Beef Daily

Gathered ‘Round the Table

Amanda Nolz December 1st, 2008

The long Thanksgiving weekend is over, and it’s back to school for me. The four-day break was jam-packed. We worked on breaking the show calves and had the vet come out to bang’s tag all of the replacement heifers. In between, we had an early Christmas, Thanksgiving dinner and Black Friday shopping. On each of these occasions, I was surrounded by my closest family members, and everytime we gathered ’round the table, the topic was the same…

What is this “cow tax” all about? And, what are we going to do about it?

Last week, I posted a blog entry on this subject, and I received a flood of feedback from worried producers. I thank you for your questions, concerns and open discussion. There is nothing better than hearing from all of you and digesting your thoughts on this hot button topic. So now what? We are past the talking. What are we going to do about the EPA’s proposed cow tax? I don’t know about you, but I would rather be proactive on this one than take a backseat and react later.

I want to hear from you. Hop on your soapbox, grab the mike and type away. The stage is yours; I’ll be listening and praying for a positive solution. I’m looking forward to your input. Let’s not sit by and watch something this destructive happen to our industry. I think the negative impact of Proposition 2 will leave a big enough mark for one year.

2 Comments to “Gathered ‘Round the Table”

David Gray Says:

December 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am

I’ve read many comments about the proposed “cow tax” and join right in on the astounding affects that such a tax would impose. All of us can gripe and groan all we want but the fact remains that we need a solution. For what it’s worth my stand on the issue is that EPA needs to control what they have control over and work on what they don’t have control over. Even though we as cattlemen manipulate breeding and the fate of offspring once they enter this world, it’s still and “Act of Nature”. My opinion is that the “Cow Tax” is EPAs’ feable attempt at collecting for something they cannot control. There’s not a proposal to aide in prevention (like putting scrubbers on industrial smoke stacks), something the EPA can control. My point is that man-made emmissions can be regulated and an “Act of Nature” cannot. If EPA had a better handle on man-made emmissions then livestock emmissions wouldn’t be an issue. Instead their proposal is to make and industry pay taxes over what is now a problem due to the neglegance of their regulation of what they do have control over.
Amanda Nolz Says:

December 8th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

An interesting twist and a a different way to look at things. I like your reasoning on “acts of nature” vs. “man made” emissions. The “Go Green” movement would make great headway if it focused more on man-made industrial pollution such as car and factory emissions. Thanks for your thoughts and continued readership, David.