U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today held a hearing on the U.S. livestock and poultry sectors.
The hearing, titled “A Review of the U.S. Livestock and Poultry Sectors: Marketplace? Opportunities and Challenges,” consisted of testimonies from farmers and ranchers across the country.
The following is Chairman Roberts’ opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Good morning. I call this meeting of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to order.
We have a variety of farmers and ranchers from across the country here today to give us their perspectives on marketplace? opportunities and challenges in the livestock and poultry sectors.
Who better to testify before this Committee than producer leaders representing these industries that play such an important role in the economic stability of rural America and certainly in my home state of Kansas.
It’s been 5 years since our last Committee hearing on the state of the livestock and poultry sectors, and I know everyone is interested to hear about the many events that have taken place during this period that have impacted the economic standing of your industries, as well as future opportunities and challenges for growth.
While the livestock and poultry sectors weather ebbs and flows every day, one could argue that recent years have seen greater volatility and unpredictability than most.
Today’s livestock and poultry producers are operating in a highly cyclical marketplace. One year they may receive record prices for their animals, and then the next see a dramatic drop in value, like we have seen recently in the beef sector.
Other events, like the diseases that have ravaged the egg, pork and turkey sectors, can leave producers with little to no income for months on end.
Unfortunately we know there has been significant erosion in farm equity due to these disease outbreaks and marketplace volatility. Some producers were unable to weather that storm.
Add into this equation the reality that this is an industry where the “good-times” are typically composed of margins of a few cents or a few dollars per animal and you begin to understand what a tough business animal agriculture is.
This reality demonstrates just how savvy today’s farmers and ranchers must be in order to make a living and that this is a livelihood not for the risk averse or faint of heart.
Yet, I am confident that even in the face of today’s challenges, the industries represented here will continue to lead the world in delivering safe and affordable meat products to consumers.
The importance of this sector to my home state of Kansas is immense.
Eastern Kansas is known for its rolling Flint Hills, spotted with grazing cattle, and western Kansas is home to some of the country’s largest and most modern beef feedlots.
Click here to see more...