At the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in San Diego, Senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays spoke with Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Ethan Lane. Our Coverage from San Diego is powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater.
Following the signing of The One Big Beautiful Bill, Ethan Lane emphasized the importance of closely monitoring how the executive branch implements what Congress has passed. “The lawmaking is done, now the regulatory side kicks off,” he explained, highlighting that NCBA’s team—like Kent Bacus—will transition from lobbying efforts to overseeing the implementation process. “All that knowledge coming out of this process the last two years translates directly into the implementation phase,” Lane noted.
One concern Lane raised is how accurately agencies will follow congressional intent. “It’s the telephone game, right? Best intentions of Congress then have to be implemented by the agencies,” he warned. He stressed that this process is even more delicate in a “post-Chevron deference world,” where federal agencies have far less leeway. “They’re gonna have to stay within those confines in a way that historically they haven’t had to,” Lane said, referencing potential legal challenges if agencies overreach.
Despite major wins in the legislation, Lane made clear that NCBA’s work is far from over. “We still have a host of issues that we need to work on,” he said, pointing to threats like the New World screwworm at the southern border and critical trade efforts. “There’s a lot of meat left on this bone,” Lane remarked. He also emphasized the $400-per-head value of export markets and added, “We’re making headway on the UK deal… This bill was massively consequential… but there is always more to work on.”
Lane also offered political insight ahead of the 2025 midterms. “Democrats have failed to figure out what that counterargument looks like,” he observed. He noted divisions within the Democratic party over issues like DEI and policy relevance in the “Trump 2.0 era.” Lane added, “There’s all this historic data… Republicans should lose ground at the midterms… but the Democrats have to show up and make an argument—and so far, we haven’t seen them do that in a cohesive way.”
Finally, Lane reminded listeners that while legislation is important, voters typically focus on economic conditions. “Jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy—that’s what drives voters to the polls, period,” he stated. He predicted that if Americans feel better off financially by the time of the midterms, it could spell trouble for Democrats. “If people feel like, ‘hey, my business is doing better’, that is going to be a tougher hill to climb for Democrats than it otherwise would be,” Lane concluded.
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