Billings, Mont. After almost three weeks of planning between the leaders of two state cattlemen's groups in Ohio Buckeye Quality Beef Association (BQBA), an affiliate of R-CALF USA, and the Ohio Cattlemen's Association (OCA), an affiliate of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) a firm agreement was reached to co-sponsor a m ulti-organization forum to provide area cattle producers the opportunity to hear firsthand from both proponents and opponents of the GIPSA rule (proposed competition rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration), as well as to give those producers in attendance an opportunity to ask questions about the rule.
However, late Tuesday, Oct. 26, the opponents of the GIPSA rule publicly backed out of the forum according to quotes attributed to NCBA by various news media, in which NCBA claims R-CALF USA's event notice regarding the multi-organization forum was inaccurate because neither NCBA, the Ohio Cattlemen's Association nor Certified Angus Beef knew anything about the forum until R-CALF USA issued its Oct. 26 event notice.
"Someone's trying to pull the wool over producers' eyes," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "I received regular updates over the past two weeks regarding the progress of the forum's planning by one of the key organizers of the event, and it is clear that the groups opposing the GIPSA rule had firmly committed to hosting the joint event, and then they suddenly backed out."
"I spent the last three weeks working directly with OCA's President Dave Felumlee planning for this multi-organization public forum," said Dave Hutchins, a BQBA director and former R-CALF USA director.
Hutchins owns Millcreek Angus Farm in West Mansfield, Ohio.
"Dave Felumlee and I reached a firm agreement that our two groups would jointly host an open forum specifically on the proposed GIPSA livestock competition rule at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8," Hutchins continued. "We firmly agreed to hold the public forum at Muskingum Livestock Auction Co. in Zanesville, Ohio. We firmly agreed that Joe Logan, Director of Agricultural Programs for the Ohio Environmental Council and past president of the Ohio Farmers Union, would be the neutral moderator for the event. And, we firmly agreed that each organization would bring the experts of their choosing to be panelists at the forum.
"The forum originally was planned for Nov. 15, but OCA President Felumlee informed me during a phone call that he, John Stika, president of Certified Angus Beef, and Elizabeth Harsh, OCA executive director, could not make that date as they all would be attending the Northern International Livestock Expedition in Louisville, Ky. So, we then mutually agreed to the alternative date of Nov. 8 to accommodate their schedules," said Hutchins.
BQBA's secretary also was involved in the planning of the forum as she, too, talked directly to OCA president Felumlee regarding how each organization would advertise the event.
"I told him (OCA president Felumlee) I would do a news release to local papers and BQBA membership lists and I asked him who the speakers would be and he said they would include either NCBA president Foglesong or Colin Woodall, and John Sitka from CAB," said BQBA Secretary Carol Wheeler.
To represent the proponents of the GIPSA rule, Hutchins said he personally informed OCA President Felumlee that the Buckeye Quality Beef Association would invite Fred Stokes and Randy Stevenson from the Organization for Competitive Markets, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, and Herman Schumacher, a plaintiff in the Schumacher et al. v Tyson et al. litigation that involved the Packers and Stockyards Act.
"Dave Felumlee told me the same thing he told Carol Wheeler, that either Steve Foglesong, president of NCBA, or Colin Woodall, NCBA's chief lobbyist, as well as John Stika, president of Certified Angus Beef, plus someone from the Ohio Cattlemen's Association would represent the opponents of the GIPSA rule," Hutchins said.
Hutchins also said the biggest concern expressed by OCA President Felumlee was that he did not want the forum to involve any Beef Checkoff issues.
"I committed to Felumlee that we would make it clear at the beginning of the forum that the forum would be restricted to only a discussion on the GIPSA rule, and he was satisfied with my commitment," said Hutchins. "We also discussed how our respective groups would work to encourage both members of Congress and members of the Ohio legislature to attend the forum.
"Upon these firm commitments, I began contacting Ohio media outlets on Friday, Oct. 22, and on the early morning of Oct. 26, I contacted R-CALF USA and gave them the details about the forum so we could begin informing producers about this important event," he continued. "Then in the late afternoon of Oct. 26, I received a phone call from OCA President Felumlee who said that the Ohio Cattlemen's Association had decided to no longer participate in the forum, but he assured me that he was still planning to personally attend even though his organization was backing out.
"I don't know how this important forum unraveled, but I do know that NCBA's claim that neither NCBA, the Ohio Cattlemen's Association, nor Certified Angus Beef knew anything about this forum until Oct. 26 and that it "came as a surprise' to each of them is absolutely false," said Hutchins.
"I don't know what these groups are so afraid of," he added. "All we agreed to do is provide a forum for producers to learn firsthand about the potential impacts of the GIPSA rule, and now the very groups that are supposed to be representing the interests of cattle producers in Ohio and across the nation are suddenly refusing to participate in a public forum where their positions can be publicly examined by the cattlemen whose livelihoods may very well depend on the outcome of the GIPSA rule. I couldn't be more frustrated and disappointed over what is happening in our cattle industry.
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