on many different issues.
