It Wasn’t False Hope
COVID-19…
I never knew I’d still be writing that word on a weekly basis eight months after it took hold of our country. What seemed like a foreign word is now a household term. What we thought would make for a wonderful special feature issue then travel past like other issues, became the overwhelming talk of 2020. And what we thought might be a health scare impacted our industry, our economy, our wellbeing, and our country in ways we never could have imagined.
Back in March when the outbreak took its stranglehold on the beef industry and we saw closed packing plants, full feed lots, empty store shelves, and panicked consumers, I can specifically remember the pit in my stomach that I’m sure consumed many producers. I had strong feelings of despair and concern for our industry. But at the end of the month, I chose to look at the bright side. Agriculture was deemed essential, the DOJ was sniffing around in the makings of an investigation, consumers were connecting with producers, and our lawmakers in D.C. saw just how critical food security is to our country and they wanted to protect it. I wrote that in a column and reminded readers of each of those positive notes several times in the weeks to come.
Now, in the first full week of October, the beginning of COVID seems like eons ago. But it’s important to look back and see where we came from and remember that yes, some of what seemed to be empty promises only offered as null attempts to think positive in a dark time are, in fact, playing out today.
This past week I could hardly keep up with the new legislation rolling out in D.C. There were bills to provide flexibility for ag commodity haulers, create more transparency in our markets, and help boost mid-sized packers and add more processing capacity. There was another economic stimulus package and a continuing resolution that replenishes ag safety nets.
These bills joined a plethora of legislation that was introduced throughout the summer to ensure that in the face of another pandemic, our food supply chain is better equipped to handle it. There have been multiple acts rolled out to provide more funding for small and mid-sized packers and allow direct sales of state-inspected meat across state lines. At the same time, there have been a handful of bills introduced in an effort to increase competition in our fed cattle markets and provide producers with more knowledge and transparency when marketing their cattle.
Yes, all of this legislation can get confusing. The multiple proposals with similar ideas and different ways to achieve them can seem to blend together – even for those of us who make it our job to provide you with the details of each. So, I reached out to a few folks within our industry that know the ins and outs of D.C. Each one of them had a similar and critical message for us to remember.
For every new act introduced, bill reauthorized, or amendment made, our industry is the talk of the town back in Washington. As I said clear back in March, our lawmakers want to ensure we are secure, and we are now seeing the reality of that play out in a big way. What matters is that we have not one, but many helping hands in Congress and we have not one, but many proposals with potential solutions to bolster our processing capacity, keep our truckers trucking, and increase competition and transparency in our markets.
Yes, times are still tough. We watched a treacherous debate, our president was in the hospital with COVID, and our nation is on edge awaiting the upcoming election. But let’s remember, when times were tough in the heat of the Coronavirus outbreak, there was a silver lining and it wasn’t false hope — it’s coming true today.